Back to search

FORSKSKOLE-Forskerskoler

NorHeart - The Norwegian PhD School of Heart Research

Awarded: NOK 23.7 mill.

NORHEART - The Norwegian PhD School of Heart - was founded in 2013 to improve the quality of Norwegian heart research through education of researchers in Norway. NORHEART was established based on an initiative from cardiac researchers at the four Medical Faculties in Norway (Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen and Tromsø), and has gathered researchers from all over Norway in one network. In 2021, the network has more than 400 participants, and even more people participate in the events organized by NORHEART. NORHEART has one secretariat per university region, four secretariats in total. It has been a strategy to include both senior researchers and early career scientists in the secretariats and in all activities organized by the school. In addition, one secretary, one technical assistant and one person responsible for communication have been part of the secretariat in Oslo. The steering group has met every autumn, and a working group has met every spring to plan future work and to perform evaluation of past work. Our modern and updated website (www.NORHEART.no) together with our monthly newsletters to members have been central in communicating our activities to cardiac researchers in Norway. NORHEART has had a particular focus on including candidates from research groups outside of the universities and university hospitals, in addition to members from universities and university hospitals. Moreover, it has been important to organize events in all four regions, and travel grants have been available for all PhD students to support participate at our events. NORHEARTs events have included an annual research symposium, regular courses, and ad hoc activities initiated by researchers from the school network. Annual CHFR Symposium on Heart Research has been very important for achieving the main aim of the school, i.e. to increase quality of research in Norway, and to build networks and contribute to career development for PhD students and cardiac researchers in general. NORHEART has organized the symposium in collaboration with Center for Heart Failure Research (CHFR). Every year, approximately 250 researchers have participated, with international leading researchers as guests and presenters. NORHEART has been responsible for organizing six sessions with presentations from young researchers. The young researchers have received evaluations and input from the international senior researchers. In these sessions we have had 60-70 presentations every year. At UiO, we have established a yearly introductory course covering cardiac medicine and research. Also, at UiO an introductory course to methods in cardiac research has been organized with lectures and practical demonstrations. The course has been fully booked every year with 20 participants. Other regular courses have had a more specific focus. At NTNU in Trondheim, we have organized a yearly course on exercise and heart disease in collaboration with St Olavs Hospital and Cardiac Exercise Research Group (CERG). Similarly, we have had a focused yearly course addressing central issues in cardiac imaging at the University of Bergen. In Tromsø, a hands-on course has been organized. NORHEART has also collaborated with the journal Nature and organized with them a yearly course in scientific writing and presentation. The course has gathered about 50 young researchers at various locations in Norway. In addition to the regular courses, NORHEART has promoted activities initiated by the members of NORHEART (PhD students and other researchers). One example is the seminar entitled Female heart in Bergen with focus on cardiovascular disease in females. Another example of such member-initiated activities is a practical course on mouse surgery in Oslo, that was led by an invited expert from US. The target group was PhD students that use such techniques in their PhD. We have also organized a course at Sommarøy in Troms with focus on systems for registration of data from experimental research. Support from NORHEART to PhD students that want to visit collaborating research groups abroad has also been important for our PhD students. Moreover, NORHEART has offered financial support to PhD students, postdoc and other early career members of the network who has wished to organise workshops on topics in their field of research. This support has provided an opportunity to invite researchers from abroad, for discussion of ongoing PhD projects in NORHEART. We have had a close collaboration with Center for Heart Failure Research to organize the annual research symposium, and in 2021 we organized this symposium in collaboration with Procardio, and NRC-funded center for innovation. We have established a formal partnership with the Norwegian Health Association, and initiated new avenues for collaboration with UiO and OUS. This ensures that our work to improve the quality of Norwegian cardiac research through excellence in education continues even after the funding period from NRC.

Et stort antall PhD studenter har gjennom NORHEART fått opplæring i generiske ferdigheter og fagspesifikk innsikt. Generiske ferdigheter, som for eksempel artikkelskriving, har PhD studentene fått gjennom samlinger ledet av redaktører fra Nature. Videre har studentene øvet generiske ferdigheter ved presentasjon av egne data med innspill fra noen av verdens aller beste hjerteforskere i forbindelse med NORHEARTs årlige konferanse på Holmenkollen. Fagspesifikk innsikt har studentene fått gjennom kurs og samlinger innen de mest sentrale områdene innen kardiovaskulær forskning. Vi vet at studentene har hatt særlig stort utbytte av å møte doktorgradsstipendiater fra andre grupper og andre universiteter. Vårt bidrag til utdanningen av studenter til den høyeste akademiske graden i Norge mener vi har hevet kunnskapsnivået, pedagogiske og administrative ferdigheter, samt forskingskvalitet for kandidater både til vårt helsevesen, akademiske institusjoner og norsk næringsliv.

- The PhD school will provide a framework for collaborative education of PhD students by leading researchers within the cardiovascular field in Norway including all major academic centers and several other strong partners located at various hospitals and university colleges (Høgskoler). - The organization of the national PhD school will be inspired by the well established structure and organization of the regional PhD school of Heart Research at the University of Oslo (www.heartfailure.no), but scaled t o a national level and with crucial improvements made possible by the expanded collaborative network. - The PhD school activities will be initiated and organized by leading seniors as well as early career scientist and PhD students, securing a focus on scientific quality as well as specific needs of PhD students in cardiac research. - The PhD school will be organized by a steering committee consisting of the director and representatives from four nuclei representing all university regions in Norway. Al l nuclei will receive financial support for local administration, and recruitment for these positions will be actively sought among PhD students and postdocs aiming for careers in academic medicine. - The PhD school network of scientists will actively su pport exchange of students and researchers between universities, university colleges and clinical departments in Norway, as well as spread of competence within the network. International exchange of PhD students through existing collaborations will also b e among the priorities of the school. - The PhD school will make candidates attractive for future careers in cardiac research through excellence in quality of PhD projects as well as formal and informal contacts with national and international collaborat ors.

Funding scheme:

FORSKSKOLE-Forskerskoler

Funding Sources