I returned on Sunday from the wonderful city of Krakow which hosted the IBRO/IRUN NEURONUS 2013 forum. The city is spectacular, with some magnificent architecture and a rich albeit tumultuous history. I travelled with a group of friends from Berlin, and we managed quite a bit of sightseeing in the scarce free time we had. We toured the historic landmarks of the old city and visited Schindler’s factory (now a museum exhibiting the history of Krakow during World War Two).
The forum itself was very interesting, with speakers from around the world including Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada. Aimed at students, the forum covered a wide range of topics from cellular and molecular aspects to clinical and affective neuroscience. There was truly something for everyone during the four action-packed days of intensive lectures, interactive sessions and poster presentations. I had some lively discussions with some of my colleagues from Poland about Alzheimer’s disease and stroke during the poster sessions, and learned a great deal about the cutting-edge research on disorders of consciousness from a world-renowned expert.
Although there were (unfortunately) no speakers from Edinburgh, I learned about some fascinating research being done in Cambridge in collaboration with a group at the University of Edinburgh and the Medical Research Council on multiple sclerosis. I also attended an interactive medical case report session of rare and interesting neurological illnesses presented by local medical students.
Now I’m back in Berlin, for another three weeks of lectures followed by my final exam in early June, and I’m also continuing my Laboratory Medicine module for the MSc Internal Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
I’ll be posting more about the forum soon! 🙂

Some photos from Poland: