The PhD programme was advertised through international channels, including EURAXESS. The recruitment process followed the Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers (EURAXESS, Researchers in motion), and was based on the Open, Transparent and Merit based Recruitment of Researchers (the OTM-R principle) within the European Research area (ERA). The programme recruited 16 PhD students.
The doctoral training within CanFaster was divided into four parallel work packages, e.g. scientific training in cancer research, CanFaster specific training, intersectoral, international training and LU specific mandatory training. The work packages were tailor-made to each ESR. However, the basic framework is provided by LU to ensure that the ESRs fulfill the criteria for doctoral degree defined by the Higher Education Ordinance in Sweden. The CanFaster programme offered several courses within IP, commercialization and clinical implementation as well as secondments in industry or clinical setting.
During the first two year of the Ph.D. studies, the majority of students finished all mandatory courses, worked on their research projects, and attended courses and seminars improving their soft and entrepreneurial skills. They were very active and managed to obtain travel grants of 326 000,- SEK as well as a research grant of 226 000,- SEK. Five of the students successfully performed their half-time Ph.D. presentation. Unfortunately, many of the project got delayed and many of the planned secondments got postponed due to the Corona spread in the world. Despite that, all ESRs adapted to the situation and altered their projects and working habits to successfully continue their projects.
The last two to three years of the PhD studies were dedicated to finalizing the research work, disseminating results, taking industrial and/or clinical secondments as well as writing the PhD thesis. All CanFaster ESRs underwent an education in research collaboration, innovative thinking, and entrepreneurial skills. Tight collaboration was established with Lund Life Science Incubator SmiLe which offered additional entrepreneurship courses (12/16 took them) and networking opportunities. All ESRs finished their secondments and/or clinical shadowing which resulted in tight collaboration or an employment contract for many of them (8/16). Two patent applications are in the preparation or submission phase. Journal clubs, networking events and job fairs were attended and also organised by CanFaster fellows. Additional travel and research grants were obtained by ESRs (135590,- SEK) and dissemination and exploitation activities were maximized after the end of pandemics. In total 81 scientific conferences, 61 workshops, and 83 other scientific events were attaneded by ESRs and their PIs. Three conferences and eight workshops were organized to disseminate CanFaster scientific results. However, social media were mostly used to disseminate and communicate results with scientific audience and the general public, on top of press releases, interviews, videos, and the CanFaster website.
