Countdown for Future Cancer Researchers
Deadline for applications to the Helmholtz International Graduate School for Cancer Research is May 1, 2008
To make the training of PhD students at the DKFZ even more attractive internationally, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) has established the Helmholtz International Graduate School for Cancer Research. It allows doctoral students to contribute to excellent projects in cancer research at an early stage in their career and, in addition, provides comprehensive training covering the various disciplines of cancer research. Many elements of the existing International PhD Program of the DKFZ have been taken over into the program of the Graduate School, which will be attended by all PhD students at the DKFZ in the future. Furthermore, the Graduate School offers more international networking with cancer research institutes such as the U.S. Anderson Cancer Center, collaborations with other Helmholtz Centers such as the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin and an even more extensive range of accompanying courses. Applicants for one of the training positions must have graduated in natural sciences with a degree that is comparable to the German ‘Diplom’ or in medicine. Applicants should not be older than thirty years of age and have a good knowledge of English. Application deadline is on May 1, 2008. The program will start in early October at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.
PhD students at the DKFZ are excellently supervised by their PhD advisor and supported by two additional mentors. Another group leader from the DKFZ and an external scientist advise the young researchers at regular intervals on the progress of their work. In addition, the DKFZ provides the coming generation of scientists with an extensive further education program ranging from presentation skills over project management through to new laboratory working methods. Attendance at the lecture series ‘Progress in Cancer Research’, in which divisional heads and group leaders of the DKFZ lecture on their respective research fields, is compulsory. Furthermore, presentations of scientific results at conferences or seminars as well as participation in various social activities are encouraged.
“The competition for the world’s best brains starts already with young researchers,” says Professor Thomas Efferth, who coordinates the PhD Program at the Center. The Helmholtz Association of National Research Centers, of which the German Cancer Research Center is a member, founded three graduate schools last year. The Association will provide each school with annual funds of 600,000 euros for the next six years.
Further information about the Helmholtz Graduate Program is available on the DKFZ website at http://www.dkfz.de/en/phd-program/index.html
With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.
To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.
