EpiDEMPrev
Epidemiology of Ageing and Dementia Prevention, PhD Label

Challenge

There is a need to create a new generation of highly trained entrepreneurs and professionals to implement the urgently needed innovation-based change management in health and business. These changes are required to raise the responses to demographic changes and population ageing. EIT Health targets students in academia as one of the key drives of this action. Indeed, PhD students from best universities in Europe receive high-quality learning-by-doing training, providing the basis for improvement in health and social care. However, at the same time, the solid scientific training does not usually go in parallel with innovation and entrepreneurship.

Solution

EpiDEMPrev PhD Program is unique and innovative since it stands on existing outstanding PhD offers running at partner’s universities, adding Core Activities related with innovation and entrepreneurship currently established and offered through EIT Health (innovation days, boot camps, short courses, summer schools, innovation projects, and others). By joining the regular course structure of partner’s PhD programs with Core Activities of EpiDEMPrev, we offer high quality scientific, pedagogic, innovative and entrepreneurship training by saving resources and potentiating outcomes.

Our activity provides unique training to a new generation of PhD’s in a strategic area to combat some of the most relevant outcomes of demographic changes and population ageing. By running EpiDEMPrev, we seek to contribute to high quality training for new professionals in the health and health-related business sector, and at the same time feed innovation into science and science into innovation.

Objectives, Activities and Results expected / achieved

Expected Outcomes:
EpiDEMPrev students will be able to face the challenges in biomedicine of health and active ageing with fundamental knowledge provided by top science training, but also with innovative and entrepreneurial approach the problems. This is a unique selling point of future PhD students enrolling an EIT Labeling PhD Program. At the end of 5 years, success outcomes will be recognized by at least 75 students concluding a PhD thesis with labeling; at least 95% students entering the Program will finish their curricular plan and PhD thesis; at least 40% of the students will develop a collaborative twinning project for thesis development. Measurement and evaluation of outcomes will profit from quesonnaires presented to the students and from administrave informaon’s of academic performance to be provided by PhD Program coordinators.

The main achieved results of the Program cover three main areas:
1. Students; new PhD program with interdisciplinary and intersectorial competence and innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in the main area of ​​“Innovation and Entrepreneurship for a Healthy Life and Active Aging”, with strong leadership spirit, creative minds and attractive skills derived from training;

2. Lecturers / scientists; new collaborative results derived from Intra and Inter CLC and intersectoral collaborators (twinning projects);

3. New doctoral programs within the focus areas, namely “Epidemiology of Aging and Dementia Prevention”, among others.