Participants selected for the first Euro-BioImaging Cross-Node Job Shadowing program!

Open to all Euro-BioImaging Node Staff, the Cross-Node Job Shadowing program is a unique and exciting initiative implemented through EVOLVE, an EU-funded project of structural importance for Euro-BioImaging. The job shadowing program offers a special opportunity for Node staff - imaging scientists, technicians, administrative employees, and managers - to visit other Nodes, work together, exchange experiences, and explore best practices. With 24 high-quality applications received, this first round of the Euro-BioImaging Cross-Node Job Shadowing program gets a great start!

The response from the Euro-BioImaging Community to the Job Shadowing call for applications was very positive. "We are excited by how enthusiastically the Euro-Bioimaging Community has engaged with this initiative, with high-quality applications and a wide range of topics involved” explain Daniela Aviles Huerta and Dale Lawson, the co-organisers of the Job Shadowing programme.

The large number and diversity of applications highlight how active and interconnected the Node community is across Europe and how eager they are to learn from each other and build new collaborations. This kind of equitable and international skill-building is uniquely enabled by Euro-BioImaging as a European Research Infrastructure. Some of the applications are based on existing collaborations, but many applications represent brand new connections, which were facilitated by the Euro-BioImaging Hub team as part of the job shadowing matchmaking service.

The applicants had to submit the plan for their visit and what they wanted to learn and the dissemination plan, which was a critical part of each application. This ensures that the benefit from each job shadowing visit is not just in the mutual exchange between visitor and host but also shared with the facility, Node, and the wider community of the participants.

The evaluation committee had the challenge of selecting twelve out of twenty-four applicants who would participate in the first round of the Euro-BioImaging Cross-Node Job Shadowing program. Composed of five members - Euro-BioImaging Scientific Ambassadors Nikita Kaydanov and Christian Dullin and Euro-BioImaging team members Laurent Chmiel, Buǧra Özdemir and Feriel Ramdhane - the selection committee assessed the anonymised applications using a predefined scoring matrix, ensuring a fair, standardised and transparent evaluation process. "Being on the other side of the fence to select participants was a first for me," explains Euro-BioImaging Scientific Ambassador Nikita Kaydanov. "It was fascinating to see how different the scope and content of the applications were. Thanks to the scoring matrix, I could remain fair and coherent throughout the whole evaluation process." The experience also gave committee members a closer look at the Euro-BioImaging Community. "I feel that I have learned more about our Nodes," says Feriel Ramdhane. "I got a great, first-hand overview of what motivated the candidates to join and what they wanted to achieve by the end of the program."

All applicants to the first round of the Job Shadowing program have now been notified, and the first Job Shadowing visit will start in September. The complete list of the participants and deeper insights on this first application round will be published later. "We are pretty happy to see the program kicking off," says Dale Lawson. "We wish the participants all the best with their visits, and we are looking forward to hearing their stories and receiving their feedback!"

Stay tuned for more insights!

This work is made possible by funding from the European Union as part of the EVOLVE project. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission.