The project H2020 MSCA-RISE 691110 MICROBRADAM developed innovative MRI technologies to investigate neurological diseases. Among the most striking features of the project was the involvement of young researchers from EU countries, which had the opportunity of travelling to different laboratories involved in the project during secondments that lasted 4-12 months.
"My secondment at Charles River in Kuopio was an amazing experience" - says Petra Bencúrová - "it allowed me to make valuable connections and develop skills in small rodent MRI. I have also improved my skills in bioinformatics and data processing, which are widely applicable beyond my current projects".
Maria Giovanna Di Trani worked and studied at the Minnesota University "this experience" - she declared - "considerably improved my expertise on MRI, representing the unique opportunity to learn recently developed MRI sequences in one of the most advanced research centre and share my assimilated knowledge with my research group."
Klára Holíková thinks that she was deeply enriched by her staying in Kuopio, while "working with animal models and MRI in general. A great benefit was to acquire experience how to work with these models, I also gained new information about newly developed MRI modalities and practiced knowledge of the physics of MRI".
According to Riccardo De Feo, "This secondment represented a valuable research experience, an opportunity to enter the field of computer vision from the point of view of medical imaging and further consolidate my knowledge by sharing it with my original research group".
The experience at the University of Minnesota - says Sara Ponticorvo - allowed me to work in an international environment, to acquire theoretical and practical expertise that I can now share with my co-workers and to establish new work-related connection for future collaborations".
Antonietta Canna, who worked at the University of Minnesota as well, expresses a similar opinion. “The secondment has enriched my background in the physics of MRI and introduced me with the novel imaging techniques for the analysis of different pathological conditions. I can now fruitfully utilize the obtained skills at my institution and share them with my co-workers".
"The experience gained by the young researchers involved in this project" - says Federico Giove, the coordinator of the project - "has the twofold meaning of increasing their knowledge and to boost their career perspectives. The RISE funding scheme of EU H2020 program is very important for stimulating knowledge sharing between academy and industry, and between EU and non EU countries”.