Norwegian Research School in Infection Biology and Antimicrobials (IBA)

Infeksjonssykdomme rangerer blant de viktigste årsakene til dødelighet og sykelighet over hele verden. Gjennom tverrfaglig forskningsinnsats, der man kombinerer ulike strategier for å fokusere på både mikroben og verten, kan en oppnå bedre kunnskap om infeksjonssykdommer for å forebygge og kontrollere sykdom. Dette raskt utviklende forskningsområdet, kalt infeksjonsbiologi, er drevet av behovet for å utvikle nye strategier for å studere infeksjonssykdommer der det endelige målet er å forberede global helse. Selv om fokuset har primært omhandlet patogene interaksjoner, erkjennes nå mange interaksjoner mellom vert og mikrober som gunstige snarere enn skadelige. Dermed kan kunnskap fra infeksjonsbiologi både fremme helse såvel som å forebygge og begrense sykdom. I tillegg er økt antimikrobiell resistens (AMR) opphavet til store utfordringer i behandling og forebygging av sykdom, og verdens helseorganisasjon (WHO) anser AMR som en av de tre største truslene mot menneskelig helse. Dette understreker viktigheten av å bedre forstå infeksjonssykdommer og hvordan vi kan forbedre global helse.

Infectious diseases continue to rank among the significant causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. There is thus an obvious need to strengthen national recruitment and quality for promoting research on infection biology and antimicrobials in Norway. This task wa particularly challenging as infection biology involves several disciplines that are highly focused and not always integrative. Besides these intellectual barriers, there are both institutional and geographic hindrances. IBA provided research - based training and education enabling PhD students to develop into internationally competitive, productive, and creative researchers. IBA served as well as a national program in infection biology to drive international contribution and exchange. These efforts involved the creation and execution of state-of-the-art courses on relevant disciplines: principles of infection biology, bacteriology, virology, vaccinology, immunology, cell biology, chemistry etc. IBA further provided guidance and training in so-called soft skills relevant to scientific development such as data management, scientific writing, scientific illustration, research design, career development, and stress management. In addition, IBA strived to create opportunities for network building among trainees at an early stage of their research career. IBA also provided financial (travel and accommodation) support for students to carry out research activities at both Norwegian and international laboratories. Those forays have in many instances provided the basis for new collaborations across groups as well as strengthening ongoing interactions. In the short term, it is fair to say that IBA has played a significant role in remediating some of the gaps in higher education and basic science related to infection biology in Norway.

The driving force of the IBA proposal is that more knowledge of the host - microbe interactions at the molecular level is needed. At the same time, we need to gain a better understanding of microbial physiology and metabolisms to identify new drug targets. The aim of IBA is thus to strengthen the national recruitment base and quality for promoting research on infection biology and antimicrobials related to health and disease. A particularly important objective of this doctoral programme is to strengthen domestic and international networking in the subject area. By a concerted joint effort at the national level, the proposed programme will include basic and clinical research in a number of research areas and directions in accordance with the call for proposals issued by the Norwegian Research Council. PhD students and postdoctoral scholars working in different areas of infection biology research will be welcome to participate. Taken together, the main aims are to 1) provide research - based training and education enabling PhD students to develop into internationally competitive, productive, and creative researchers able to address the needs of the Norwegian community and 2) establish a vibrant, successful national program in infection biology that will drive (create, foster) international exchange and cooperation. Strategically, the latter is particularly important as the relevant Norwegian scientific communities currently have no established forum or venue through which to network with other national programs and related funding calls in Europe. Towrads this end, IBA will provide 1)lecture courses on topics of general relevance, 2) advanced training courses on specific methodologies and technologies, 3) workshops on specific topics of import, 4) an annual meeting, student-organized research retreats and national networking platforms, and 5) national and international research internships in relevant research laboratories