Frequently Asked Questions

What can IBA offer?

  • Theoretical and practical advanced level courses in infection biology and antimicrobials with costs covered (to a reasonable limit – see this page for more details) for IBA members
  • An overview over courses related to infection biology and antimicrobials given at the universities cooperating with the research school
  • A network of colleagues (both students, postdocs, and senior scientists) working in infection biology and antimicrobials
  • Annual meetings providing an opportunity to present and discuss your research

How to become an IBA member?

To become an IBA member you must be registered as a PhD student or hired as a postdoctoral fellow in a biology program at a Nordic university or other research institutes and work on infection biology and/or antimicrobials. You are also expected to present your research project and progress in the annual IBA meeting. Please go to this page to apply for membership. If you do not fulfill the criteria above, you can be registered as an IBA associate. Please go to this page to become an IBA associate.

Who can participate in IBA activities?

The research school mainly targets PhD students and postdocs at Nordic universities working with infection biology and/or antimicrobials. The courses and annual meetings are also open to others who want to broaden their expertise. Unless you are a PhD student or a postdoc, you must be able to document that you have sufficient background knowledge to follow a course. Members of the research school will be prioritized if courses fill up, and PhD students will be prioritized over postdocs.

Are there any costs connected to participate in an IBA course?

The courses are free to all participants. Co-funding of travel costs is discontinued for 2020, and will be partially resumed from 2021.

Will my university grant course credits for IBA course participation?

In most cases, yes, and this will be clear in the course description. Whenever possible, IBA courses will be registered as University courses at the hosting University so that credits are automatically accepted at your home institution. You may have to apply to become a guest student at the hosting university to register officially for some courses; we will let you know in the course description when this is the case.

In cases where it is not possible to officially register as a course, we will hold workshops or symposia, and IBA will provide you with a certificate upon completion of workshops/symposia that can be used to petition at your home institution for credits (at most Norwegian universities, this will be as “spesialpensum” (e.g. special syllabus) and may require additional work such as giving a lecture at your home institution).

For international students, we will try to provide you with all necessary information, so please contact your administration and let us know what kind of information and certificate(s) you need in order to have our courses and workshops accepted at your Institute.

In what language are the courses taught?

English is the official teaching language of all courses.

How to apply for an IBA course?

You will find all relevant information in the course descriptions. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in contact with the course organizer.