Timeline & Deliverables
MSCA projects have a clearly defined timeline, in order to ensure success of the Early Stage Researcher (ESR) recruitment and training, and to support the smooth running of the interaction between the ITN team and the European Commission agency to which it reports, the Research Executive Agency (REA). The training of the the ESRs involves hands on research, numerous scientific meetings and workshops, for learning both transferrable skills and advanced research skills.
SECRET-ITN Project Timeline
Final SECRET Annual Meeting – organised by the beneficiary VU University Medical Center Amsterdam (VUmc), in Amsterdam
9th-10th March 2023
The entire SECRET-ITN team has gathered in Amsterdam for the third and final annual meeting, organised by Prof. Connie Jimenez, representative of our beneficiary in Amsterdam, VUmc. We had a rich schedule over the two full days of our event, with all the ESRs presenting an overview of their PhD project work. We also had two exciting keynote speakers, Prof. Karin de Visser and Prof. Roderick Beijersbergen, both group leaders at The Netherlands Cancer Institute. It was a great opportunity to exchange results, ideas, suggestions and make plans for future collaborations.
SECRET “Tailor Made Job Applications” online workshop – organised by coordinator USTUTT with support from its graduate organisation GRADUS
8th-9th December 2022 & 6th-7th February 2023
In order to be able to work in small groups and have an interactive and comprehensive experience, the 15 ESRs were split in two groups and participated separately on two different occassions in the 2-day online workshop led by Mr. Matthias Merkelback from ImpulsPlus (Stuttgart). The early stage researchers learned how to best approach the job application process, revised their CVs and cover letters and got valuable training for the interview process.
Deliverable:
Initial Deadline 30.11.2022
Revised Deadline: 31.01.2023
D5.7 Report on Exploitation Workshop
SECRET “Exploitation” online workshop – organised by beneficiaries Protavio (PAO) and Anaxomics (AX)
November, 2022
The ESRs got a hand-on approach to learning about exploitability of research discoveries, and the road to commercialisation. They all prepared 3-minute pitch presentations on their creative biotech ideas, and competed for the best pitch awards! We are thankful to our organisers, Leo Alexopoulos (PAO) and Judith Farrés (AX), as well as to our guest committee member, Julia Schüler (CRDS), and to all the ESRs participating with great enthusiasm into our exercise!
ESR 3, Merih Özverin, seconding at MUI:
November – December 2022
Merih (ESR 3) hosted at the USTUTT in Germany, is seconding for two months at the Medical University of Innsbruck, in the lab of Prof. Hesso Farhan (MUI).
SECRET “Careers in the Life Sciences” seminar series – talk from Dr. Frank Mühlenbeck, Managing Director at EMBL Ventures
October 20th, 2022
Title: “There is life outside the lab for scientists!”
SECRET “Careers in the Life Sciences” seminar series – talk from Dr. Barbara Janssens, head of Career Services & Alumni Relations at DKFZ
October 11th, 2022
Title: “From Publishing to Career Guidance”
ESR 14, Alexia Gali, seconding at USTUTT:
October – December 2022
Alexia (ESR 14) hosted at the PAO in Athens, is seconding for two months at the University of Stuttgart, in the Hausser lab (USTUTT).
ESRs 8, Negar Parizadeh, seconding at CRDS:
October 2022
Negar (ESR 8) hosted at the CRDS in Naples, is seconding for two weeks at the Charles Rivers Laboratories (CRDS) under the supervision of Dr. Julia Schüler.
ESRs 9, Madalena Monteiro, seconding at MUW:
September – December 2022
Madalena (ESR 9) hosted at the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam, is seconding for three months at the Medical University of Vienna (MUW) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Helmut Dolznig.
Deliverables:
By 30.09.2022
D1.3 Report on integration of modelling and experiments (WP1)
D2.3 Prototype assays covering systems biomarker candidates and validation strategies established (WP2)
D3.6 Report on IRP based training, includ. secondments III (WP3)
D3.7 Reports on network-wide training events III (WP3)
D4.7 Annual Progress Report III (WP4)
D5.6 Annual Dissemination and outreach report III (WP5)
EMBO course: Communicating Research in Innsbruck
September 19th-20th, 2022
The meeting constituted two half days of interactive course and nice opportunities to connect during the meet & greet over lunch as well as the meeting dinner.
