NorDoc Summer School brings a new generation of antibiotic researchers to Uppsala

2023-08-21

“It is extremely important that we can offer our PhD students and postdocs the scientific exchange that NorDoc Summer School enables,” states Grete Dyb, newly appointed chair of the NorDoc Network, during her visit to Uppsala University and the scientific meeting Antibiotics According to a New Generation.

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Three days in late August, almost 120 researchers from ten countries are gathering in Uppsala for the NorDoc Summer School 2023: A scientific arena that this year highlights the challenges that accelerating antibiotic resistance poses to our society. The organisation behind the summer school is the NorDoc Network, a rapidly growing consortium that currently unites 21 universities in the Nordic countries.

“It is extremely important that we can offer our PhD students and postdocs the scientific exchanges NorDoc Summer School enables. Here they get the opportunity to meet and interact across national borders as well as getting insights into what academic careers make possible. The fact that our network has expanded with four new partners in the past year alone further strengthens the value of our research education and gives us every reason to look ahead with great confidence,” states Grete Dyb, Professor at the University of Oslo and newly appointed chair of the NorDoc Network.

(Image removed) Grete Dyb and Anders Backström at NorDoc 2023

In Auditorium IX, Eva Garmendia, Project Coordinator at the Uppsala Antibiotic Center, is leading a workshop on Communicating About Resistance. In six interdisciplinary constellations, thirty participants reason about methods of packaging and conveying information with the aim to influence relevant target groups. The discussion illustrates the diverse conditions that prevail in different cultures and nations, but also the strong commitment that unites the young researchers.

“The fact that this year's summer school gathers participants also from beyond NorDoc's primary geographic area adds both interesting questions and an extra dimension to the conversations. Add to that a scientific program that shows the great breadth characterizing antibiotic research, and we have mentioned at least some of the reasons why the meeting has so far been both successful and rewarding,” says Anders Backlund, Professor of Pharmacognosy at Uppsala University.

Upstairs in the University Main Building, twenty PhD students are preparing to present their research at Thursday's closing poster session. Just outside the Medical Faculty room we find Aishwarya Pavithram, visiting from the University of Bergen where she is working with a focus on MODY – a collective name for several forms of hereditary diabetes – analyzing the effect of different gene variations on the kidneys and liver of diabetics.

(Image removed) Aishwarya Pavithram, University of Bergen

“Although my current research is not within the focus area of NorDoc 2023, antibiotics is an area that continues to fascinate me. I wrote my master's thesis in microbiology and during the pandemic my interest reawakened. The fact that I have also wanted to visit Uppsala and Karolinska Institutet for a long time made the decision to go here easy, and I already know that I will take a lot of value with me from the NorDoc Summer School, states Aishwarya Pavithram.

FACTS

NorDoc Summer School 2023 is arranged in Uppsala and Solna, 16–18 August 2023
NorDoc Summer School 2023 is organized in collaboration between Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet, Region Uppsala, Uppsala University Hospital, ReAct, Uppsala Antibiotic Center and Uppsala Municipality.
NorDoc Network gather 21 universities and research institutes in six countries.

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CONTACT

(Image removed) Anders Backlund, Professor
Uppsala University
Anders.Backlund@farmbio.uu.se

text & photo: Magnus Alsne