Students from UNMC joined others from around the world to present their research at the International Student Research Forum (ISRF). This year’s Forum was held at the University of Aberdeen, in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Jayme Nekuda, Ph.D., Associate Director of Human Resources, and Keith Swarts, Director of Business Services, have organized and sponsored UNMC’s participation in the Forum for the past nine years.
The goal of the ISRF is to provide the brightest young scientists with an opportunity to present their research and make connections with others beyond disciplinary or national boundaries. UNMC’s participants are selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants. The selection process takes 6 months and includes research presentations. Nekuda states, "the process allows us to select the best and brightest students who then have the opportunity to showcase their research on an international stage."
Brian Coburn, 5th year M.D./Ph.D. Candidate in Rheumatology at UNMC, found this experience stimulating. "The forum was incredibly useful in connecting with up-in-coming student scientists from around the world. Often, we connect with other American scientists at big national conferences, but this doesn’t help break down barriers and establish comfort with talking to foreign investigators. This forum focuses on building comfort for developing these types of relationships."
These relationships continue beyond the forum. Lisa Weissenburger-Moser, Ph.D. Candidate in Epidemiology and two-time participant in the ISRF, says, "I’m going to have life-long friends because I networked through this forum. I was able to stay in touch with students in Denmark and discuss what we had done throughout the year apart when we met again in Scotland."
Participants were Elisabeth Blowers, Rachel Utter, Brian Coburn, Cassia Hanton, Michael Price, Beth Clymer, Katelyn Jelden, Rahat Jahan, You Li, and Lisa Weissenburger-Moser. They were joined by organizers and sponsors, Keith Swarts and Dr. Jayme Nekuda.
Participating institutions in 2015 included the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Science (Beijing, China), Griffith University (Gold Coast, Australia), the University of Southern Denmark (Odense, Denmark), the University of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, Scotland), and UNMC.
UNMC Business & Finance and APRDP endorse UNMC students’ participation in the International Student Research Forum. To learn more, visit the ISRF website or the APRDP website.
Great stuff!