Group picture of SECRET-ITN ESRs during the EMBO workshop, taken in the Biocenter (CCB) of the Medical University of Innsbruck. ESRs 12, Mario Macìa Guardado, seconding at CRDS:
September – December 2022
Mario (ESR 12) hosted at the Medical University of Vienna (MUW), is seconding for three months at the Charles Rivers Laboratories in Freiburg (CRDS) under the supervision of Dr Julia Schüler.
ESRs 10, Catarina Marques, seconding at PAO:
August – September 2022
Catarina Marques (ESR 10) hosted in VUMC, was seconding for one month at ProtAtOnce in Athens (PAO).
SECRET “Careers in the Life Sciences” seminar series – talk from Dr. Christian Tidona, Founder and Managing Director, BioMed X Institute
July 15th, 2022
Title: “Research Career Perspectives at the Interface between Academia and Industry”
SECRET “Careers in the Life Sciences” seminar series – talk from Dr. Eleanor Sum, Director, Worldwide MSL Strategy & Medical Information Breast & Women‘s Cancers, Novartis
July 1st, 2022
Title: “From lab bench to medical affairs”
The first SECRET-ITN in person Annual Meeting in Vienna
June 24th, 2022
The meeting constituted a full day of ESR presentations, with relevant discussions and suggestions, a great keynote lecture on organotypic 3D tumor models by Dr. Wolfgang Sommergruber from Boehringer Ingelheim, and a nice opportunity to connect during the evening’s annual meeting dinner.
Group picture of SECRET-ITN members during the Annual Meeting dinner, taken in front of the Schottenkirche in Vienna. “3D cell co-culture models and in vivo models” Workshop in Vienna
June 20th to 23rd, 2022
A four day practical and theoretical workshop focusing on state-of-the-art 3D cell culture assays, as well as in vivo models was organised in Vienna by Assoc. Prof. Helmut Dolznig (MUW) and Dr. Julia Schüler (CRDS). It featured practical work with 3D culture techniques, theory on mouse models, guest lectures from Dr. Wolfgang Sommergruber (Boehringer Ingelheim), teamwork, data analysis and results presentations. Mario Macìa Guardado, the ESR from MUW, as well as Hazal Yilmaz and Jacqueline Bersano, ESRs that had seconded at MUW, participated with roles of tutors in the practical course.
All the ESRs were highly motivated and had a lot to learn during the intensive course at MUW. ESRs 7, Eleni Skourti, seconding at MUW:
June – November 2022
Eleni Skourti (ESR 7) hosted in Oslo (OUH), is seconding for five months at the Medical University of Vienna in the Dolznig group (MUW).
Juan Manuel, ESR 11 seconding from May 2022 at VUmc:
May – August 2022
Juan Manuel García Illarramendi (ESR 11) hosted at Anaxomics, started his secondment in the group of Connie Jimenez at the Oncoproteomics Institute, at beneficiary institution VUmc in Amsterdam.
SECRET “Careers in the Life Sciences” seminar series – talk from Dr. Till Wenger, Head of Development Core Technologies, Viral Therapeutics Center, Biologics Development, Boehringer Ingelheim
May 23rd, 2022
Title: “Moving along a Scientist‘s Path – from cell biology to drug development”
ESR 4, Amirabbas Parizadeh, seconding at USTUTT:
April 25th – May 6th, 2022
Amirabbas Parizadeh (ESR 4) hosted in Innsbruck at the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI), Austria, is seconding in the Hausser lab, at the Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology in Stuttgart.
ESR 8 seconding from December 2021 at MUI:
December 2021 – October 2022
Negar Parizadeh (ESR 8) hosted at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Naples in the Luini lab, is seconding in the group of Prof Farhan at the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI), Austria.
ESRs 1 and 5 seconding as of November 2021:
November 2021
Renata Hajdu (ESR 5) hosted at the Medical University of Innsbruck in the Farhan lab, is seconding in the group of Prof Christian Behrends at the partner organisation LMU Munich (LMU), Germany.
November – January 2021
Hazal Yilmaz (ESR 1) hosted at the University of Stuttgart in the Hausser lab, is seconding in the group of Prof Helmut Dolznig at the Department of Medical Genetics at the Medical University of Vienna (MUW), Austria.
