Graduation

Doctoral students organised their own symposium

Research Training Group 1957 focuses on the interaction of fatty tissue and the brain – keynote speakers from Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Munich.

On 14 and 15 March, the doctoral students from the University of Lübeck’s Research Training Group 1957 invited guests to an international symposium at the Media Docks Lübeck. The symposium, which this year was held for the second time and was well-attended by over 100 participants from various European countries, was fully organised by the doctoral students themselves.  

Alongside German and international experts, the young researchers discussed the latest insights into communication between fatty tissue and the brain as an important body axis in metabolic regulation. There were talks on the effect of circadian rhythms on metabolism, the significance of brown fatty tissue and the blood-brain barrier. The keynote speakers were Prof. Thorkild Sørensen (Copenhagen), Prof. Andries Kalsbeek (Amsterdam), Dr. Cristina García Cáceres (Munich), Dr. Karolina Skibicka (Gothenburg) and Prof. Camilla Schéele (Copenhagen).

Talks and poster presentations by the young scientists rounded out the programme. After the main event, there was an informal get-together where the  issues could be discussed again and in more detail.

The symposium’s Poster Award, sponsored by the European Society of Endocrinology, was won by Francesca Raffaelli and Elvira Sandin from Lübeck. Alongside the German Research Foundation, the 2nd Adipocyte Brain Crosstalk Symposium was also funded by a Small Meeting Grant from the European Society of Endocrinology, and other sponsors from the field.

Research training groups are funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The doctoral students are part of a group made up of doctoral candidates and scientists who together conduct research in a particular area. The frequently interdisciplinary subject matter of a research training group matches the profile of the respective university and the main research areas of the scientists who supervise the doctoral work. The groups provide participants with an excellent opportunity to further develop their qualifications in a specialised and interdisciplinary manner, to acquire additional key competencies for their future careers, to make important new contacts, and to swiftly complete their doctorates.

• Full details on the symposium: www.grk1957.uni-luebeck.de/training/symposium-2019/organization.html