2nd NANODRUG Summer School - 5-6 September 2013 - Biarritz, France

The summer school was held on the 5th and 6th September 2013 and was attended by all NANODRUG Fellows as well as young researchers from two other EC projects: IRMED (IAPP) and CHEBANA (ITN). A total of 68 participants took part in this event. During these two days, the fellows could learn how to apply for a MSCA fellowship by Dr Marina Resmini and proposal writing, by Prof. K. Haupt. A presentation on The Marie Curie Fellows Association was given by the Early Stage Researcher, Kiran Kumar Chereddy from UCL to the participants. During the summer school, members from all three EC projects were mixed up into groups where they were given a project proposal to discuss and evaluate against the official evaluation criteria. The two-day program included lectures on complementary skills as well as a scientific lecture by Dr Andra Sinz from the Institute of Pharmacy, Halle, Germany on “Studies of protein - drug interactions by means of mass spectrometry”. After the lectures several discussions took place, the evaluation results of the proposals were recorded and a priority panel to rank the proposals ended the Second Summer School program in Biarritz.

These events offered important opportunities for networking and development of new collaborations. It was also the perfect venue for the fellows to practice their presentation skills and to develop their confidence in preparation for their next career step. It was also a good opportunity also for PIs to meet and discuss a variety of issues regarding the management of the project, from scientific all the way to recruitment, secondment, supervision and finally the completion of the 2nd year periodic and financial reports to be submitted at the end the 2013. The Coordinator spent time, talking to all researchers to discuss their experiences and to also receive comments and feedback.