The main goal of this annual event is to bring together doctoral students in neuroscience from various institutes and clinics to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration. Exactly this was difficult to accomplish this year due to Covid-19. Hence, we came up with an alternative format.
Neuroscience research lives to a greater extent from exchange with colleagues because it is so interdisciplinary. However, the special situation forced us to try out different ideas. Besides the plenary talks and a live patient presentation from Clinic Valens with subsequent vivid discussions, the 52 participants were asked to submit a short video pitch featuring their own research before the retreat. This replaced the traditional posters.
In a second step, the attendees had to find a potential research partner amongst the retreat participants. As a homework, the newly formed groups wrote short joint research proposals. As a result, 16 students suggested an external research partner and 36 students have found collaborators amongst the retreat participants demonstrating a substantial collaboration potential within the Zurich neuroscience community.