The Department of Biomedical Sciences of the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp, Belgium (ITM) is hosting the short course Molecular Data for Infectious Diseases (MID),  a course for molecular biologists on the implementation of molecular techniques, and more specifically the use of molecular data in tropical low-resource settings.The course will consist of two components, a 4-week e-learning module that will run from November 16, 2020 – December 11, 2020, as well as a face-to-face module that will begin on March 29, 2021 and will end on April 16, 2021.
Content:
In MID, molecular techniques and data are discussed in the context of clinical and epidemiological field studies on infectious diseases.
Pathogen and vector identity, dynamics, and transmission often form an integral part of such studies. These phenomena can be documented using DNA and RNA techniques. Despite rapid advancements in molecular methods, their implementation in low-resource environments often remains cumbersome due to logistic, financial, and human resource constraints. MID focusses on the selection and analysis of appropriate assays and their implementation in a particular research setting.

Course participants work in small groups to critically discuss peer-reviewed papers and to develop their own protocol and implementation plan.

Registration deadline: 30/09/2020
For additional information, admission requirements, and registration and tuition fees, please visit: https://edu.itg.be/courses/molecular-data-for-infectious-diseases
Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGD) Scholarships:
With the financial support of the Belgian DGD Cooperation, the Institute of Tropical Medicine is able to offer scholarships to applicants from developing countries.
The admission requirements of the DGD scholarships:

Admission to the course
You’re less than 46 years old at the end of the course or at graduation
At least two years of professional experience. Please note that internships and prior thesis work are not considered as professional experience.
Citizens from any LMIC can apply. Applicants need to be both citizen of and actually living in a LMIC as defined in the OECD-DAC list of LMICs. A majority of scholarships, but not all, will be awarded to citizens from the countries defined as priority countries for DGD. The DGD priority country list includes: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Palestine, Philippines, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.

Detailed information on scholarships: https://www.itg.be/E/scholarships