Research training and career development for young scientists in Barcelona
IRB Barcelona offers a multidisciplinary and competitive international environment for postdoctoral fellows to carry out research projects of their choice. The project IRBPOSTPRO (IRB Barcelona international postdoctoral programme) helped the institute establish a new fellowship programme for postdoctoral fellows to offer more talented scientists opportunities in research training and career development. Calls were published and promoted through the project website, online recruitment services, scientific journals, posters and email. A webpage was launched to provide information about the programme's activities and performance. Two-year fellowships were awarded to eight individuals through the first call for the programme, launched in December 2010. The second call, in 2011, resulted in 10 such fellowships being awarded. Targeting highly talented scientists and highlighting opportunities for European-wide mobility for training and career development, all 18 fellows were incorporated in IRB Barcelona laboratories. Project efforts helped provide an optimal scientific environment for researchers, preparing them for work as independent scientists in laboratories the world over. Work during IRBPOSTPRO also led to this component of IRB Barcelona having the highest international presence (51 % of the postdoctoral community). The postdoctoral programme has succeeded in making significant contributions to the fellows' careers and to the field of biomedical sciences in general. It continues to foster collaborative research projects between groups at IRB.
Keywords
Research training, career development, young scientists, biomedical sciences, postdoctoral, IRBPOSTPRO