ESRs 6, 13 and 15 seconding from October 2021:
October – December 2021
Célia Asdih (ESR 6) hosted at the University of Freiburg (UKLFR) in the Brummer lab, is seconding in the group of Prof Hesso Farhan at the Institute of Pathology of the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI), Austria.
Jacqueline Bersano (ESR 13) hosted at the Charles Rivers Laboratories (CRDS) under the supervision of Dr Julia Schüler, is seconding in the group of Prof Helmut Dolznig at the Department of Medical Genetics at the Medical University of Vienna (MUW), Austria.
Lorenzo Signorini (ESR 15) hosted at the Tel Aviv University (TAU) in the Sharan lab, is seconding in the group of Prof Connie Jimenez at the Oncoproteomics Institute of VU Medical Center Amsterdam (VUmc), the Netherlands.
Deliverables:
By 30.09.2021
D1.2 Quantitative data sets and systems model prototypes I (WP1)
D2.2 Quantitative data sets and systems model prototypes II (WP2)
D3.4 Report on IRP based training, includ. secondments II (WP3)
D3.5 Reports on network-wide training events II (WP3)
D4.5 Report on Mid-Term Check (WP4)
D4.6 Annual Progress Report II (WP4)
D5.4 Commercialization & Exploitation plan I (WP5)
D5.5 Annual Dissemination and outreach report II (WP5)
ESR 12 seconding from August to September 2021 at GU:
August – September 2021
Mario Macía Guardado (ESR 12) hosted at the Medical University of Vienna in the Dolznig lab, is seconding in the group of Olivier de Wever at the Department of Radiation Oncology and Experimental Cancer Research of Ghent University (GU), Belgium.
ESR 11 seconding from July 2021 at UAB:
July – September 2021
Juan Manuel García Illarramendi (ESR 11) hosted at Anaxomics, starts his secondment in the group of Xavier Daura at the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
SECRET seminar series – June session
June 15th, 2021
Featuring talks from Roded Sharan from the Tel Aviv University, and from Hesso Farhan, from the Medical University of Innsbruck.
Abstract Writing Workshop
May 26th and June 9th, 2021
A two day digital transferrable skills workshop focusing on abstract writing for scientific publications.
Biostatistics Workshop
May 20th – 21st, 2021
A two day workshop focusing on data analysis and statistics of common experimental assays (single cell data from microscopy studies).
SECRET seminar series – May session
May 18th, 2021
Featuring talks from Alberto Luini from the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (IBBC) belonging to the National Research Council of Italy, and from Helmut Dolznig, from the Institute of Medical Genetics of the Medical University of Vienna.
2 ESRs seconding from May to July 2021 at USTUTT:
May – July 2021
Madalena Monteiro (ESR 9) hosted in the Jimenez group at VUmc, starts her secondment in the Hausser group at the Institute for Cell Biology and Immunology in Stuttgart (USTUTT).
Catarina Marques (ESR 10) hosted at VUmc, starts her secondment in the Hausser group at the Institute for Cell Biology and Immunology in Stuttgart (USTUTT).
SECRET seminar series – April session
April 20th, 2021
Featuring talks from Monilola Olayioye from the Institute for Cell Biology and Immunology at the University of Stuttgart, and Lina Prasmickaite from the Oslo University Hospital.
Transferrable Skills Workshop – Strong Presentations
April 7th – 9th, 2021
A three day transferrable skills workshop was aimed to boost the presentations of the SECRET ITN ESRs.
SECRET seminar series – March session
March 23rd, 2021
Featuring talks from from our two Freiburg-based PIs, Julia Schüler from our third private sector beneficiary, Charles River Discovery Research Services Germany, and Tilman Brummer from the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research at the University of Freiburg.
3 ESRs seconding from March 2021 at VUmc:
March – June 2021
Elena Gutiérrez Galindo (ESR 2) hosted in Stuttgart (USTUTT), starts her secondment in the Jimenez group at VUmc.
Merih Özverin (ESR 3) hosted in Stuttgart (USTUTT), starts her secondment in the Jimenez group at VUmc.
Alexia Maria Gali (ESR 14) hosted in Athens (PAO) starts her secondment in the Jimenez group at VUmc.
