Digitization and advances in data science, including artificial intelligence (AI), which influence and change all areas of life, have a particular impact on life sciences and health-related sciences. For example, large data sets for each individual patient are already routinely collected and systematically recorded. Further increase in complexity is expected in the coming years due to increasing use of molecular and imaging diagnostics.The processing and analysis of such complex data is one of the greatest challenges for life sciences and in particular for health-related sciences. However, there are few experts and application is limited and constrained by the scientific environment, which hinders the full use of existing and expected data. Data scientists who take on these tasks are desperately needed. So what could be more obvious than training them themselves? This is the aim of the PhD programme BIOMEDAS.
As part of the Translationsallianz in Niedersachsen (TRAIN), which integrates various regional partners from translational research, the concept of a cross-university PhD program involving non-university institutions was developed to enable the combination of different scientific and technological disciplines relevant to biomedical data science. The start of "BIOMEdical DAta Science (BIOMEDAS)" will take place in the winter semester 2020 at Hannover Medical School (MHH) as leading institution as new program of the Hannover Biomedical Research School (HBRS). BIOMEDAS is directed to students who are interested in combining disciplinary knowledge with the skills of a data scientist and working at the interface of bioinformatics, medical informatics, databases, data mining, machine learning, applied mathematics, biomedical modelling and analysis of complex networks. Joint data science projects between the different partners are further developed in different areas, which open up numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange.
Training PhD students as data scientists
BIOMEDAS is addressed to students who are interested in combining disciplinary knowledge with skills in biomedical data science. These can be either computer scientists or life scientists who already have a training in bioinformatics and are interested in developing their career in biomedical data science.
15 PhD students will be trained as data scientists for the first time in the three-year programme. Two doctoral students from the TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and the "International Leibniz Future Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence", which is located at the L3S Research Center: Ariam Rivas and Salomon Kabongo.
The PhD program applies a collaborative training principle involving supervisors from the individual partners. Currently, these are twelve institutions from the environment of the Translation Alliance in Lower Saxony:
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS)
- Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM)
- German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ)
- Fraunhofer ITEM Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine
- Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI)
- Leibniz University Hannover (LUH)
- Hannover Medical School (MHH)
- Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences (Ostfalia)
- TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library
- University of Veterinary Medicine, Foundation (TiHo)
- Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS)
- TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research
More information about BIOMEDAS.
