RETORNA team is back after the well deserved holidays!
Our DCs returned to their labs, most of them said hi to their abbandoned cells and started again with the experiments, research, conferences and so on!
It was taugh to restart but they got into the new lab routine quite fast thanks to their great ability of adaptation!
And, as they don’t get enough with researching, some of them are busy also with getting ready for conferences, arranging secondments, attending courses, preparing communication events!
🌟2 years PhD
This month 4 of our DCs have finished their first 2 years of PhD programme: Maria Eduarda from Catholic University of Valencia, Nathalie from the University of Tubingen, Enola and Ceren from the University of Alicante. But the first one to reach this stage is Vaishnavi from the Leiden University Medical Center, that already in August complished 2 years.
Moreover, on the 2nd of September Vaishnavi presented the progress of her entire PhD in front of many people including professors in the department.
Congratulations to all of them for their passion and commitment to the project, to the research and to improving people’s health!
Check on our social media what they have to say about these first 2 years:
🌟Secondments
- Claire has started her secondment at Salutem Insights, our associated partner from Ireland specialized in high-quality health economic research, such as health technology assessments (HTA), burden of illness reports, systematic literature reviews, and reports on the Irish healthcare system. This experience will take her to meet the team and see how a company is organized and coordinated, becoming one added member of the staff and creating a powerful network useful for her actual and future career.
- Chiara is continuing her secondment in Denver, Colorado at University of Colorado under the supervision of prof. Miguel Flores-Bellver. Last month already…:)
🌟Training activities
- From the 22nd until the 26th of September Claire was in Aberdeen, Scotland where she attended a course on Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) in health and care, provided by the Health Economics Research Unit of the University of Aberdeen. This interactive three-day course offered a thorough introduction to both the theory and practical application of DCEs. In addition to being of invaluable help for her studies, this experience also gave her the opportunity to connect with other participants from a wide range of professional and academic backgrounds. As we keep on saying: training activities are a great opportunity of networking!
- From the 24th until the 27th of September 2025 Ioannis attended online the CECAM workshop organized in Lugano, Switzerland. The topic was “Generative AI and large language models for protein modeling across sequence-structure-function scales: From predicting protein dynamics to programmable biology and drug design“. This hybrid workshop regarding generative AI on biologics will enhance with skills needed for DC5 milestone fulfilment. More information of the workshop here.
- On the 23rd of September 2025 Enola attended the online sessione on “How can we effectively use AI for research?”
🌟Engagement activities
European Researchers’ Night was celebrated all around Europe during the last Friday of the month, more exactly the 26th of September 2025.
For the ones not familiar with this event, the European Researchers’ Night is an annual event that has the main aim of bringing science closer to society in an engaging and interactive way. The main objectives of this initiative are to: connect researchers with the public, inspiring young people to pursue scientific careers. Moreover it aims to show the impact of research on everyday life and create a place of dialogue between science and citizens.
At Universidad Católica de Valencia the research team of prof. Javier Sancho Pelluz and of prof. Jorge Barcia planned an event “The eyes: windows to the world” in which the public could learn about the European research project, meet scientists and learn curiosities about this important sense that is the sight.
See you in October!
RETORNA team