Researcher dating. Researcher café. National congress for medical student research. These are some of the many initiatives that the Society for Medical Student Research is behind. In this way, the now ten-year-old society builds bridges between the students and the established research environment at e.g. the Department of Clinical Medicine.

The anniversary was celebrated in style on Friday 6 December at the Steno Museum and later at a banquet at the restaurant 16|Sechzehn.

Many initiatives

The society’s work to promote medical student research takes place on many different levels. The society holds a meeting with the graduate school twice each semester. For students who wish to conduct research during their degree programme, initiatives including researcher dating are held, which match the individual students with relevant research groups:

“The society brings together and organises medical students who wish to research already during their degree programme. One of the things the society does is promote awareness of the opportunities for a research year, and they have a wealth of activities that establish contact between students and researchers at Health,” says Kristjar Skajaa, and adds:

“They help and advise the students during the course of the research year, so that both up and downtimes can be used constructively in the future. In this way the society helps create good conditions for an inspiring research process during the degree programme.”

The society’s activities have changed over the years:

“There is now a much greater degree of focus on, and desire for, research among students compared to previously. The promotion of student research as a concept has therefore largely been replaced by offers and help for the students who are interested and active in research,” says the society’s chairman Sidsel Strøy, and continues:

“Among other things, as something new we are trying out a more formalised online student guidance function to accommodate the many e-mails we currently receive from the students.”

Recruitment of talented researchers

The society does not only play an important role for students with research interests. The society’s work also means a lot to the Department of Clinical Medicine:

“It is extremely important to have a society like the society for medical student research and we would therefore like to support their work to promote research among the medical students. The best researchers are actually typically recruited from an inspiring research process already during their studies,” says department head Kristjar Skajaa.

Read more

Find out more on the website (in Danish): http://studenterforskning.dk/

Further information

The Society for Medical Student Research
studenterforskning@svf.au.dk

Department Head Kristjar Skajaa
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine
Tel.: +45 7845 9000
kristjar.skajaa@ki.au.dk