If you want to pursue a research career in biomedicine, this course is for you: it will provide you with knowledge on different experimental models commonly used in current biomedical research, as well as on the principles of scientific method and experimental approaches.

Under the supervision of scientists and teachers from seven CIVIS universities, you will practice by designing and discussing experimental approaches to address real research questions. Teaching is based on team-, active- and peer- learning activities.

You will be able to choose between 3, 5 or 6 ECTS by following virtual face-to-face sessions for 9, 15 or 17 weeks, respectively (1 or 3h/ week - see calendar) and one final week of physical face-to face sessions in Madrid:

• Presentation & introductory lectures: 1 week (3 compulsory hours; 1 lecture hour)
• Research workshops: 4, 6 or 8 models of your choice, 2 weeks/ compulsory workshop (1h/ 1st week + 3h/ 2nd)
• Physical mobility: 5 days (July 1-5)

Every workshop will have the same structure: 2 weeks of face-to face work (Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 15:00-16:00 CET) and compulsory attendance: week 1 - only Friday; week 2 - all three sessions for team work & presentations and peer evaluation.

The students will have:

• a week ahead pre-recorded 1h-lecture (most important concepts behind the scientist project) plus 1h-seminar on the teacher research. He will be on-line Monday and Wednesday for doubts and questions (non compulsory);
• 2 sessions (1h each) of team work (3-4 students) aimed at proposing and designing experiments to address assigned specific research questions raised at the end of the seminar. These sessions will be tutorized by the teacher (teams will be split in different virtual rooms). Teams will also prepare a simple 3-4 slides-presentation;
• 2 last sessions (1h each) for a team presentation of their proposals. These will be evaluated by the teacher but also by the peer teams. Both teacher and students will be provided with evaluation rubrics.

At the end of the course, all teachers and students will meet in person in Madrid for the physical mobility part of the program. During this week, the individual evaluation will also take place.

The physical mobility part will be running from 30 June to 4 July 2025 in Madrid, Spain and will include:

• visits to university's facilities and/ or laboratories; 
• individual evaluation of each student - written and oral presentation;
• general discussions on each model;
• personal feedback from scientists;
• closing ceremony including keynote speeches from young and veteran researchers.

City tours and local cultural activities will make the mobility experience the most enriching for all international participants.

Proposed program:

• Monday: teachers seminars
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 

- morning: written exam, individual presentations & individual feedback tutorial (up to six practical cases, similar to those presented and worked on during the workshops, will be proposed. The students will choose two of them for development, and afterwards only one to be presented in the following days. All teachers and students will be present and there will be individual feedback provided to each student);

- afternoon: visits to research facilities; cultural visit of the city; social program.

• Friday: course wrap up, inspirational seminar by an invited speaker and diplomas delivery ceremony.

The online meetings will take place between 3 February - 20 June 2025, as following:

Week 1: General lectures (compulsory)

• 3 February - Presentation
• 5 February - Scientific method
• 7 February - Experimental approaches

Then students will have to attend 4, 6 or 8 workshops (depending on the enrolled ECTS - 3, 5 or 6). Please note that dates are final, however workshops order can be changed, although the final calendar will be updated (if needed) before the enrollment.

10-21 February: workshop Yeast as a biotechnological tool with multiple applications: a model for dietary toxicology

24 February - 7 March: workshop Non-coding RNAs and RNA modifications in cell differentiation and disease

10-21 March: workshop Behavioral phenotyping of Mouse Models

24 March - 4 April: workshop Human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells differentiation for tissue engineering applications

13 - 27 April: Easter holidays spanning all different CIVIS countries

28 April - 9 May: workshop In Vivo and Ex Vivo Cancer Immunity Models

12 - 23 May: workshop Riboseq to understand proteostasis in disease

26 May - 5 June: workshop Models to study Angiogenesis

9 - 20 June: workshop Novel approaches to study Human Diseases