PhD Day 2017: Keep it simple
Three scholarship recipients warmed up more than 500 participants at the PhD Day 2017 with short, research lectures. The day then continued with a mix of posters and oral presentations, key note lectures and informal socialising.
Acting Dean Ole Steen Nielsen welcomed the many participants to the PhD Day for the “first and last time as dean”. In his welcome speech, he emphasised the theme of the day – ‘Keep it simple' – by reminding the young researchers that they should make use of few, but strong instruments when communicating their research; both when it comes to poster presentations and in connection with funding applications.
Karthiga Thavachelvam, chair of the PhD Association, quoted Albert Einstein in her welcome speech: “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.”
In keeping with tradition, the annual PhD Day began with presentations by the three finalists for the Fogh-Nielsen scholarship. The excitement about who won first prize for the best performance continued until the evening event. This year, all three scholarship recipients came from the Department of Biomedicine. Here you can read more about how the scholarship was shared.
PhD student Junjing Su was the first Fogh-Nielsen finalist to take the stage. Junjing Su conducts research into the complex interaction between the heart, pulmonary system and blood pressure.
PhD student Morten Nørgaard Andersen was second man on stage and presented his research into the importance of the immune system for the development and treatment of cancer.
PhD student Maria Primo was the third and last finalist in the competition for the largest portion of the Fogh-Nielsen scholarship. She conducts research into the body's own regulation of the immune system's cells in connection with autoimmune diseases.
The PhD Day is an annual recurring event at Health which gives the PhD students the opportunity to introduce other PhD students and supervisors to their own PhD project.
Mina J. Bissell from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was one of the day's keynote speakers.
The PhD Day is also a day that encourages networking and discussions with colleagues and fellow PhD students between the presentations.