NEWSLETTER

Kristina, you are the lucky recipient of the ‘Contributing to a better society’ award. Congratulations! Could you tell us more about your project?

Thank you. My project is about breast imaging – a new imaging technique for screening the breast. It is about the development of algorithms for a three-dimensional breast technique based on phase contrast imaging. The main idea is to show images of three-dimensional breast cancers with improved edges for better characterisation. I have been in the field of breast imaging since 2000, during my PhD studies in Greece. Thanks to the Marie Curie grant I was successfully reintegrated back into the Technical University of Varna, beside the beautiful Black Sea, where I had done my Bachelor studies. So I brought back all of my knowledge and experience.

How can science contribute to a better society?

The statistics are not at all optimistic. One in 10 women develops breast cancer in her lifetime, and someone dies from the disease almost every minute of the day. As a researcher and a woman, I feel a strong sense of responsibility to change these numbers! We can do this in many ways. I do it through my research, trying to develop a realistic computational model of the breast and to use this model to create and test new imaging technologies, as well as improve existing ones.

In addition, I organise dedicated workshops and talks for the public to explain, simply, why we do need to visit our radiologist once a year and have regular checks. Here I would like to emphasise that it is really important for the medical industry, researchers and medical doctors to be involved in such workshops, in order to discuss issues such as breast cancer, current technologies and our contribution to improvements.

Do you think that this prize will broaden your research horizons? How?

Yes, definitely. I am really happy about this award and I am now even more motivated to continue my research in this field. A dedicated laboratory for computer modelling and simulations in medicine has now been created in our institution. Wonderful, young, clever, and ambitious biomedical engineers are now involved in research on modelling irregularly shaped breast cancers.

What were your impressions of the MSCA Malta event?

The organisation was excellent and the people were very nice and responsive. I really enjoyed the event. I came back with so many new friends and new ideas for collaborative
work.

What would you advise researchers before they apply for an MSCA Fellowship?

To be a Marie Curie Fellow is a wonderful experience. Recently my friend Prof. Paolo Russo from Italy compared my story of moving from Greece back to Bulgaria to the story of Marie Curie, when she moved from Poland to France and then travelled all over the world to spread science, to get help and to help others. This is an amazing experience and I am really proud that I have had the chance to make the most of it. If researchers feel the way I feel, they should definitely apply. 

Camilla, you were a speaker at the MSCA 2017 conference in Malta and presented your start-up. Could you tell us more about your project?

PNAT is a startup that combines design technology and plants to create innovative products with synergic relationships between the natural and the artificial environment. PNAT (pronounced pi:nat, just like peanut) stands for ‘Project Nature’. Our main project is Jellyfish Barge (JFB), a floating modular greenhouse for urban agriculture that generates its own fresh water and energy using only solar power. It is a tool for urban agriculture, a proven strategy for providing fresh local food, as well as jobs and opportunities in cities. But farming has to compete for land and water access with other activities. Where can we find hectares of farmland close to cities, as well as millions of
cubic meters of fresh water to irrigate crops? And how can we fully exploit Urban Agriculture’s potential so that it has a positive social and economic impact on urban communities? Jellyfish Barge produces crops using very efficient hydroponics. The water 

needed is extracted from the body of water on which the greenhouse floats, whether salt, brackish or polluted water. All energy needs are met by solar power. So the JFB doesn't impact on a city’s land, water and energy resources. It simply expands the capacity of the urban environment to provide jobs, economic opportunities, social relations and urban quality. 

What kind of collaboration should start-ups establish with research?

In our case, collaboration with research is very strong. We are an academic spin-off from the University of Florence, and PNAT constantly merges and exchanges expertise with PhD students and researchers.

What were your impressions of the MSCA Malta event?

The event in Malta was really a good opportunity to exchange information and ideas with other MSCA alumni and Commission delegates. We also welcomed the opportunity

to have a small booth to showcase our company and we were able to make some useful contacts with Maltese companies and also with the University of Malta; we are already planning collaboration. 

Vesna, you were a speaker at the MSCA 2017 conference in Malta and presented your start-up. Could you tell us more about your project?

Mint Labs is an advanced image processing and visualisation company focused on brain data analysis, specifically using MRI, related clinical assessment and biospecimen data. Our aim is to provide state-of-the-art medical image processing algorithms in a seamless way to accelerate the development of new therapies for brain diseases via a scalable and collaborative cloud platform. 

Advanced image processing tools are not yet readily available to would-be users; clinicians and researchers must be proficient in coding, scripting, library installations and using diverse data formats to access the latest methods in brain image processing. On top of that, they need high-end computational resources to apply these methods. Our goal is to offer a solution to these problems. We reduce time and capital spent on data management and processing, thus ensuring the focus to be on achieving results and enabling new insights on the brain. 

By putting data management and analytics together in the same place, our platform facilitates the difficult process of patient selection for clinical trials, allowing researchers and doctors to efficiently track the patients

over time. As the patient’s disease stage can be quantified, and analytics combined with clinical scores and genetic factors, both the design and performance of clinical trials can be radically improved. This, in turn, makes it easier and faster to monitor patients’ response to therapy.

Automated processing and analytics also make it easier to reproduce studies, which is of critical  importance for the advancement of science as no true validation of findings is possible without it.

What kind of collaboration should researchers establish with start-ups?

