DDA Winter School: A Place of Network, Knowledge and New Challenges

The DDA Winter School welcomed 50 postdocs to beautiful Malaga, Spain, to gain a broader scientific perspective on diabetes research. During the five days, the participants attended scientific lectures by Danish and international experts, got trained in transferable skills, presented their own research and were challenged to examine the landscape of science and society.

But what did the participating postdocs get out of attending? We have asked postdocs Daniel Borch Ibsen and Sabri Ahmed Rial to find out.

- I can sum it up in two words: Network and knowledge, says Sabri Ahmed Rial.

Sabri Ahmed Rial, postdoctoral fellow at the The University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre in Montréal, flew in from Canada to participate. He dreams of an international collaborative research career:

- I wanted to participate in the DDA Winter School because I dream of an international collaborative research career within the field of metabolism and related diseases - between the rising research institutes of my home continent, Africa, and the major research centres in the rest of the world. In Africa, metabolic diseases are showing an increasingly worrying incidence that deserves our attention. I think I can be useful for both communities, which will always benefit from collaboration. It was therefore with the objective of getting to know my peers that I chose to participate in the DDA Winter School, says Sabri A. Rial.

Left: Sabri A. Rial. Right: Daniel Borch Ibsen.

UNIQUE POSTDOC NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY

Both Sabri A. Rial and Daniel B. Ibsen agree that one of the main take-aways from the winter school experience is that of networking.

- If you are a postdoc and work within the field of diabetes, DDA Winter School is probably THE best place to go and network. Most participants are postdocs like me. This means that we are all in the same boat – the same place in our career. You do not get this many other places, and it means that we can talk about and understand each other in a special way. Furthermore, I work with epidemiology – and when I talk with a researcher who works with cells or mice, it is possible to get input from different worlds – both clinical and  basic. This is a huge strength, says postdoc Daniel Borch Ibsen, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University and Institution of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska institutet

Sabri A. Rial agrees:

- The winter school networking activity has exceeded my expectations.I was able to meet both peers and professors from several countries. It is quite special to be able to listen to a talk from a great professor in the field and then to play volleyball with them later that same day! The lessons you learn in a friendly atmosphere are particularly valuable. Everyone should be inspired by this approach, says Sabri A. Rial.

CURRENT SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES TURNED INTO PODCASTS

At the school, the participants worked together on challenges connecting current scientific focus areas and society, such as how language matters when approaching people with diabetes, how academia and industry collaborate when it comes to innovation and how science may translate into policy.

 Both Daniel B. Ibsen and Sabri A. Rial think working with the challenges were a great way to organise the programme and to learn.

- At most conferences, the participants (apart from their own presentation) are passive. However, at the DDA-Winter school our participation was activated by working on the assigned challenge. We realized that several post-docs brainstorming together are capable of great achievements, and this is gratifying. Such an interactive approach is remarkable and provides both education and fun, says Sabri A. Rial.

- The challenges were very interesting. I worked on the challenge “science as art” which is very different to what I usually work with, says Daniel B. Ibsen.

The six challenges will result in a podcast-series to be released by the Danish Diabetes Academy before Christmas.