Training the future in HITRIplus project : a report on specialised course on heavy ion therapy research

Abstract

Heavy ion therapy is highly active topic including a vast of different interdisciplinary research fields. Despite this, many early-career researchers in associated fields have limited exposure to information outside of their domain. With the shortage of experienced personnel, detailed courses are essential for training and to bridge the divide between communities of young researchers in radiobiology, medical physics and technical sciences. A specialised course by HITRIplus was organised to meet these needs, aimed at researchers of different academic levels from a wide range of international and research backgrounds. To ensure the needs of the participants were understood, the organising committee included several early-career volunteers to help craft an engaging course inviting faculty of international experts to provide the relevant content. Main aspects of the course organizing process will be outlined, including the student application process and statistics, student selection criteria, choice of scientific topics covered in the course and inclusion of other relevant topics such as entrepreneurship and public speaking. The course took place in July virtually. The restricted number of course participants was offset by making the lectures available on YouTube immediately after each session. As each lecture had allocated time for interaction, excellent participation and student engagement with the faculty members was reached. The additional student sessions are also outlined and discussed. The course was successful in delivering a robust series of lectures, hands on sessions and student sections in a virtual environment. Participant feedback was highly positive and main statistics and results from course exit-poll are shown.