Hybrid Summer Workshop 2025
Introduction
We are very happy to announce our this year's Hybrid Summer Workshop 2025 about Functional Imaging for Diagnostic and Therapy. The course is hosted under the auspices of the Heidelberg Institute of Radiation Oncology (HIRO) by three divisions of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).
The hybrid summer workshop provides an overview of different functional imaging modalities and their clinical relevance in both diagnostic and therapeutic contexts. Participants will gain an understanding of the basic principles underlying these technologies and their clinical relevance for diagnostic and therapy. In addition to established techniques, the program will also introduce some novel emerging imaging methods that show promising perspectives in current research.
The course is subdivided into an online phase of about four weeks and an attendance phase of one week. The attendance phase is organized as hybrid model, such that all sessions of the attendance phase are additionally available online via Zoom. Thus, participants can decide to follow the course online and on site or 100% virtually.
Registration is open from May 14th to July 31st 2025. We are very much looking forward to welcoming you in Heidelberg and to seeing you online on Zoom.
Target Group and Certificates

Our hybrid summer workshop is designed for national and international PhD/MD, MSc or BSc students or young scientists and clinical trainees with a background in Physics, Medical Physics, Radiation Therapy, Radiooncology, Radiology, Medical Engineering or similar. BSc students should be at the end of their studies.
Once successfully completed, participants will get a certificate of attendance including supplement with ECTS points, issued by the German Cancer Research Center and our partners.
To sucessfully complete the course, the following conditions have to be met in order to get the certificate of attendance including supplement and ECTS points:
- the successful completion of both mandatory online tests
- the participation in all live sessions either via Zoom or on site in Heidelberg
- if the candidate participate online only: the mandatory use of activated webcam during the live sessions on Zoom.
If a candidate cannot fulfil conditions 2 or 3 (due to time differences or bad internet connection), only a certificate of attendance will be issued. However, both online tests have to be successfully completed anyway.
Dates, Program and Speakers
Dates:
- Registration period: May 14th - July 31st 2025
- Online Phase: Aug. 18th - Sep. 14th 2025
- 1st mandatory Online Test (Multiple Choice): Sep. 1st - Sep. 14th 2025
(During this period participants can do the first online test whenever they have time.) - Online Sessions during online phase
- Sep. 9th 2025, 4 - 6pm (CEST) (tbc)
- Hybrid Attendance in Heidelberg: Sep. 17th - Sep. 19th 2025
- 2nd mandatory Online Test (Multiple Choice): Sep. 19th - Oct. 6th 2025
(During this period participants can do the second online test whenever they have time.)
Online Phase

Our summer workshop 2025 starts with an online phase of about four weeks. During this period, participants get access to the virtual learning platform Moodle which provides all learning materials such as pre-recorded video lectures and lecture notes as PDFs as well as short tasks.
The online phase is concluded with the first mandatory online test consisting of multiple-choice questions about all topics taught during the online phase. The test can be done during the last two weeks of the online phase whenever participants have time, and its successful completion (50% of points indicated) is a prerequisite to participate in the hybrid attendance phase.
Please also download and read our technical requirements to attend our hybrid summer workshop:
Hybrid Attendance Phase
The attendance phase in Heidelberg is hosted as a hybrid event and thus, all sessions are available on Zoom to those who attend online only.
The whole summer workshop is concluded with the second mandatory online test (multiple-choice questions) about all topics taught during the hybrid attendance phase (duration of second online test see "Dates and Program").
The address of the venue is:
German Cancer Research Center
Communication Center, Seminar room K1/K2 (1st floor)
Im Neuenheimer Feld 280
DE-69120 Heidelberg
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/Pyq26ZDENVaXyGqX6
How to get there: https://www.dkfz.de/de/dkfz/anfahrt.html
Guided Tours: online or on-site

As part of the course, participants will have access to virtual tours to the ETHOS Linac and VIDA MRI at DKFZ as well as to the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT). Participants who will be on site in Heidelberg can visit both facilities on site as well as the 7Tesla MRI (see program). The online participants will virtually visit the ETHOS Linac and VIDA MRI with Prof. Karger and the HIT Facility with Prof. Jäkel (see program). Participation is optional.
Fees and Registration

Fees for online/on-site participation:
- On-site: Postdocs, young scientists, clinical trainees or others: €150
- On-site: PhD or MD students: €100
- On-site: BSc or MSc students: €60
- On-site: DKFZ members: 50€
Fee for online attendance:
- Online only: 50€
Payments can only be done by Credit Card. Once registered, participants get all relevant information for paying the fees by e-mail. After payment, on-site participants will get a code to book a room themselfs at special rates in hotels in Heidelberg. Traveling costs for on-site participants such as train tickets, costs for accommodation as well as living expenses have to be covered by on-site participants themselfs. Please also note: neither on-site/cash payments nor payments by Paypal are possible.
Registration is open from May 14th to July 31st 2025.
Course Leaders
Vanessa Franke, PhD
Postdoc in the Research Group NMR Spectroscopy and CEST Imaging of the Division of Medical Physics in Radiology at DKFZ
Martin Niklas, PhD, MD
Postdoc in the Research Group Advanced Image-Guided RadioTherapy of the Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology as well as Assistant Physician in the Division of Radiology
Hosts
The hybrid summer workshop is jointly hosted by the following DKFZ divisions:
Contact
Please feel free to contact us by email to symposium.medphys(at)dkfz-heidelberg.de if you have any questions.
Local Organizing Team
Anna Moshanina, Dr. Simone Barthold-Beß, Marcel Schäfer
Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology
German Cancer Research Center
Im Neuenheimer Feld 280
DE-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Phone: +49-6221/42-3481