June 19, 2015
First BREATH Summer School greeted with enthusiasm by participants and speakers
With the topic „The failing lung – environmental damage and clinical repair”, the first BREATH Summer School took place from 10-13 June 2015 in the heart of the Harz nature reserve and the 21 participants were offered a varied program covering scientific topics, soft skill courses and teamwork, presentations and discussions about careers in and outside the university as well as an outdoor teambuilding event and barbecue night.
Four internationally renowned guest speakers, Prof. Dr. Marc Bonten and Prof. Dr. Flemming Cassee from the Netherlands, Prof. Dr. Piotr Yablonskiy from Russia and Prof. Dr. Erika von Mutius from the DZL site CPC Munich gave presentations on their research work in the field of lung damage. Doctors and scientists from Hannover Medical School provided an insight into lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis, bronchioectasis and terminal lung diseases, and also into repair possibilities using stem cells or lung replacement by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or the biohybrid lung.
Right across the scientific topics, soft skill courses and coaching in the field of organizational psychology were given by the internationally renowned scientist, Prof. Dr. David Schoorman from Purdue University, USA, who fired the participants with enthusiasm with his anecdotes and example cases. „The sessions with Professor Schoorman were the highlight of this Summer School! I have attended many excellent scientific presentations, but only here did I learn that human relations can be just as exciting as medical contents“, said Dr. Antonia Reimann, participant and prospective pediatrician with focus on dermatology.
The participants worked in small teams on the aspects which facilitate their work as scientists and those that inhibit it. Despite the many different areas of research and work groups, there was a lot of common ground. Good communication between colleagues from their own, but also from other work groups as well as with superiors were identified as the most important key factors that make a difference between a supportive and a rather obstructive environment. „To exchange views with other scientists at a similar stage in their career, working and doing research in a similar environment, offers ideal conditions to learn from each other. Developing „Best Practices“ for one‘s own working environment was therefore the aim of the scientific teamwork“, said Dr. Annegret Zurawski, Manager of BREATH and responsible for the Summer School program.
In a further batch of topics, doctors, scientists and former scientists reported on their diverse professional histories and gave an often very personal insight into their own not always straight career paths. Light was also shed on different aspects of international careers. One presentation dealt with time spent as a postdoc in USA, another with time spent working as a scientist in various European countries. In addition, Prof. Dr. Martin Michel from Boehringer Ingelheim spoke about the possibilities in industry. Afterwards, at the barbecue night, the participants were able to profit from personal discussions with the speakers. „During the evening, many participants asked me about applications and career possibilities in the pharmaceutical industry. I think it is of the greatest importance that a forum like this is offered to young people on these subjects“, summed up Prof. Michel.
The scientific and personal exchange amongst the participants, coming from 9 different nations – 14 PhD students, 7 postdocs and 2 medical students – was further intensified in two poster sessions. Not only the experienced scientists were able to select the winners of the first and second prizes in the Poster Prize Competition. A further winner was awarded the Poster Competition Peer Award, chosen by the participants themselves.
The International Haus Sonnenberg in St. Andreasberg in the Harz nature reserve provided the perfect atmosphere for the Summer School. Whilst the standard of accommodation resembled, in a positive sense, that of a youth hostel, the participants were able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and the informal atmosphere in the Haus Sonnenberg.
„Of course I will recommend the Summer School“, was the unanimous feedback from the participants when leaving. The exact concept for continuation or repetition has not yet been decided, „but we will do our best to offer our young scientists such events in the future and to raise the necessary funds to accomplish this“, said Prof. Dr. Tobias Welte, Director of the BREATH Research Network. This year the Summer School could only be realized due to a grant from the Volkswagen Foundation.
Text and fotos: BREATH/AZ/SB/PB
