TICARDIO’s dedicated training program established a joint doctoral degree structure between the beneficiaries CTH, CARIM, AMU and ISAS enabling young researchers to benefit from a joint supervision by international partners. Within this framework, which was actively supported by 5 industry partners (Bayer, BioCytex, Boehringer, TRON, 2M) TICARDIO successfully trained 14 ESRs in diverse research settings in leading research groups within the field of thrombo-inflammation and cardiovascular disease across Europe. In addition to distinctive research skills, ESR acquired industrial and entrepreneurial skills, enabling them to translate research findings into practical solutions and understand societal and industry needs through wide outreach and involvement in project coordination. This comprehensive exposure of ESRs to both academic and industrial settings in international and intercultural surroundings, accompanied by customized training opportunities, active mentoring, and extensive networking within the consortium comprising four academic and five non-academic/industrial partners sets the trained ESRs apart from their peers and equips them exceptionally well for a job market across the biomedical research field, which is currently in urgent need of highly skilled researchers.
The success of TICARDIO’s training program is best reflected by the graduations of two ESRs; four ESRs having submitted their theses for expected double degree completion within the upcoming months; all remaining ESRs anticipating to submit their theses within the year of 2024. Further to this, first ESRs have successfully secured high-competitive employment positions within highly ranked European research institutions.
The success of TICARDIO’s training program is further reflected by the excellent progress of all research projects and the constant dissemination of obtained results to a range of target groups, as summarized in the following paragraphs.
During the duration of the program the TICARDIO consortium including all ESRs actively participated in international conferences and events relevant for the research field, where they presented and critically discussed latest research results obtained of their respective projects. Multiple awards received by ESR at these conferences highlight the excellence of presented research results, including Vacik Diaz et al. being selected among 10 abstracts presented at the plenary highlights of the ISTH, which is amongst the most recognized conference within the field of thrombosis and hemostasis. A further highlight regarding conference outcomes is a position paper of the 2nd TICARDIO network conference, which is a joint effort of all consortium members and other conference attendees (Thromb Haemost. 2023 Aug;123(8):808-839).
A substantial part of results obtained during the program has already been published in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals in either Gold or Green open Access. The majority of publications are joined publications of a number of consortium members and / or international collaborators, again reflecting the strong network of the consortium reaching also beyond the consortium’s boarders. Further publications resulting from TICARDIO research projects are expected to be submitted and published within the upcoming years.
Amongst published review articles of the consortium, Zifkos et al 2021 (ESR1) was honored by the International Journal of Molecular Sciences for ‘Highly Cited paper’.
Further, ESRs actively participated in several outreach activities raising awareness for cardiovascular disease and health in general, and the importance of TICARDIO’s training and research activities for the public community in particular. The outreach of the consortium was further strengthened by all training activities and network conferences being open to the peer-community.
For the exploitation of TICARDIO project outcomes, ESRs and PIs were sensitized about IP rights and introduced to basic business skills and entrepreneurship through seminars, courses and discussions with the TICARDIO industry partners. All TICARDIO consortium members are thus well prepared for any commercialization opportunities and possible patents applications that may arise from the continuation of TICARDIO research projects.
Taken together, TICARDIO significantly increased the quality of research education in the field of thrombo-inflammation and cardiovascular disease across Europe, bridging curriculum disparities and fostering international recognition through double degrees. Both, the consortium’s strong research collaborations and the established framework for double doctoral degrees between the partners is going to persist beyond the program's duration. This is best exemplified by a ‘follow-up’ MSCA-DN proposal submitted in November 2023, with the majority of TICARDIO partners contributing to the proposal as envisaged beneficiaries or associated partners.
