Taking stock of the 2018 PhD Students Meeting

By Joana Ferreira de Sousa On 26 June, 2018 2018 | Events Comments Off Tags: slider

Last May, the Newsletter announced the XII Meeting of Doctoral Students from the CAML – the PhD Meeting Students – with the participation of well-known national and international references: Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Thomas Pradeu, María Blasco, António Almeida and Paulo Vieira. The list of distinguished speakers included, among others, Professors Carmo Fonseca, Maria Mota, Bruno Silva Santos, XXXXX

This month we wanted to talk to the PhD Student Commission team, responsible for organising the annual event. To take stock of this edition and put the coming years into perspective, we listened to Helena Brigas and Sofia Mensurado, both in PhD Programs at the CAML, at Lisbon BioMed, and working in Laboratories at the Institute of Molecular Medicine.

In her first year organising the CAML PhD, Helena Brigas studied Biology, did an internship in Molecular Biology and realised she had a special interest in Biomedicine; during her Master’s she also studied Immunology in Tumour Microenvironments Currently she is focusing on the area of Immunology, particularly Neurodegeneration.

Sofia Mensurado studied Health Sciences and completed a Master’s in Biochemistry at the Faculty of Sciences; just like Helena, she became interested in Immunology in Tumour Microenvironments and now she is doing her PhD, focusing on the same theme. Leading the organisation for the second year, she believes one shouldn’t stick to doing the same thing for too long, giving others the chance to innovate.

What is the importance of this PhD Meeting focused on PhD students within the CAML?

Helena Brigas: This event is open to everyone, but it is mainly aimed at the students from the CAML, as the goal is to give them the opportunity to present their work. We focus on the Academic Centre and open positions for everyone, but we think it is important for PhD students, during their course, to have feedback and realise whether or not they are on the right path.

Sofia Mensurado: All the students at the CAML are invited to come and present their work. We have different types of presentations. First-year students give a five minute presentation, whose purpose is to present their project and what they intend to do. At this point it is very important for us to have post-doctoral researchers and key researchers in the audience, as thy can be very helpful by asking crucial questions that will help students realise how to achieve the goals they have set. The second and third years present posters, a format that is more interactive and allows the students to discuss whichever problems that they may have, even if sharing their experience with other students. In the fourth year, which is the last of the PhD, the students are required to give a fifteen-minute presentation, as a sort of preparation for the final defence of the thesis, in which they present what they accomplished during the four years (of the PhD).

Are the works evaluated?

Helena Brigas: Yes. There is an evaluation of both presentations and posters. We always try to have a prize, depending on the sponsors we have, for the best presentations and the best posters from each year.

Who are the evaluators?

Sofia Mensurado: This year we tried to have all the students evaluated by a key researcher and a post-doctoral researcher. One person from the area and another from outside, although there was more diversity in the posters, while the evaluation of the oral presentations was designed to be egalitarian. So we try to bring a great diversity of researchers and post-doctoral scholars to the Meeting.

When you talk about partnerships or sponsors, what do they guarantee you?

Sofia Mensurado: The sponsors are usually companies, usually suppliers of lab materials, or pharmaceutical companies that are interested in stimulating the scientific community. This year we were sponsored by Takeda and Novis, who awarded monetary prizes to the winning students. They awarded 100 euros to the best first-year presentation, 400 euros to the fourth-year winner and 250 euros to the best second- and third-year posters. It’s a good incentive for those who give presentations and participate.

The network of contacts that it creates between the speakers and the students is very important, is it one of your goals?

Sofia Mensurado: In scientific research it is very important to create these synergies because we may need a different model, a new technique and knowing various people within or outside of our area, is very important. By covering several areas, the Meeting allows us to have access to this very diverse interaction which can lead to us learning new ways of thinking.

You invite several very emblematic speakers from different areas? What are the arguments for bringing them here?

Sofia Mensurado: They participate because they almost feel an obligation to help these PhD students. Whenever we introduce ourselves as a PhD Student Commission, they feel a lot of empathy, and realise that we are at a point where we need input and they know that they can help us.

Helena Brigas: They have a great openness, they communicate and discuss with us, not only techniques, but many other issues that are important for us. Sometimes we have feedback, not only from those within our area but also from those who are on the outside. This is the reason why we invite people from very different areas.

Sofia Mensurado: When we invite international speakers, they only tell us that they can’t participate when their schedule is full. They are always really interested in participating. This year was an example of that, because we invited Professor Suzana Herculano who we had already invited the year before but, due to a personal problem, hadn’t been able to come; this year she did come and was very happy to participate.

How do you take stock at the end of each event? What is good about every event and what should be continued?

Sofia Mensurado: I honestly think that this year the Meeting went really well. There is a very positive point, and that is the possibility of being able to interact, even within the Institute, with people from other areas, that helps us a lot and is an added value. It forces us to communicate and broaden our horizons, because we discuss themes other than the ones we are dealing with.

Helena Brigas: We got really good feedback from all the participants, in general everyone liked the talks and the topics that were presented. This year and for the first time, we had international students from the Pasteur Institute, which brought more diversity. It was a very important exchange that facilitates new collaborations. And also we learnt to give presentations to people that aren’t from our areas. It’s an excellent exercise!

However, there is always room for improvement. What would you improve??

Sofia Mensurado: The students from the clinical area don’t have a very active participation at the Meeting. We still haven’t understood why that’s happening. Either they are not getting the information, or they haven’t yet realised the importance that such an event may have for them, or maybe they are not being encouraged by their supervisors. We, at the Institute, are encouraged by our researchers and we know the advantages of participating; as for the clinicians, we can’t understand what is happening. I would say that the only thing we are missing, at this point, is the participation of the clinical area, not only of students, but also of professors who could help us a lot.

It’s possible that these students from the clinical area also have a problem of a lack of time, but that is actually a problem that affects all of us.

Another aspect is that, whilst it’s very important for us to learn about the research that is being developed by doctors, the research we are developing is also important for them, and that message should be passed on. It’s a win-win situation. Another important objective of the Meeting is that we have the opportunity to grow with each other. The CAML stands for this.

Even when we need patients for our research, things are very difficult. This barrier between basic research and clinical research is very difficult to overcome.

Helena Brigas: We always try to bring a more clinical speaker but even so, although some professors are present, they do not bring their teams. We have the notion that some students apply and don’t show up. Occasionally, there is an oral presentation, the presentation of a poster, but there is no continuity. What we can try to do is bring a student from the clinical area to the Organisation Committee.

We also have retreats for PhD students and other activities but, even in these activities, those who participate are mainly from the basic research area and not from the clinical area.

Helena Brigas and Sofia Mensurado know that when they finish their PhD they will want to stay close to the area of health and that the best way to do it will be through research in the vast world to which they have already been introduced – Science.