There should be more internships available for MSc and PhD students in start-ups as well as more training on leadership, business development, strategy, IP etc. Within Marie Curie, this kind of initiative already exists, and I am also part of the MCAA working group Bridging Science and Business (BSB), which works to promote events that will bolster this kind of relationship.

What were your impressions of the MSCA Malta event?

The event was beautifully organised and there was a good balance of talks, hands-on sessions, panels and exhibition. However, I didn’t see a lot of interactions between the participants and the exhibition compared to

those that take place at a regular conference. I guess this is because the participants were from different areas of research and maybe there was a lack of direct connection between their area of research and the work being exhibited.

Do you have any suggestions on how to change this?

I just think that stimulating more discussions and visits to the exhibition stands could make the event more productive. Maybe this could be executed with a simple questionnaire that the attendees should fill in in order to get accreditation or a prize, something just to stimulate the initial conversation and eliminate any intimidation felt by attendees.

Could you describe the event Open Science. Challenges and Opportunities for Early-Career Researchers that took place from 26 to 27 April 2017 in Oslo?

Eurodoc organises an annual conference for its 36 national organisation members as well as interested early-career researchers (ECRs) and stakeholders. The theme this year was the challenges and opportunities that ECRs face when wanting to practise Open Science. Eurodoc invited the MCAA to take part in the event to continue and strengthen the good relationship between both organisations.

How successful was this event?

The event was a great success, largely due to the organisation by the local SiN, which ensured member and stakeholder participation and in interesting discussion on the theme of Open Science. More than 20 national organisations representing ECRs from all across Europe descended on Oslo, along with many local ECRs from Norway, to listen to specialists and express their views on Open

Science. There was also great interaction   between ECRs and the various stakeholders present, including the MCAA, European Commission, EUA-CDE, and Science Europe.

Why was it important to invite a MCAA Board Member?

It was important for Eurodoc so that our national member organisations could learn more about the vision and goals of the MCAA. It was also important for Eurodoc to strengthen our collaboration with MCAA and discuss how we can work together even more. It was wonderful having Kiran Kumar Chereddy from the MCCA present. His clear presentation on the MCCA and his professional and friendly interaction with our member organisations was much appreciated. 

How do you envisage future collaboration with the MCAA?

Eurodoc hopes to continue working with the MCAA on topics that are important for ECRs in Europe, such as working conditions, training

and supervision, career development and mobility, and equality for all ECRs. We aim to exchange information, which is important for both MCAA and Eurodoc members, co-organise events and workshops for ECRs, and actively work together on common national and European policy initiatives that benefit the members of both bodies.

Do you plan to invite other Board members to other events?

We certainly plan to invite MCCA representatives to future Eurodoc events and hope to likewise participate in MCCA events. We also hope to co-organise interesting events with the MCAA and invite our national member organisations to participate.

Kiran, you attended and spoke at the Eurodoc conference in Norway. How would you describe the event?

First of all, thanks to Eurodoc for inviting the MCAA to join their Annual General Assembly (AGA)- 2017 in Oslo. From the day of the invitation until the day of event, Ewelina Pabjańczyk-Wlazło, President of Eurodoc, took utmost care of the MCAA representation. The AGA gathered several Members, balancing different parts of Europe. I am also inspired by the fact that Eurodoc gives high importance to gender and regional balance. I will definitely take this experience to the MCAA for the coming GA-2018. Overall the event is very good exposure for the MCAA and it is good to know what like-minded associations are doing and how they are striving for improvements in European education and policy-making.

You gave a presentation. Can you give us an overview?

My presentation focused exclusively on what the MCAA and Eurodoc can do together, and where there are synergies. I introduced the vision and goals of MCAA, its different arms (Working Groups) and how they correlate with Eurodoc. I showed attendees that the associations have a common vision and aspirations for Europe. 

Did you manage to network?

I met several representatives from different associations looking at issues affecting PhD students. For example, EUA – CDE is

striving to get recognition for PhD students as employees so that they have access to social security benefits until they secure a position of interest after their PhD research. 

How would you describe Eurodoc?

Eurodoc is very strong in policymaking stream and in addressing the inequalities faced by doctoral researchers. They have strong links to the science arena and a huge amount of experience in contributing to science funding strategies at national and EU level. Eurodoc aims to advance the quality of doctoral programmes and the standards of research activity in Europe, to promote the circulation
of information on issues relevant to young researchers; organise events, take part in debates and assist in formulating policies about Higher Education and Research in Europe. Eurodoc also aims to establish and promote cooperation between national associations representing doctoral candidates and junior researchers within Europe.

I have no doubt that the MCAA and Eurodoc will be able to speak out on major issues such as the Horizon 2020 mid-term performance, science for refugees, inequalities in standards of doctoral research, etc.

What kind of collaboration with Eurodoc do you envisage for the future?

The MCAA-Eurodoc alliance is absolutely a win-win strategy. If we keep in mind that the MCAA wants to contribute to better science

policy and make itself self-sustainable, it would make sense to have joint initiatives and activities that benefit members of both associations.

Here are a few activities jointly supported by MCAA and Eurodoc:
■ co-sign joint policy and press releases;
■ joint working group activities: gender equality, mobile researchers, social issues;
■ joint innovative platforms;
■ sharing of best practices;
■ slots at career fairs / external representation;
■ public funding calls;
■ career trainings/workshops.

I look forward to great collaboration as associations work together for the betterment of PhD researchers in Europe.