BioMed PhD Day 2022

The fourth BioMed PhD Day was held on 7 October. A day when PhD students from the USI Faculty of Biomedical Sciences have the unique opportunity to present their projects to the public, get together, get to know each other, and share their ideas. This year's event was again held on USI East Campus and was attended by some 60 PhD students from 15 different countries enrolled in one of the seven doctoral specialisations in Biomedical Sciences: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, cardiovascular science, pharmacological science, public health and computational biomedicine.

"After the first years of building and development with a continuous increase in students, we have now entered a new phase of consolidation with a number of students that will be more stable and with the first dissertations for the main specialisations", explains Professor Alain Kaelin coordinator of the Commission that manages the PhD programmes in Biomedical Sciences at USI. "However, we want to continue to improve our school by emphasising quality, in particular by offering more course options but without losing the flexibility of a school that collaborates with the most important biomedical research institutes in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland."

During the day, the young researchers got to know each other and exchanged ideas, sometimes even discovering common research approaches or interests between distinct fields. In the words of student representative Julia Neumann, "I appreciate the BioMed PhD day as a great opportunity to come together with students from the diverse faculties of the Biomed doctoral program. Situated in an academic environment, this year's theme, "Crisis of reproducibility", allowed for thoughtful discussion and exchange about one of the challenges science is facing nowadays."

After a welcome by Pro-Rector for Research Prof. Patrick Gagliardini, the day was marked by a full-day programme that included a poster walk (with presentations of research projects and subsequent awarding of the best poster), six public presentations by final-year students and, to conclude, a lecture by Prof. Franco Cavalli in which the President of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research retraced his career.

New at USI: the new MD-PhD degree.

In past years, the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at USI has already conferred several Medical Doctor (Dr. med) diplomas specific to the medical field. This year, the first nine PhDs in Biomedical Sciences were conferred. This academic year, the MD-PhD degree track, which combines the two previous degrees by preparing medical students for a career in biomedical research and combining scientific research with further clinical education in an academic setting, will also kick off at USI. The goal is to give candidates the skills to contribute to translational, disease- and patient-oriented research.