Summer School - (Bio)Medical Research Lab, 8 July - 16 August 2019, Utrecht University, Netherlands

(Bio)Medical Research Lab

This interdisciplinary lab course gives you a realistic insight into the life of a (bio)medical researcher. We provide advanced bachelor students (with backgrounds in medicine and/or life sciences) the opportunity to conduct authentic and real-world (bio)medical research in small interdisciplinary groups. This research is conducted in a well-equipped (wet) laboratory and focuses on urgent medical cases or ongoing translational medicine research problems. Each group will study the same hypothesis from different perspectives by applying different research methods. At the end of the course, you will write a research article and present the outcomes of your project.

This interdisciplinary lab course gives you a realistic insight into the life of a (bio)medical researcher. During this intensive 6 week course, we provide advanced bachelor students (with a background in medicine and/or life sciences) the opportunity to conduct authentic and real-world research in a well-equipped (wet) laboratory. This research topic will focus on an urgent medical need, e.g. on an actual patient case with an unknown medical problem or on an ongoing translational medicine research problem. All participants are divided into at least two groups that will all study the same problem from different perspectives by applying different research methods.

In the first week of this course, together with your peers, you will define a hypothesis through conducting a brief literature study, using (unpublished) research documents or a medical patient file. After this week, you will all test the same hypothesis in a bio-medical laboratory by using different approaches and research methods. You will be extensively supervised by experts in the field and qualified laboratory staff. You will have weekly work meetings with the supervisors and the other students, where the obtained data and plans are discussed.

At the end of the course, you will together write a concept research article. In addition, you will present the final outcomes of your project to your peers and the staff, just like professional researchers do at research conferences.

The interdisciplinary nature of this course will bridge the gap between biomedicine and (translational) medical research to further enhance ongoing and actual medical (research and patient) problems. 

Course director

Dr. Niels Bovenschen

Lecturers

Introduction lectures into subject.

Target audience

This course is open to advanced bachelor students with a medicine and/or life science/ biomedical sciences background. We are aiming for a balance between the different study backgrounds. 
Background knowledge on the following topics is required: molecular biology, cell biology, physiology, and pathology.

Course aim

After completing this course, you will be able to
• Explain, clarify, and discuss the most important theories and research concepts of your research
• Define a research question from a (bio)medical problem
• Perform (translational) research in a research laboratory
• Interpret your obtained data, write a research paper, and present your data to peers
• Work together in an interdisciplinary team

Study load

Week 1: Preparation, defining a research question and research proposal
Week 2-5: Doing lab research
Week 6: Writing a research article, presenting project outcomes

Costs

Housing through Utrecht Summer School

Early bird discount: if you apply for this course and pay the course fee before April 1st, 2019, you will receive €500 discount on the course fee.

Application

For this course you are required to upload the following documents when applying:

•  Motivation Letter
•  C.V.
•  Transcript of Grades

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.