Borderless biomedical doctoral programme pushes research frontiers
Pushing the frontiers of science often demands expertise across a range of disciplines. This holds true especially where fundamental and applied science meet, and where disciplines such as medicine, computing and engineering intersect. Biomedical imaging, which involves capturing images of body anatomy and function for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, is a good example of this. Flexible thinking In order to further European excellence in this pioneering field, the EU-funded BERTI (Biomedical Imaging and Informatics – European Research and Training Initiative) project provided a group of doctoral students with access to cutting edge support from disciplines such as physics, medicine, engineering and informatics. The four-year project was launched in 2013 with the ultimate goal of training a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative biomedical imaging specialists, able to tackle complex issues and create new products and solutions. Each of the 14 BERTI doctoral candidates, selected from nine countries worldwide, was assigned two scientific supervisors as well as a mentor from the project’s industry partner. This ensured strong training for both an academic and an industry career. It was mandatory that each participant had a research period of more than three months at laboratories of the 15 international collaboration partners. The programme also provided training on aspects like creating a company and managing a project. “There are also different ways of imaging,” says Director of the Graduate School of Bioengineering (GSB) Prof Axel Haase from the Technical University of Munich in Germany of which BERTI was a part of. “Nowadays these procedures are often combined with minimal invasive surgery. For this reason, the BERTI programme included a module on robotics. Imaging also requires a great amount of data which are acquired in very short time intervals that have to be manipulated, so computer science was another essential part of BERTI.” While a few BERTI candidates are still finishing up their doctorates, most have now completed their projects. Some have gone on to work in academic institutions while others have entered industry. A couple of graduates are in the process of founding a spin-off company. “I think the programme has been very successful,” says Haase. “Learning from other disciplines proved vital for many of the papers that candidates have published.” Breaking down borders Achieving cross-disciplinary cooperation was not necessarily straightforward. “A physicist is interested in discovering new basic laws in quantum mechanics, solid state material, or particle physics,” he says. “Once they have understood a certain topic, they move on.” An engineer on the other hand will focus on solving a technical problem, while computer scientists are about bringing data together to form a basis of decision making for medical diagnosis. “We wanted to train doctoral candidates to become experts across disciplines and to become familiar with different fields,” says Haase. “They should be able to combine disciplines within their specific research topic.” A few doctoral candidates for example focused on applying magnetic resonance imaging to studies of the brain. This project involved understanding and measuring magnetic resonance, and determining what changes in measurements might mean in terms of neurodegenerative diseases. The candidate then had to apply this knowledge in a clinical setting. “The researcher really went from basic science through to diagnosing patients,” says Haase. The positive experience of producing highly knowledgeable and flexible scientists is something that will be repeated, Haase hopes. Many of the topics developed for the programme are still in place. There are than 50 doctoral candidates at the GSB at present, continuing to push the frontiers of engineering, physics, medicine and informatics.
Keywords
BERTI, imaging, x-ray, MRI, engineering, physics, medicine, informatics, GSB, magnetic resonance, doctoral, brain
