Hosted by our partner the University of Leiden, the course brought together students, researchers and healthcare practitioners to share expertise and discuss a broad range of topics from social media communication through to its impact on healthcare workers and planning for future pandemics, viewed from the perspective of different European countries. The course was really well received by all participants, as evidenced by the excellent feedback.
Professor Rachel Jordan, Institute for Applied Health Research comments: “Altogether this was a very stimulating experience, bringing together the brightest and the best students from our European Universities with cutting edge researchers and practitioners. We have shown just how beneficial international engagement can be, forging new relationships across all levels which can only be beneficial for the health and wellbeing of European citizens. I know that the staff enjoyed seeing how engaged the students were and it sets a standard for future courses!”
Gabriella Morley, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham, has a particular interest in preventing infectious disease. She says the EUniWell summer school was one of the highlights of her time as a student. Learning from expert speakers from the world of science, academia and public policy gave her and other participants a strong foundation of knowledge to support their discussions on preparing for the next pandemic.
Gabriella comments: “The summer school was not only intellectually stimulating, it was also a fantastic opportunity to meet like-minded students from across Europe. I felt incredibly fortunate to be part of such an interesting, diverse and engaging group of people and I look forward to being friends and colleagues in future.”
Pharmacy student Shane Kailla felt that the summer school gave him an “unrivalled insight into the differing ways nations dealt with a common threat.” Shane adds that spending time with like-minded students with a breadth of knowledge underlined “the importance of shared education from such a generation-defining event and the positive actions we can do to learn for the future.”
And it was not just the students who learned from the experience. Dr Shamil Haroon, Associate Clinical Professor in Public Health at the University of Birmingham, enjoyed hearing the perspectives from across Europe, and valued a chance to hear about how different countries responded to the pandemic.
Find out more about EUniWell and if you’d like to get involved please contact the team. We look forward to hearing from you!
