January marks the beginning of the pre-PhD year for the newly recruited 2025 NAD PhD fellows. In preparation for the exciting and challenging year ahead, the fellows attended an opening retreat and a celebratory welcome reception.
A warm welcome to Danish neuroscience
The fairytale city of Odense was the backdrop of the opening retreat for the 16 NAD PhD fellows. On day one of the retreat, the fellows got to know each other and practice their presentation skills in a session facilitated by IMPROV Communication.
The following day, the fellows visited the University of Southern Denmark’s impressive new facilities, with 10 research groups providing lab tours. Thank you to the researchers who opened the doors to their labs! The campus visit also featured a lecture by Professor Kate Lykke Lambertsen, Associate Professor Agnieszka Wlodarczyk and postdoc Simone Hjæresen. Later in January, the NAD PhD fellows will also visit the health faculties in Aalborg, Aarhus and Odense to introduce them to the breadth and excellence of Danish neuroscience research and adequately prepare them for choosing their second and third rotation labs.
Celebrating research talent
On January 8, we celebrated the recruitment of the 2025 fellows at the NAD Welcome Reception at Ærtefabrikken Odense. As Scientific Programme Director at the Lundbeck Foundation Peter Thostrup put it, the NAD PhD fellows are the glue that binds the NAD network together, with the academy’s core mission being to strengthen the network between Danish neuroscientists to generate new ideas and project proposals.
Each of the fellows shared their unique motivations for going into neuroscience research, from great teachers who pushed them in the right direction to the desire to make a difference for others. The festive afternoon also featured a talk by Professor Kasper Støy (IT University of Copenhagen) titled “Body vs. Brain: A Balancing Act in Robotics Research”, highlighting important intersections between neuroscience and robotics research.