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Immunology doctoral program awarded 6.8 million euros
The trinational Eucor Consortium is expanding its offer to international doctoral candidates with EURIdoc, the Eucor Upper Rhine Immunology doctoral program.
16 February 2021
The European Commission will fund the new doctoral program for immunology, a project to be established by Eucor – The European Campus. A total of 28 researchers will complete their doctorates in the Upper Rhine region as part of the “Eucor Upper Rhine Immunology doctoral program” (EURIdoc). The participating partners of the interdisciplinary program include the Universities of Basel, Freiburg, Strasbourg, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Medical Center – University of Freiburg. The 6.8 million euro project will run for five years, half of which will come from the European Union, whilst the remainder will be provided by participating partners.
The core topics of EURIdoc are haematopoiesis and development of the immune system, innate and adaptive immunity as well as immune-related diseases. The project also focuses on the most urgent immunological problem of our time, Covid-19, and plans to develop new therapies for SARS-CoV-2, among other things. An important and essential element of this work is the collaboration beyond the university sector that includes four clinics and ten industrial partners. The doctoral candidates will be given the opportunity to spend research periods in leading pharmaceutical companies as well as in small and medium-sized companies.
“I am very pleased about our scientists’ success, which confirms how strongly we are positioned in the trinational Upper Rhine region in the life sciences,“ Prof. Dr. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, President of the University of Basel and President of Eucor – The European Campus says. “As a network, we are strengthening our strategic research focus on Personalized Health with this project.” The joint doctoral program builds on a long-standing collaboration among immunologists in the Upper Rhine region.
EURIdoc receives funding from the EU research framework program “Horizon 2020” in the Marie Skłodowska Curie COFUND funding line to promote the mobility of scientists. This is the second time that the European Commission has approved an application submitted by the European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Eucor – The European Campus in the research program “Horizon 2020.” In 2015, the five universities on the Upper Rhine founded the first EGTC supported only by universities.
Statements from the scientific leaders
“Doctoral candidates will benefit from industry involvement in the form of mentorships, research visits and training. Industry leaders will also contribute to the course program with, for example, seminars on intellectual property or entrepreneurship.” – Prof. Dr. Gennaro De Libero, University of Basel
“Within the context of EURIdoc, we would like to further investigate the fundamentals of immunology with young scientists from all over the world, but also work on its applications. In the long term, these may lead to new drugs, vaccines or therapies, for example for cancer, viral or autoimmune diseases.” – Prof. Dr. Christopher Mueller, CNRS / University of Strasbourg
“As the Upper Rhine Immunology (URI) group, we have been networking since 2017. We organize annual clinical workshops and scientific meetings. In addition to a Seed Money project aiming at cross-border connection among master’s programs, EURIdoc now forms another building block of collaboration and education in immunology in the Upper Rhine region.” – Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel, University of Freiburg
Further information
- Prof. Dr. Gennaro De Libero, University of Basel, Department of Biomedicine, tel. +41 61 265 23 65, email: gennaro.delibero@unibas.ch
- Prof. Dr. Christopher G. Mueller, University of Strasbourg, Immunology, Immunopathology and Therapeutic Chemistry - CNRS UPR 3572, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMC), tel. +33 3 88 41 70 27, email: c.mueller@ibmc-cnrs.unistra.fr
- Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel, University of Freiburg, Institute of Biology III / Signaling Research Centers BIOSS and CIBSS / Centre for Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI), tel. +49 761/203-67511, email: wolfgang.schamel@biologie.uni-freiburg.de
