Editorial Norbert Polacek - The Messenger No. 7
Dear colleagues,
Training and Education has always been a main pillar of the NCCR RNA & Disease. Some activities in that area have preceded the actual research activities. The NCCR RNA & Disease officially started its activities in May 2014 and concomitantly the new NCCR PhD program in "RNA Biology" was born. Such a kick-start was only possible due to the strong dedication of many NCCR colleagues to indeed reach our professed education goal which is to "set up a Swiss RNA research network & attract students with an interest in RNA biology and its applicability in medicine".
Now, at the end of the first phase of NCCR RNA & Disease more than 30 PhD students are enrolled in the PhD program. This is however by far not the only activity in training & education. Other highlights are the RNA biology lecture series, research seminars by invited speakers, and the summer schools. In fact, we just had our second summer school in August 2017 which was, such as the first one two years ago, a big success on all fronts. It is of note that we are constantly developing further measures, such as the most recently launched PreDoc program. This program allows motivated master students to rotate for one year through different NCCR labs before actually starting a PhD project.
Thus the NCCR training & education program is up and running since the very beginning of our network and contributes significantly to the success of the NCCR RNA & Disease
Norbert Polacek, Delegate Training and Education & Principal Investigator NCCR RNA & Disease