Two day kick-off event

 

 

Say hello to the VAGABOND consortium!

Last week, the VAGABOND program officially started with a two-day kick-off event! Although the event was online due to the current COVID circumstances, it was extremely inspiring and entertaining.

The first day, Jan and Celina gave all partners and beneficiaries of the consortium an overview of the VAGABOND program, including the timeline, education schedule, summer schools and secondments. Afterwards, the PhD students came in to join the second part of the day. The afternoon started with a Kahoot quiz with question about VAGABOND (did everyone know where the second A in VAGABOND stands for?) and fun facts about persons within the consortium (who is secretly the best Easter Bunny?).

After the quiz, it was time for some more serious business: all principal investigators pitched the scientific background of the PhD positions in 5 minutes and introduced their research teams to the consortium. Overwhelming to notice all the great and various expertise brought together in this consortium ranging from experts in preclinical in vitro and in vivo work, compound screening, bioinformatics, immunology, (epi)genetics and clinical/pharmaceutical implementation: a translation of basic biology to clinical interventions while bringing academia and industry together in a bottom up approach. It made everyone enthusiastic to start the PhD projects!

 

 

Behind the scenes! Jan and Celina present the VAGABOND program to all partners and beneficiaries, a live meeting from the Princess Maxima Center in the Netherlands to others all over the world.

During the second day the PhD students introduced their selves to the consortium. They presented their scientific background and talked about their personal life and interests. The 15 PhD students showed that they have various educational background such as biomedical sciences, bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, etc. that will complement each other during the program. In addition, lots of tasty dinners and climbing activities can be expected the next four years! The PhD students were divided into smaller groups to chat with each other the rest of the afternoon, while all partners and beneficiaries discussed the recruitment and other practical aspects. Many questions were answered, and everyone is well prepared to host the PhD students at their institutes. With that, the two-day kick-off event came to an end. Thank you all for making this first meeting memorable, and hope to meet you all in real life during the first summer school in September!