Eureka Utrecht Virtual School

Eureka Utrecht Virtual School for Translational Medicine: Essential skills for impactful research beyond COVID-19

The successful Summer School for Translational Medicine held in Utrecht every year was virtual in 2021, because of the uncertainty of international travel this summer. So, the renamed Eureka Utrecht Virtual School explored the intrinsic difficulties of effective translational medicine. It was designed for early-stage researchers interested in this field.

COVID-19 has given the world one of its most significant challenges. Translational scientists play a crucial role in tackling these challenges, from developing and implementing diagnostic tests to treatments and vaccines and health policy.

The course description reads: This course will show you that addressing health care challenges (such as COVID-19), requires much more than deep scientific knowledge. Being an agent of change also requires an understanding of scientific and health systems and a complement of skills, including collaboration, critical thinking, reflection, creative problem solving and communication. The course aims to inspire, train and challenge you to become part of a new generation of translational scientists needed to identify and tackle the most urgent problems in medicine. You will join an international group of students across multiple continents in an online journey that will navigate through real-life examples of COVID related problems. However, it is not a course about COVID-19; it a course about you. It challenges your perspectives and ambitions, your talents and your role in the system. How do you want your research to contribute to health care and public health?