• Time & place
• Who can attend?
• Detailed description
• Programme and speakers
• Registration & submission of abstracts
• Additional information

TIME & PLACE

Date: 3-8 September 2023
Place: Green Solution House, Strandvejen 79, 3700 Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark 

WHO CAN ATTEND?

The Postdoc Summit is open for postdoctoral researchers and clinicians on the postdoctoral level, working in or outside of Denmark, in any field of diabetes, metabolism, and all classical endocrinology fields. We welcome postdocs from basic, translational and clinical research, including interdisciplinary research in fields related to diabetes and endocrinology. Advanced PhD students in their final year are welcome to apply, but seats are prioritised for postdocs.

Please note that you are not guaranteed a seat at the Postdoc Summit if you do not meet the target group requirements. Priority is given to participants employed at Danish research and health-care institutions or in the life science industry, but a number of seats are reserved for international participants employed at research and health-care institutions or in the life science industry. If the event is overbooked, the DDEA reserves its right to select participants based on the defined requirements.

Participants are selected based on abstract submission, not a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, you are welcome to apply right up to the deadline.

After the registration deadline, all applicants will be informed whether or not they have been allocated a seat at the Summit. Notification will be by email from the DDEA no later than the second week in July.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

During the five-day summit, we aim to give you a broad scientific perspective as well as the opportunity to expand your professional network.

Therefore, each day will have one themed scientific session, followed by other activities such as poster sessions, career activities, networking events and group work on a “challenge”.

As we believe that interactivity improves learning outcomes, we expect you to be actively involved in the group work and discussions with other participants and speakers throughout the event. We kindly ask you to bring your own laptop to look up materials, contribute actively to group discussions and to prepare group presentations.

The following topics will be covered during the Postdoc Summit:

Future of research

Machine learning has the potential to change health science and medical research drastically. The continual development of diagnostic tools and increased availability of ‘omics analysis means that a large amount of data can be acquired and mined for key information about disease. The goal can be ambitious, e.g., to use this data to develop personalised medicine. But, how do we get there? And what will the future of research hold?

Sex differences in endocrinology

Hormones play a vital role in many physiological processes, such as growth, development, reproduction and metabolism. Hormones are produced and secreted by the endocrine system and their presence/varying ratios is one defining feature of male and female physiology throughout one’s lifespan. Understanding these differences can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying sex-specific differences in disease susceptibility, response to treatment, and overall health outcomes.

Stigmatisation

In our society, weight is highly stigmatised, but research shows that the fault should not be put on the person living with obesity. Indeed, when we look at the aetiology of this disease, many factors with complex interactions including genetic and environment are to blame. This stigmatisation can also be extended to other metabolic diseases and biases, whether conscious or unconscious, and should be addressed in order to increase life quality, including the use of people-first language.

Diverse populations

Most research related to diabetes, and non-communicable diseases more broadly, is conducted on Western populations and in high-income countries. Even within these countries, researchers tend to overlook minority populations, which can present unique challenges due to specific genetic variants or environmental constraints. Similarly, diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate in middle- and low-income countries, and it is therefore crucial to ensure that treatment options are diversely applicable and not just limited to Western Caucasians.

Career paths for postdocs

As a postdoctoral fellow, your career can go in many directions. In this session, participants will have the opportunity to broaden their career horizon by meeting people with diverse career paths, discussing different approaches and getting valuable advice. By talking to people working in different sectors, the participants will gain insight into pathways that their future career could take.

DDEA Postdoc Challenge 2023

Throughout the DDEA Postdoc Summit you will work on a special assignment, known as the DDEA Postdoc Challenge. This year we ask our participants to reflect on a question:

“Is the scientific publication, as we know it, dead?”

The scientific publication is one of the central pillars of academia. We all write papers, and counting the number of publications and citations is the way we measure our academic productivity. These metrics are critical for postdocs to ensure faculty positions and funding.

Remarkably, the scientific publication has basically been unchanged for the past 300 years. But with many recent developments, signs indicate that it might not be fit for its purpose anymore and we need to re-think the scientific publication.

Consider these points:

• An increasing number of papers are published as preprints on services like bioRxiv.org, sharing findings prior to the peer review process.
• The peer review process itself is threatened by a lack of volunteers, and an ongoing debate about lack of pay, while journals make large profits.
• Journals are moving towards open access, but does this really make science more accessible, or does it simply move the cost from the reader to the scientist?
• Science faces a reproducibility crisis, and
• The arrival of AI tools like ChatGPT means that it will soon be possible to produce reviews with minimal effort.

