Qualification Program

Curriculum

The training program for doctoral researchers in KEMAI has been developed in cooperation with the International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine Ulm (IGradU), the Medical Doctorate Program Experimental Medicine of Ulm University (Promotionsprogramm Experimentelle Medizin), and the Graduate & Professional Training Center Ulm (ProTrainU). Thus, it combines the experience from a long tradition of structured doctoral programs. Its goals are to support a broad scientific education in medical AI, and to educate in organizational and leadership competence beyond pure research work.

Qualification Program Diagram

Intermediate evaluations and progress reports

According to the curriculum two intermediate evaluations are conducted during the IGradU spring- and fall meetings. During these evaluations, doctoral researchers present their work in a public setting, and thus get direct feedback not only from their PIs, but also from the broader scientific community. On a more regular basis, doctoral students self-organize a bi-weekly progress report group, where they present and discuss their research results.

KEMAI lectures and seminars

Of particular importance to KEMAI are cross-cutting skills in (research) ethics, scientific data management, security, and good scientific practice (the latter is a mandatory course). Hence, the module Responsible Research in Medical AI which addresses these skills, is mandatory for all KEMAI doctoral researchers and is to be completed within the first year. Further modules and external lectures can be chosen freely from the KEMAI program, or can be covered through visiting guest lectures or conferences. A minimum of 30 talks per year have to be attended.

KEMAI Modules

Advances in medical AI journal club

As part of KEMAI, we will organize biweekly journal clubs on Advances in Medical AI. Within a journal club, a group of doctoral researchers comes together, to acquaint themselves with a topic that is important to their research. Each doctoral researcher is expected to present in at least two journal clubs per year.

Key competencies

All KEMAI doctoral researchers have full access to the key and soft skills qualification program of IGradU and ProTrainU and have to attend two of those optional activities per year. They chose freely from the programs, in year one though “Good scientific practice” and “Research data management in healthcare” are obligatory. Further activities include excursions to relevant companies or institutions organized by IGradU or KEMAI, as well as retreats.

Practical training

In line with the IGradU requirements, KEMAI foresees mandatory practical trainings in different thematic fields. The trainings (10 days total) have to take place in two different institutes or labs other than that of the main supervisor and can also be done externally. To support the interdisciplinary exchange, doctoral researchers with a technical background are encouraged to join institutes or labs of medical research groups for the practical training. The interdisciplinary exchange is further supported through (shared) desk spaces for the doctoral researchers in the participating faculties.

Summer schools

Another event that is a planned yearly and where KEMAI doctoral researchers are expected to attend, is the KEMAI summer school at Reisensburg Castle. These events allow for discovering possible synergies between dissertation projects and, as such, are one pillar of the interdisciplinary cooperation.

After year three, the doctoral researchers fully concentrate on their thesis work, and while they are still expected to attend the yearly KEMAI summer school, they are exempt from further obligations.

Implementing collaboration between computer science and medicine

KEMAI doctoral researchers in medicine are integrated in the program experimental medicine of Ulm University (Promotionsprogramm Experimentelle Medizin). KEMAI further encourages a tandem structure for the project work, in which a doctoral researcher in medicine has a main contact person among the technical doctoral researchers support synergies within the interdisciplinary dissertation works.