Dear IBA members, 

2020 has been a special, strange and challenging year! We would like to first thank all the participants of our courses and events (creating scientific illustrations, Covid-19 online seminar series, annual meeting, mindfulness and stress management and Nature Masterclass on scientific writing to name a few). Like so many other research schools, IBA had to postpone several courses and events in 2020. The upside is that we gained experience in hosting online events and webinars which will benefit all of us in the future!

In 2020, many research schools (including IBA) were mid-term evaluated by the Research Council. We are happy to announce that IBA was approved for three more years, and that in the process, we have received valuable feedback and guidance. The fruits of this process are an updated course portfolio that will be more thoroughly introduced later. We would briefly note that IBA will hold a core summer course in early June where will offer a thorough introduction to the Principles of Infection Biology. We are also planning courses on zoonotic infectious diseases, host-pathogen interactions, vaccines, microbial symbiosis/host microbiota and antimicrobial resistance (all in summer/autumn 2021). In addition, we will continue to offer workshops and courses on transferable skills (Scientific Illustrations (early March and autumn), Scientific Writing, Career opportunities after completing your PhD ++).

Lastly, we would like to take this opportunity to introduce the three new regional directors of studies! Welcome to Özgün Candan Onarman Umu, Kurt Hanevik and Synnøve Brandt Ræder who will be in charge of organising IBA courses and events at NMBU, UiB and NTNU, respectively. They will also serve as the local IBA contact people. Johanna Ericson Sollid and Mike Koomey will continue to fill these roles at UiT and UiO.

With that, we wish you a peaceful Christmas and a safe new year! 

A big thanks to Catarina Moura for allowing us to share her Christmas stem cell tree with all of you! Read more about the making of it here

More than 25 IBA members presented their research via poster and/or oral presentation on this year´s annual meeting.

Of these, Ragnhild Sætra and Joel Heim took home the prize for best poster and oral presentation, respectively.

Congratulations!

Poster Award Winner: “Mechanisms in human macrophages infected with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis” presented by Ragnhild Sætra from NTNU

Oral Presentation Award Winner: “Bacterial survival in highly acidic environments – study of structure-function relationship of urea channels” presented by Joel Heim from UiO.

Through our sister organisation in Sweden, NDPIA, we are happy to offer a four-day online course on Microbiota and Health from 30th Nov – 3rd Dec for IBA members.

Extended deadline for registration : November 9th

You can find more details on our course page.

The yearly social summer meet up in Oslo was this year held in the Botanical Gardens at the 3rd of July.

Prof. Hugo De Boer started the event with an inspiring seminar on the Impostor Syndrome, and we followed up by pizza and drinks.

Although the cold weather sadly sent us indoors, we had fun getting to know each other through great discussion and conversations!

17th of June 2020 the local IBA committee in Trondheim arranged a meeting informing about the IBA National Graduate School and its upcoming activities, and held a session on how to turn PhD degrees into meaningful careers. For the latter, Dr. Christopher Cornthwaite gave an inspiring online talk on the importance of owning your own career path and how to get the most out of your degree.

Chris is a PhD in religious studies and founder of the career-building Roostervane community for advanced-degree holders. 

20 people participated and pizza was served!

Upcoming courses and events for IBA members

IBA annual meeting – October 26-27 – Trondheim. Open to all members. Read more and register here.

Nature Masterclass – Scientific Writing course. November 5-6th – Oslo. This course is organised in collaboration with the journal Nature! Learn how to get the most out of the writing process and how to get published in top-ranked journals. Read more here.

IBA course – Mol8009 – Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation – NTNU – November 9-13.  The course will give an overview of mechanisms and signaling pathways involved in inflammatory processes related to infections, but also sterile inflammation. Read more here.

Effective Collaboration in Research – Nature Masterclass. The course is online and you can start at any time you´d like. More information.

Grant applications

Start planning your application for travel grants for research stays in Norway and abroad. This is an offer for PhD-student members (and medical research students). You can apply from September 15th. Find out what you need for your application here.

Application for financial support for external courses will be reopened October 15th. Read more and find courses here.

Future activities under development

Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Course 2021.  The course was planned for autumn 2020, but is now being postponed until spring/early summer 2021. The coursed was offered in 2018. Take a look at the program here.

Not an IBA member? Apply for membership here.

Do you want to learn how and when to plan a grant application?

Read more here

 Registration: link

We have invited Jørgen Kirksæther to talk about how to begin and how to improve existing applications.

All members are welcome.

Jørgen Kirksæther works as a senior adviser in the Section for Research at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at UiO. His fields of expertise is project administration and development, as well as application guidance.

IBA offers a course on Scientific Writing from April 20-24th. The course is meant to provide a virtual space to meet up, learn and talk about your writing during these unconventional times. 

Read more on our course page.

Instructor: Mathew Stiller-Reeve.

Free online MIT seminar entitled “Dealing with Coronavirus: An Industry Perspective”. Wed, April 1, 2020, 10:30 PM – 12:00 PM CET.

Given by Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. Hosted by the MIT Sloan School of Management (Boston).

Link for info and registration: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/events/2020-04-01-dealing-coronavirus-industry-perspective

Background: After just 42 days, Moderna produced a batch of vaccines ready for clinical trials- from sequence identification through vaccine design, manufacturing, and shipment.

Co-hosted by MIT’s Laboratory for Financial Engineering and Golub Center for Finance and Policy, join a conversation with Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, as he describes the science, business, and policy issues surrounding the first and currently only company with a vaccine for coronavirus in clinical trials at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

The project is also funded by The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), headquartered in Oslo.