Benelux in vivo MR methods Symposium
From UMCN Radiology Research
First Benelux in vivo MR methods Symposium
12 December 2007
A year ago, I was on a congress in Warsaw chatting with PhD colleagues from the Netherlands when we realized that although we lived and worked very close to each other we did not know much about what the research topics were of each other research groups. More striking was the fact that we had to found out about all that far away from home at a conference in Warsaw.
We asked ourselves what the reason was for the lack of a somewhat more informal way to look around or get an overview of the Dutch MR research, whilst hypothesizing that in particular for PhD students and university student this would be of very much interest. In the end we concluded that simply nobody had ever organized a gathering of MR people in the Netherlands and that perhaps the best solution was to organize it ourselves.
When a few months later Pieter Buur asked me to join the organization of a Symposium for PhD students in MR research in the Netherlands, I immediately decided to join. The result was a symposium about in vivo MR methods in the entire Benelux at the Holthurnse Hof in Berg en Dal, jointly organized by the MR methods group of the FCDC centre and the the UMCNijmegen Biomedical MR Research group.
With 160 participants, 24 talks and over 40 poster presentations, the symposium was a success. During the day we reserved lots of time for informal discussion in between the sessions. This was well received by the participants. In the 4 oral sessions, roughly “ Brain “, “ MR methods”, “ Heart and Muscle” and “ Molecular Imaging”, a wide variety of topics was presented by mostly junior researches.
In the afternoon, the symposium was concluded by a short discussion whether or not to form a Benelux chapter of the ISMRM. This chapter could be a platform for education of master and PhD students in the Benelux as well as a network for young researchers to find their way in the international MR community. Since almost everyone immediately was in favor of the formation of a Chapter, a small work groups was formed who will get started with the formal part of the formation of a ISMRM Chapter.
The day was closed with drinks and a good dinner. Altogether, a well received initiative and a good start of a yearly? “ in vivo MR methods” symposium!
The organizing committee Pieter Buur & Jannie Wijnen
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