Final Activity Report Summary - MOLFUN (Molecular function in post-genome biology) The overall objective of the programme was for a single host to provide scientific, technical and complementary skills' training in the integrated application of techniques required to elucidate protein functions on a global scale. This would equip young researchers with the research experience and complementary skills required for careers as research leaders in post-genome science in the European academia, research institutes and biotechnology industry research and development, e.g. in healthcare and pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Two types of training were proposed: 1. long-term fellowships, comprising three years training that led to a PhD degree for six young researchers 2. short-term fellowships comprising training for four young researchers, recruited for an average of six months each, who were undertaking a PhD in an institution outside the United Kingdom. To ensure recruitment of high quality early stage researchers a two tier interview system was used, one with the prospective research supervisors and a second by senior academic staff, some of whom were external to the MOLFUN programme. Candidates were given the choice of research projects, led by the 13 members of the academic staff who participated in the MOLFUN team, to ensure they had a sense of ownership of their research from the outset. To achieve the training objectives, a training plan was proposed with key milestones and deliverables. This encompassed an induction and skills' audit, complementary skills' training by the University Graduate School and workshops covering both scientific and commercial topics, progress monitoring and outputs. The short-term fellows were recruited by advertising and personal contacts at, for example, scientific meetings and focussed largely on scientific training. Individual training programmes for the short-term fellowships were drawn up between the prospective fellow, their PhD supervisors and the Liverpool University supervisors.