(Optional) Workshop Proteomics
March 15th – 19th, 2021
The SECRET ITN ESRs were offered the opportunity to join a one week digital workshop focusing on proteomics, an optional training event kindly organised by our beneficiary, Prof. Connie Jimenez from the OncoProteomics Laboratory at the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam.
SECRET seminar series – February session
February 23rd, 2021
Featuring talks from Leonidas Alexopoulos, founder of Protavio (UK) /ProtATonce (GR) and from Judith Farrés Marisch, Head of Collaborative Research at Anaxomics in Barcelona.
Launching the SECRET seminar series
January 19th, 2021
Featuring talks from the network coordinator, Angelika Hausser, leading the Membrane Trafficking and Signaling lab at the Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology from the University of Stuttgart and beneficiary Connie Jimenez, head of the OncoProteomics Laboratory at the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam.
Change of beneficiary
Due to move of Prof. Hesso Farhan from the University of Oslo (UiO) to the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI)
Termination of beneficiary UiO by 31.12.2020
New beneficiary MUI as of 01.01.2021
Amirabbas Parizadeh (ESR 4) and Renata Hajdu (ESR 5) are now hosted at MUI.
Amendment to the Grant Agreement accepted 19.10.2020.
Mid-Term Check
Online event, November 13th, 2020
We were happy to meet with our project officer, to walk him through our progress and successes, as well as our COVID-19-related struggles and solutions.
SECRET-ITN Annual Meeting
Online event, November 12th, 2020
The SECRET ITN consortium met digitally for a one day annual meeting, where we looked back over our progress for the past year and all the ESRs had a chance to present and discuss their first results with all the PIs and other ESRs.
Workshop Advanced Microscopy Techniques
November 9th and 16th, 2020
The workshop, organised by the SECRET members from the University of Oslo, was not only a way to learn new and exciting techniques, but also a great chance for scientific exchange, as SECRET ESRs got a chance to meet and interact with the ESRs from SAND-ITN, coordinated by our beneficiary, Prof Hesso Farhan, from the University of Oslo.
Milestone achieved:
MS3 Joint supervision arrangements in place (M7)
Achieved with delay by M9 for 13 ESRs and M13 for 2 ESRs due to difficulties in recruitment posed by the COVID-19 pandemic
Milestone achieved:
MS2 Recruitment process completed (M6)
Achieved with delay on M12 due to difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic
ESRs 10 and 11 started work in October 2020:
Catarina Marques (ESR 10) is starting her work on project IRP 2.2 in Amsterdam (VUmc), in the group of Prof. Dr. Connie Jimenez on the 1st of October.
Juan Manuel García Illarramendi (ESR 11) starting his work on project IRP 2.3 in Barcelona (AX), under the supervision of Dr. Judith Farrés on the 5th of October.
Deliverables:
By 30.09.2020
D1.1 (D1) Report on experimental approaches to mechanistically understand mutual regulation of signalling and secretion on a systems level (WP1)
D2.1 (D5) Joint report on approaches (WP2)
D3.2 (D10) Report on IRP based training, including secondments I (WP3)
D3.3 (D11) Reports on network-wide training events I (WP3)
D4.4 (D20) Annual Progress Report I (WP4)
D5.3 (D27) Annual Dissemination and outreach report I (WP5)
D6.1-D6.6 (D35-D40) H – Requirement No. 1-6 (WP6)
Recruitment efforts
Recruitment efforts for ESR11 (for the position at AX in Barcelona) paused temporarily due to the COVID-19 situation in Spain, to be re-started as a new call for application in late summer 2020.
New recruitment round for the ESR10 position at VUmc, due to discontinuation of ESR10 employment at the end of July 2020.
ESRs 7 seconding at PAO:
August-September 2020
Eleni Skourti (ESR 7) hosted in Oslo (OUH), is seconding for two months at ProtATonce (PAO) in Athens.
ESR Kick-off & Training Event
Online training events are adopted in order to ensure ESR training as scheduled. Transferrable skills workshops – Online meetings – July 28th – 31st, 2020
Participation of all 13 recruited ESRs.
The transferable skills workshops on:
- Ethics of Science
- Good Scientific Practice
- Self- and Time- Management
ESR Kick-off & Training Event
Planned for April 22nd – 24th, 2020 – Stuttgart
(Most content was postponed due to COVID-19 outbreak)
Participation of all 13 ESRs.
