Training package 1- Crash course "start your PhD"
This training package will start immediately after the admission of the ESRs to the Doctoral School. It will be 12 weeks long and will consist of courses on discipline-related and transferable skills. It is an obligatory trajectory for all newly appointed ESRs. These 12 weeks will be used to provide advanced knowledge on a number of key disciplines and to introduce the ESRs to GIGA community as well as ongoing and planned research projects. The initial educational package provides a training on specialized biomedical courses, courses dedicated to essential methodology and some transferable skills. (Figure 1). This trajectory will be taught following a common pedagogic methodology to provide a coherent educational ensemble combined with hands-on experience.
Description of the courses:
Introduction/Orientation (Duration - 0.5 day). We start with welcoming new researchers to GIGA/ULiege, and an introduction to the institute and its thematic units. The ESRs will be asked to prepare a five-minute presentation about themselves to introduce themselves to the community. Additionally, team-building activities will be organised.
Ethics and research integrity (Duration - 0.5 day). Ethical challenges and norms for people who conduct scientific research will be discussed. In particularly following topics will be addressed: participation of humans and animals in research (ethical soundness, confidentiality, protection and informed consent), conducting research in a way that serves interests of individuals, groups, and society as a whole and a topic of research misconduct. ESRs will be informed about national regulations and requirements about research on animals. The contact information of persons at GIGA/ULiege responsible ethical questions will be provided. Open access publication policy will be discussed.
Experimental design (Duration - 1 day). The course will cover the topic of the preparation of an experiment. The ESRs will learn to ensure that the right type of data, sufficient samples size, and all necessary controls are available to answer the research questions of interest as clearly and efficiently as possible. Additionally, they will learn about the main considerations in the planning of a research experiment. What is the reproducibility of the results and how to ensure that? GIGA researchers will give examples of experimental design specific to their discipline.
Bioinformatics (Duration - 1 week). This course comprises two parts. The first will cover basic computer skills, Linux essentials and basic algorithms of programming languages. Some example of different programming languages will be given. The second part includes essentials of working with clusters. Additionally, initial knowledge of R and Python languages and their applications, data visualization principles and tools, and basics of working with big data will be taught.
Biostatistics (Duration - 1 week). Currently, more and more biological projects involve statistics and data manipulations. Most of the ESR, however, have a very limited knowledge on this subject. Our aim is not only to provide them with essential theoretical knowledge but to also provide hands-on projects to demonstrate the usage and necessity of such skills, including the discussion of common pitfalls.
Modern Biotechnologies (Duration - 1 week. GIGA technological platforms). Modern research largely relies on a variety of sophisticated techniques. GIGA comprises technological platforms covering the majority of modern methods in biology. Combined with complementary online tutorials on different technologies (provided by the GIGA platforms), this course will introduce the ESRs to the techniques offered by the GIGA technological platforms and the modus operandi of the common GIGA facilities. Following these tutorials and passing the examinations, will become compulsory before being given access to the specific facilities. The course will in particular focus on techniques available at GIGA and will be taught in collaboration with company representatives.
Reading a scientific article (Duration - 1 day). Reading and understanding research papers is a skill that every scientist has to learn. An eight hours course is designed to address this need and help inexperienced readers gain confidence navigating the contents of a research paper, understand it and make the first steps to critical appraisal.
Data analysis project (Duration - 3 weeks). The aim of this project is to teach students the main steps in data analysis. The first day of training package 1, the ESRs will be divided into three groups and each group will receive a project for statistical and bioinformatic data analysis. Building upon knowledge obtained in previous courses, the ESRs will need to complete a project under the supervision of GIGA researchers. The results of these projects will be presented in the form of a presentation and a small article (connected to Presentation skills and English writing courses).
English writing course (Duration - 1 day). This course aims to develop essential writing skills for effective scientific communication including the main steps of writing such as planning, drafting and revising. The course also highlights important questions and checklists of self- and peer review and give a short overview of reference programmes. The hands-on experience for writing consists in the generation of a report of the data analysis project that the students have completed.
Presentation skills (Duration - 0.5 days) The aim of this course is to master critical verbal and non-verbal skills in a hands-on learning environment with a focus on essential presentation techniques such as storytelling, effective use of visual aids and talk structure. The hands-on experience is based on a data analysis project presentation that students need to make in front of a broader scientific audience.
Discipline-related courses block (Duration - 5 weeks) This block includes disciplines that form the main lines of research at GIGA. The aim of this block is to further enhance the knowledge in these disciplines and to introduce ESRs to research areas at GIGA. It is also an effective way to get to know the GIGA researchers, which will help when deciding what laboratory to eventually join. These courses are designed using the same educational structure. Each course will start with the basics of the discipline introducing students to the main terms and definitions. This will follow by a steep learning curve going into more depth of the corresponding disciplines addressing the main current research challenges and questions and learning the main methodological approaches used in the field. Each course will include lectures, article discussions, presentations by ESRs and discussions with researchers. These courses are coordinated between each other to ensure a logical building line of knowledge and are supported by recommended literature and massive open online courses on the corresponding disciplines.
1. Genetics and genomics
2. Immunology
3. Oncology
4. Neuroscience
5. Molecular pathology. Focus on cardiovascular diseases
Managing your PhD (Duration - 2 days). A PhD is a huge undertaking that involves multiple forms of work, uncertainties, and changes. The aim of this course is to show ESR what it takes and what is needed to make such a project successful.