Are there solutions to these challenges? For example, does the scientific paper need to move away from being static, and perhaps be replaced with interactive notebooks where data is added continuously? Or should we choose another path altogether?

We invite you to discuss these issues and more, and share them with the world. Your input will be collected in a white paper about the future of publication, and presented at events at one or more Danish Universities, run by postdocs for postdocs. Together, we want the voices of postdocs to be heard and make their mark on what the scientific publication will look like in the near future.

If you have been confirmed a seat at the Postdoc Summit (informed by e-mail in July), you will receive an in-depth description of each challenge topic before signing up for one of the topics.

PROGRAMME AND SPEAKERS

See the preliminary programme

Speakers

• Adam Hulman, Associate Professor, Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus (DK)
• Allan Flyvbjerg , Professor, Chair of the Board of Directors Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy (DK)
• Benoit Arsenault, Associate Professor, Laval University (CA)
• Caroline Ménard, Assistant Professor, Laval University (CA)
• David Beran, Assistant Professor, Geneva University Hospital, University of Geneva, Switzerland (CH)
• Ida Moltke, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Isabelle Steineck, Medical Doctor, Rigshospitalet (DK)
• Jens Melgaard Bruun, Clinical Professor, Aarhus University and Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus (DK)
• Jordi Merino, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Mette Hansen, Associate Professor, Aarhus University (DK)
• Patrick C.N. Rensen, Professor, Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
• Robert Morton, Scientific Manager, Novo Nordisk Foundation (DK)
• Veronika Chepgylina, Associate Professor, IT University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Ylva Hellsten, Professor, University of Copenhagen (DK)

Organisers

The Postdoc Summit is organised by the Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy in collaboration with the Postdoc Summit Organising Committee consisting of:

• Anne-Marie Wegeberg, Assistant Professor, Aalborg University (DK)
• Béatrice Choi, Postdoc, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Chris Lewis, Postdoc, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Daniel Ibsen, Postdoc, Aarhus University (DK)
• Katharina Herzog, Precision Medicine Specialist, Novo Nordisk A/S (DK)
• Morten Dall, Staff Scientist, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Philip Ruppert, Postdoc, University of Southern Denmark (DK)

For more information regarding the scientific content of the Postdoc Summit, please contact the chairs of the organising committee:

• Daniel Ibsen, Postdoc, Aarhus University (DK), dbi@ph.au.dk
• Morten Dall, Staff Scientist, University of Copenhagen (DK), dall@sund.ku.dk

REGISTRATION & SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS

Registration deadline

18 June 2023

Deadline for submission of abstracts

18 June 2023

If you are registering from outside of Denmark and having trouble accessing the registration form, please contact us at ouh.ddea@rsyd.dk.

Abstract guidelines

Be sure your abstract contains the following information and adheres to the following formatting guidelines before submission.

You may download the abstract template.

The abstract should be max 1500 characters incl. spaces and written in Arial 10.

• Title of abstract (Use a short and specific title with title-style capitalization and put it in bold)
• Presenting author name(s) (Underline the presenting author’s name)
• Affiliation (Include unit, institution/company/hospital, city and country for all authors and put it in italic)

The body of the abstract must contain the following content:

• Background and aim:
  Text in Arial 10
• Material and methods:
  Text in Arial 10
• Results (if obtained to-date)
  Text in Arial 10
• Conclusion (and perspectives)
  Text in Arial 10

No images, figures, charts or tables should be included in the abstract.
Please proofread carefully before submission and submit a word file.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Accommodation

The DDEA provides and covers the cost of accommodation for all selected participants at the Green Solution House, Bornholm, including meals, from 3-8 September 2023.

Transportation

It is possible for all participants to sign up for joint transportation by bus from Copenhagen to Rønne and the return from Rønne to Copenhagen upon registration. The bus transport is sponsored by the DDEA. However, all other travel costs and costs to overnight accommodation before or after 3-8 September are at the participants' own expense.

Certification

A course certificate will be sent to all participants upon request at the end of the course.

No-show fee

It is free of charge to participate in the course however the DDA will charge a no-show fee of 2000 DKK if you do not show up and have not unregistered from the course prior to its start.
Please note that we expect all participants to have approval from their supervisors for the week-long, full presence and participation prior to completing the registration form.