A look back on our 2022 Welcome Day

Although NeuroSchool PhD Program Welcome Day traditionally takes place in January, this year it was held in November. The 2022 edition was thus able to provide the 40 or so first-year students with important information about NeuroSchool PhD program, at the very start of their doctorate.

Each year, the Welcome Day is an opportunity to present NeuroSchool PhD program, its training and support program complementary to that of the Doctoral School. What opportunities does it offer ? Which trainings or events can new PhD students can participate in? It is not always easy for them to find out! With the Welcome Day, they learnt that NeuroSchool and NeuroMarseille offer them the possibility to participate in events such as the NeuroDays, to attend NeuroSchool tutored seminars, or to benefit from funding for summer schools and other training.

The PhD Program: its organization and activities

During one hour, the PhD program was presented to the students. A series of explanatory videos had been sent to them beforehand, and the program was then detailed at the Welcome Day. Different points were discussed such as using the AMeTICE platforme (using their student email address @etu.univ-amu.fr !), but also the presentation of the NeuroDays event, the symposium organized by and for PhD students. Indeed, the whole point of being enrolled in the PhD program is to take advantage of the resources that NeuroSchool has to offer. These resources can be found on our website, and on the AMeTICE space for PhD students.

Playing together

The Welcome Day also allows all the new PhD students of the same class to get together, and it is often a privileged moment in their curriculum where they all meet in the same place. Did they get to know each other? Will they meet again during NeuroSchool events or for their own social activities? This is what we wanted to invite them to do, by proposing to participate in a collaborative game organized by the NeuroLink society, also present that day, a card game in which players had to express their feelings about different questions, by acting!

To network further, students can also join NeuroSchool and NeuroMarseille social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), which already gather hundreds of people. By doing so, they will know how to participate in the many events of the neuroscientists’ community in Marseille, and will form their network of professional and fraternal relationships! The NeuroCommunity group, which has been welcoming NeuroSchool alumni since the summer of 2022, is looking forward to welcoming them!