International Summer School for Doctoral Students "Vascular cell functions in health and in diseases"

International Summer School for Doctoral Students “Vascular cell functions in health and in diseases”

We are pleased to announce that Heidelberg University has started a series of international summer and winter schools for doctoral students in various academic fields. The objectives of this project are to strengthen academic collaboration between Asia, Europe and Latin America and to foster networks of young researchers from these regions. All costs (attendance fee, travel and accommodation) for doctoral students who have been awarded a scholarship will be covered by this program.

This opening call is for the fifth summer school of the TOP Program – “Vascular Cell Functions in Health and in Diseases”– will take place from October 7 to 19, 2018, at the Heidelberg Center Latin America (HCLA) in Santiago de Chile, Chile.

The aim of the school is to discuss latest developments in understanding pathophysiological mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases and enable graduates to further develop their expertise in vascular biology and medicine. We aim to set up sustainable collaborations between research labs at Heidelberg University and Universities in Europe and in Latin America. We also aim to promote the career of young investigators and provide guidance how to develop to independent researches. Graduates will present their own projects and they will practice how to develop a joint research project. Thus, the planned summer school will provide excellent opportunities for developing new project ideas, collaborations, and carrier perspectives and will provide a highly stimulating and creative atmosphere for all graduates.

Scientific Background:
Cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes, preeclampsia, ventricular dysfunction and heart failure, affect millions of people worldwide and their prevalence is constantly rising. Macrovascular complications in diabetes, including myocardial infarction, are the main cause of morbidity in the western world. Likewise, smaller blood vessels are also damaged by hyperglycemia leading to microvascular complications in the eye (diabetic retinopathy), kidney (diabetic nephropathy) and the nerves (diabetic neuropathy). Vascular cell dysfunction also causes preeclampsia, a disease in pregnancy characterized by elevated maternal blood pressure and proteinuria.

Scholarship details:

Flight expenses (from Europe up to 1300 EUR, from Latin America up to 500 EUR.) will be reimbursed to the doctoral students upon submission of receipts. Accommodation and food will be provided free of charge. No participation fee will be charged. All doctoral students are expected to present their research projects and research activities of their universities in short talks. Self-nominations are invited. Also, doctoral supervisors can nominate their students for the Summer School by email to jens.kroll@medma.uniheidelberg.de by March 31, 2018.

General requirements

Participants should have a degree in one of the following fields of study: life science, biology, biochemistry or translational medical science. We would appreciate doctoral students (PhD or MD/PhD track) who have the intention to actively engage in research.

Documentation to be presented

Doctoral supervisors can nominate their students for the summer school scholarship; however, self-nominations are also invited. Nominations should be sent to Prof. Dr. Jens Kroll, Heidelberg University by mail (jens.kroll@medma.uni-heidelberg.de) by March 31, 2018.

Information on-site in Santiago de Chile should be addressed to Dr. Walter Eckel, Director of Heidelberg Center for Latin America (walter.eckel@hcla.uni-heidelberg.de) or to Professor Luis Sobrevia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (lsobrevia@uc.cl).

- Completed application form
- A letter of recommentation by the doctoral supervisor
- Curriculum vitae of the PhD student
- Motivation letter of the PhD student
- Short description of the doctoral Project.

The scientific coordinators are Prof. Dr. Jens Kroll, Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Hammes, Prof. Dr. Karen Bieback, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Schubert, Dr. Ibrahim El-battrawy (all from Heidelberg University, Germany), Prof. Dr. Luis Sobrevia (School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile) and Dr. Gerardo García-Rivas (Medical School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, México).

CONTACT

Prof. Dr. Jens Kroll
Heidelberg University
Medical Faculty Mannheim
Vascular Biology
Ludolf-Krehl-Str. 13-17, 68167
Mannheim, Germany
jens.kroll@medma.uni-heidelberg.de

The deadline for documentation submission is: March 31, 2018