Annual Scientific Report 2015

EMBL International PhD Programme
at EMBL-EBI
Students mentored in the EMBL International PhD
Programme receive advanced, interdisciplinary training
in molecular biology and bioinformatics, and obtain
their degree from the University of Cambridge. We
provide theoretical and practical training to underpin
an independent, focused research project under the
supervision of a faculty member and monitored by a
Thesis Advisory Committee composed of EMBL-EBI
faculty, local academics and, where appropriate,
industry partners.
In 2015 we benefited from the presence of 30 PhD
students, welcoming five newcomers. Three students
successfully defended their theses: Ewan Johnstone on
cancer subtypes and glioma stem cell characterisation,
Nils Koelling on quantitative genetics of gene
expression, and Michael Menden on models of drug
response in cancer cell lines.
EMBL International PhD Programme students at EMBL-EBI. Back row, left to right: Ananth Prakash, Emanuel Gonçalves, Damien Arnol, Valentine
Svensson, Claudia Hernandez. Middle row: Anna Gawedzka, Nadezda Volkova, Lara Urban, Michael Schubert, Rachel Spicer, Sergio Miguel Santos. Front
row: Greg Slodkowicz, Matthew Jeffryes, Jack Monahan, Marta Strumillo, Daniel Elias Martin Herranz, William Coleman-Smith, and David Bradley.
Healthcare professionals:
a growing user community
Clinical practitioners have emerged as a growing
user base, and in 2015 we participated in a number of
UK National Health Service initiatives, for example
informing a Master’s syllabus for Genomic Medicine and
co-authoring a report with Health Education England
on how best to support the introduction of genomic
technologies within the UK healthcare system through
advanced training.
Industry workshops
The 22 members of our Industry Programme request
workshops on topics of shared relevance, and in 2015
we delivered 10 events on topics ranging from in silico
ADMET prediction and immunogenomics to Semantic
Web and electronic medical records for drug discovery.
Two of these workshops were delivered in the US, and
eight at EMBL-EBI.
Continuing professional
development
We are working to shape the continuing professional
development of Europe’s research community, in both
bioinformatics and transferrable skills necessary for
all successful research professionals. In 2015 we made
substantial contributions to the IMI-funded EMTRAIN
project and its comprehensive online catalogue of
biomedical and life-science training opportunities
throughout Europe. We also laid the groundwork for
training contributions to large-scale efforts such as
BioExcel for high-end computing, and the EU-funded
ELIXIR Excelerate, RItrain and Corbel projects.
EMBL-EBI Industry Programme members at a 2015 workshop.
2015 EMBL-EBI Annual Scientific Report 31