During the spring of 2015 a survey aiming at facilitating planning of future activities of the National Doctoral Programme in Infections and Antibiotics (NDPIA) in line with participant’s suggestions was distributed. 25 NDPIA participants (of current 150) undertook the survey and the results are briefly described below.

Personal communication and information via e-mail were the most common ways of learning about NDPIA. Participants joined the programme to attend courses and for networking opportunities. Both thematic and non-thematic future network meetings were considered. A majority of respondents were in favor of discussions in smaller groups, however, to some extent also poster sessions (divided) and short PowerPoint presentations were considered. Both overview and in-depth lectures was requested and there was an interest in speakers discussing synergies between basic and clinical research. A variety of topics/themes for lectures were suggested. A majority of participants reported that it was likely or very likely they should network with other NDPIA participants via social media: LinkedIn > ResearchGate > Facebook > Other (such as www.academia.edu, www.ndpia.se, YouTube channel/video lectures). All planned course/workshop topics were of interest for the respondents, bioinformatics being most popular. Additional topics were suggested.
All but one of the respondents found www.ndpia.se useful or very useful. A vast majority of participants access the page once a month and/or when they are notified via e-mail.

The opinions on the overall views of the network meeting in Uppsala varied a lot and so did the opinions on the specific networking opportunities and the lectures. The networking opportunities together with the smaller format of the meeting were appreciated although increased time for poster sessions was suggested.

Many thanks to all NDPIA participants who filled out the survey!

This year’s meeting of the Nordic Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (NSCMID) will bring together researchers, practitioners, experts and companies involved in the broad filed of infectious diseases including diagnostics, prevention and antimicrobial treatment. The meeting will be held in Umeå 3-6 September, 2015, with two parallel workshops 3 September: "Meet the Experts workshop" and "Workshop on modern tools in infectious disease epidemiology".

Link to conference web site, program, registration etc.: www.nscmid2015.com.

Registered participants of the National Doctoral Programme in Infections and Antibiotics (NDPIA) are offered free registration and accommodation and the possibility to apply for co-funding of travel costs via https://ndpia.se/events/32nd-annual-meeting-of-nscmid-infections-and-antibiotics/
(at the bottom of the page).

All NDPIA members participating in the meeting are expected to attend one of the workshops 3 September and to submit a poster abstract.

The first registration dead-line is June 1, 2015 – after this date the registration fee is increased with 1000 SEK, not to be covered by NDPIA.

The abstract submission dead-line is June 22, 2015.

The first network meeting of the National Doctoral Programme in Infections and Antibiotics will be held in Uppsala 20-21 April, 2015, and focus on antibiotic resistance, including human, animal and environmental perspectives. The meeting will at the same time provide the first larger networking opportunity for programme participants. The meeting is a joint collaboration with One Health Sweden, a collaboration for researchers with interest in zoonotic infections.

Invited speakers include leading national experts and researchers in antibiotics and resistance mechanisms. Programme participants will give very short presentations of their research projects (irrespective of research focus), complemented by poster presentations – with an award for the best poster. Additional networking opportunities with participants and invited speakers will be provided.

The meeting and accommodation 20-21 April are free of charge for programme participants and all participants outside of Uppsala will receive co-funding of travel costs (if the need for this is indicated in the form below).

All programme participants are highly encouraged to attend this and future network meetings in order to establish the intended programme network.

Meeting venue: Gamla universitetet, hall IV (Universitetshuset)

Link to program

Link to the event with registration form (at the bottom of the page)

Dead-line for registration: March 11 2015, however please register as soon as possible in order to facilitate meeting logistics.

The following new courses have been advertised at
https://ndpia.se/events/:

Introduction to Bioinformatics using NGS data
RNA-seq
Epigenetic Methods
Introduction to Genome Annotation
Cellular Imaging and Confocal Techniques – Theory
Global Malaria Eradication

Now it is also possible for registered participants to access other participant’s project titles and descriptions together with e-mail addresses via https://ndpia.se/extended-user-list/ found under "For programme participants" in the main menu to the left.