A4L Skills academy in Ljubljana joined 30 young researchers from 11 countries

From 8-10 June 2023, 30 early-stage researchers (PhD, PostDoc) from Alliance4Life partners were invited to Ljubljana, Slovenia where another Skills Academy was held with the focus in upgrading personal competencies and expanding scientific, leadership and managerial skills.

The Faculty of Medicine of University of Ljubljana (UL MF) hosted participants from 11 countries. Associate Professor Sergej Pirkmajer, project’s UL MF coordinator, greeted the guests at the beginning of the event and shared interesting facts about the project. Profound seminars were held during three days at the Institute of Pathological Physiology (PAFI). Five great lecturers from three A4L countries shared their knowledge and vast experience. Young scientists explored new techniques to boost creativity and team synergies. Special focus was on mental health and coping with stress during PhD and PostDoc years. 

From the University of Tartu two PhD students took part of the Skills Academy - Hanna Antson and Ermo Leuska. Hanna is a PhD student from the chair of developmental biology, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. Ermo works in addition to the doctoral studies in molecular biology also as a communication specialist at the same institute. 

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First day of the event was dedicated to mental health where Associate Professor Maja Rus Makovec, a medical doctor at the University Psychiatric Hospital Ljubljana held two workshops. Attendees gained information about the process of mentalizing one's own and other people's mental states in order to recognize and predict behavior. Also, the introduction to the concept of psychological resilience in the face of interpersonal stressors and losses were given. The last workshop of the first day was held by Associate Professor Tea Vukušić Rukavina from Croatia. Tea Vukušić Rukavina is a specialist in psychiatry, with a strong focus on the communication in health care and science and health management. She is a lecturer in numerous courses in the Leadership and Management of Healthcare Services postgraduate program at the The University of Zagreb School of Medicine (UZSM). This workshop provided a lot of excitement to the participants, because after the practical exercises, the presenter brought amazing connections and showed the principles of how teams and individuals work. The day was concluded with a discussion that smoothly transitioned into socializing between participants in a more relaxing atmosphere.

The second day of the Skills Academy had the focus on upgrading personal presentation skills. Two lecturers - Karolina H. Czarnecka-Chrebelska and Justyna Kiszałkiewicz from the Medical University of Lodz (Poland) - held interesting workshops about conducting scientific presentations, moderating discussions, mastering the techniques of presenting visual data and developing communication skills. Everybody had a chance to participate in creating a presentation and to analyze the presentations later.

After the second day, the main organizer of the event Tina Štukelj had arranged the impressive networking event, where mixed teams made up of Skills Academy participants could test their aqcuired skills of teamwork in the beautiful city of Ljubljana.

The last day offered surprises due to the extraordinary speaker: Mr Matej Tušak who is a Professor and Head of The Department of Sport Psychology at University of Ljubljana. He is also Chairperson of Council of Slovenian National Olympic Institute, motivational speaker, researcher, psychologist, lecturer and coach. He has trained all the Olympic medalists of Slovenia and his workshop gave real-life examples of gaining success by changing the mindset.

The whole event was organized very professionally. Very big thanks to the organizers, especially to the project coordinator Tina Štukelj and Prof. Dr. Tomaž Marš from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

It is extremely important that such trainings on mental health and leadership are organized for young researchers who are at the beginning of their scientific careers. These current PhDs and postdocs are the top scientists of our future and their choices will have a scientific and economic and social impact on a wider spectrum, which carries the true meaning of Allience4Life project.

This Skills Academy gave all the participants new insights and tools for personal development. New friendships were made and strong network was created for future collaborations. Green and friendly Ljubljana left kind memories and feelings in the hearts of all participants and everybody felt eager to meet again in the future at forecoming Alliance4Life events!

Event was organized as part of a H2020 project “Alliance4Life_Actions”. 
Link to the news article at Allience4Life page (with photo gallery)

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