1st IRMED Summer School
The 1st IRMED Summer School - Project design and management - was organized by Prof. Karsten Haupt and hosted at CNRS, Ile d’Oleron centre, France, from the 16th to the 20th May 2011. The Summer School was very successful and well attended. The event had gathered over 40 people to hear about and discuss science. All participants presented the most current data on their researches, showing the importance of MIPs in different fields. Participants came from the UK (Queen Mary, University of London and Cranfield University), Germany (Dortmund University) and France (Compiegne University of Technology, CNRS). The highlights of the school were the talks by eminent scientists in the field: Dr Iva Chianella, Dr Michael Whitcombe, Dr Elena Piletska, Professor Sergey Piletsky (Cranfield University), Professor Karsten Haupt (CNRS) and Dr Marina Resmini (Queen Mary, University of London). They gave an outstanding overview of the latest developments on the area of molecular imprinting and highlighted the exceptional applications of this field. There were also very interesting presentations from researchers with very different backgrounds, both from academic as well as industry. This school offered important opportunities for networking and development of new collaborations. It was also the perfect venue for the fellows to practice their presentation skills and to develop their confidence in preparation for their next career step. It was a good opportunity also for PIs to meet and discuss a variety of issues regarding the management of the project, from scientific all the way to recruitment, secondment and supervision. The Coordinator spent time, to talk to all researchers to discuss their experiences and to also receive comments and feedback.