European Graduate College

GBB is together with the medical research school GUIDE the Dutch partner in a so-called European Graduate College (EGC-795) that was formally established in 2002 together with the Ruhr-University Bochum. In the framework of this collaboration, research and training focus on Regulatory Circuits in Cellular Systems: Fundamentals and Biotechnological Applications. For this program 3 years of funding was received from Dutch research council (NWO) and the Deutsche Forschung Gemeinschaft (DFG).

The aim of the program is twofold. The first goal is to stimulate Ph.D. students of the participating research groups from GBB (9 groups), GUIDE (4 groups) and the Ruhr-University Bochum (6 groups) to attend each other’s courses, masterclasses and symposia. The second goal is that the Ruhr-University Bochum develops a Ph.D. research and training program in a similar way as Dutch research and graduate schools have organized it, using a credit point system. Part of the training activities such as the annual EGC symposium and EGC masterclass are organized together.

In view of the overlap in research interest and existing collaboration between Groningen and Bochum groups, there are also attractive opportunities for research visits of the Ph.D. students of GBB and GUIDE as well as the newly appointed Ph.D. students of our EGC partners in Bochum . The purpose of the research visits is to further strengthen scientific collaborations and to offer the Ph.D. students access to dedicated facilities and expertise that is useful for their own research project. At present nearly 30 Ph.D. students are participating within the program.

Currently both partners have simultaneously applied for a second stage grant and the proposal is under review by the Dutch (NWO) and German (DFG) funding agencies.

Further details on the EGC program can be found at the EGC website.