FIRST GLIORESOLVE PLENARY MEETING AND PHD CANDIDATE TRAINING EVENT TAKES PLACE IN DUBLIN
In June 2023, the 1st GLIORESOLVE plenary meeting and PhD candidate training event took place at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin. The event was held over 4 days.
The Plenary meeting took place on the first day, where all PIs and PhD students were welcomed to the project by Coordinator Prof Annette Byrne. All of the PhD candidates presented an overview of their research project. There were some interesting discussions regarding the sharing of preclinical models, aligning of methodologies and other important matters. The day rounded off with a network dinner at L’Gueuleton.
The remaining 3 days of the programme were focussed on training for the new PhD candidates. On day 1 there were three sessions, the first, ‘Science and Society’ focussed on research and scientific integrity and ethics. We were very pleased to welcome two experts from our Beneficiary Institutes to speak at this session.
Prof Suzanne van de Vathorst (Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Medical Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine at Erasmus MC) reviewed the importance of integrity with the GLIORESOLVE PhD students. There were discussions on falsification, fabrication and plagiarism, on the more nuanced questionable research practices, and finally on the incentives behind a loss of integrity.
Prof Ségolène Aymé (Emeritus Director of Research at INSERM and expert in residence for rare diseases at the Brain and Spine Institute) gave an extremely comprehensive talk on research ethics, covering topics such as use of human samples, use of data, artificial intelligence, and use of animal models. Her talk also covered conflict of interest, scientific communication, recourse to the generosity of the public, equal opportunities and eco-responsibility.
Day 2 saw the well-received workshops, focussing on time management and personal organisation, followed by project management. The training was delivered by Dr Margaret Collins from Training for Universities (https://trainingforuniversities.com/).
The final day of the training event was a workshop of patient and public interaction and engagement (PPIE). Sessions were led by Ms Fiona Keegan, GLIORESOLVE External Advisory Board (EAB) member and CEO of charity Brain Tumour Ireland, and Dr Michelle Flood, RCSI PPI Ignite Network Site Lead. Dr Flood gave two talks, the first was an Introduction to PPIE and the second was a workshop on how to explain scientific research to a lay audience. Ms Keegan gave an overview of Brain Tumour Ireland; how it was founded, the work that they do and the activities that they fund. The GLIORESOLVE students were then tasked to present a 5-minute talk on their research that was suitable for a lay audience. Feedback was provided by Ms Keegan and Dr Flood.
Overall, the first training event provided some key training for the GLIORESOLVE PhD students and also provided the first chance for networking between the students. We look forward to the next event, which will take place in Rotterdam!