Successful study trip for members of the K.G. Jebsen Academy for Young Medical Researchers
The K. G. Jebsen Academy for Young Medical Researchers organized its first trip abroad to London in April/May 2024. The aim was to visit outstanding institutions to strengthen the participants’ international network and to gain inspiration for their own research.
Ellen Røyrvik, the head of the academy in 2023/2024 oversaw the academic program, as she is well acquainted with the medical research landscape in London: she received her PhD from Cambridge and spent a post doc period at the University of Warwick. She chose Imperial College London, The Crick Institute and the Wellcome Trust as institutions for the group to visit. Røyrvik traveled with 10 academy members from different centres, and the group’s visit to London lasted three days.
On the first day, the group had a meeting at the I-X Center for AI in science , which is a newly established center from Imperial College London that houses research groups that, among other things, work with AI in medicine. The group met several research group leaders from this field and could ask questions about the research after the lectures. Center manager Nick Jones took the group on a tour of the new premises on the White City campus, which is located west of the city center.
On day two, the group was invited to The Francis Crick Institute after a short internal professional update on ongoing projects. The Francis Crick Institute was established after the merger of two institutes in 2015 and now the entire Crick institute is co-located in a new and functional building with core facilities, auditoriums and a museum. The institute houses over 100 small research groups within interdisciplinary health research that have access to the latest in infrastructure and technology. There are also extensive offers in career planning for both new group leaders and younger researchers in the groups. The academy members took part in a joint introduction to the institute by Professor Jonathan Stoye and were able to hear experiences from two young group leaders. After a tour of the premises, arrangements were made for individual meetings between the academy members and various research group leaders.
On day three, the academy members met the new director of the Wellcome Trust, Jon-Arne Røttingen, former chief executive of the Research Council of Norway. Røttingen introduced the organization and Wellcome trust’s head of policy Beth Thompson presented an overview of Wellcome´s work with policy and politicians to promote the interest of science.
Photos: SKGJ, we thank Beth Thompson for taking the group photo with Jon Arne Røttingen on the front page..