The transferable skills workshops and introduction to the data sharing platform planned as online events.
22nd of April – Introduction to the Data Sharing Platform (DaRUS) – online meeting
Deliverables:
By 31.05.2020 (Postponed to 30.06.2020)
D3.1 (D9) PCDP implementation and supervision structure (WP3)
Postponed due to delays in recruitment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
ESRs 15 started work remotely on the 1st of June:
Lorenzo Federico Signorini (ESR 15) starting his work on project IRP 2.7 in Tel Aviv (TAU), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Roded Sharan.
ESRs 6 and 14 started work in May:
Célia Asdih (ESR 6) is starting her work on project IRP 1.6 in Freiburg (UKLFR), in the group of Prof. Dr. Tilman Brummer.
Alexia Maria Gali (ESR 14) starting her work on project IRP 2.6 in Athens (PAO), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Leonidas Alexopoulos.
ESR 8 started work on the 1st of April:
Negar Parizadeh (ESR 8) starting her work remotely on project IRP 1.8 in Naples (CNR), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Alberto Luini. Relocation to Italy was delayed until June by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Deliverables:
By 31.03.2020
D4.2 (D18) Recruitment report (WP4)
D4.3 (D19) Data management plan (WP4)
D5.2 (D26) Project website and brochure (WP5)
ESRs 4 started work in March:
15.03. 2020
Amirabbas Parizadeh (ESR 4) is starting his work on project IRP 1.4 in Oslo (UiO), in the group of Prof. Dr. Hesso Farhan.
6 ESRs started work in February:
01.02. 2020
Madalena Monteiro (ESR 9) is starting her work on project IRP 2.1 in Amsterdam (VUmc), in the group of Prof. Dr. Connie Jimenez.
Hanieh Sadeghi (ESR 10) is starting her work on project IRP 2.2 in Amsterdam (VUmc), in the group of Prof. Dr. Connie Jimenez.
(*Mrs. Sadeghi is no longer with SECRET-ITN since 31.07.2020)
Jacqueline Bersano (ESR 13) is starting her work on project IRP 2.5 in Freiburg (CRDS), under the supervision of Dr. Julia Schüler.
03.02. 2020
Mario Macía Guardado (ESR 12) is starting his work on project IRP 2.4 in Vienna (MUW), in the group of Prof. Dr. Helmut Dolznig.
06.02. 2020
Zeynep Hazal Yilmaz (ESR 1) is starting her work on project IRP 1.1 in Stuttgart (USTUTT), in the group of Dr. Angelika Hausser.
Merih Özverin (ESR 3) is starting her work on project IRP 1.3 in Stuttgart (USTUTT), in the group of Prof. Dr. Monilola Olayioye.
ESRs 2 and 7 started work at USTUTT and OUH:
15.01. 2020
Elena Gutiérrez Galindo (ESR 2) started her work on project IRP 1.2 in Stuttgart (USTUTT), in the group of Dr. Angelika Hausser.
13.01. 2020
Eleni Skourti (ESR 7) started her work on project IRP 1.7 in Oslo (OUH), in the group of Dr. Gunhild Mælandsmo.
First ESR started work at UiO:
06.01. 2020
Renata Hajdu (ESR 5) started her work on project IRP 1.5 in Oslo (UiO), in the group of Prof. Dr. Hesso Farhan.
ITN 2019 Coordinators’s Infoday
22.11.2019
Participation of SECRET-ITN Program Coordindator, Dr. Angelika Hausser, and Program Manager, Dr. Raluca Tamas, at the briefing day organized by the European Commission.
Milestone
MS1 Committees set up (M1)
Deliverables:
Deadline: 30.11.2019
D4.9 (D41) Consortium Agreement Report (WP4)
D4.10 (D42) Supervisory Board Report (WP4)
First deliverables:
Deadline: 31.10.2019
D4.1 (D17) KOM Report (WP4)
D5.1 (D25) Data Sharing Report (WP5)
Kick-Off Meeting (KOM)
24.10.2019
Beneficiaries met to kick off the project.
Start of the Recruitment Period
01.10.2019 ongoing until end of March 2020 or until all Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) are recruited.
Consortium Agreement
Entry into force 01.10.2019
Grant Agreement
Entry into force 09.08.2019
SECRET ITN 