The European Project EUROLEISH-NET, coordinated by Albert Picado from ISGlobal and whose goal is to train a new generation of young researchers in leishmaniasis, started on January 1^st. The first meeting of the consortium took place in Barcelona, in the presence of 11 scientists belonging to nine different research centres in Europe: ISGlobal and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) from Spain, the Tropical Medicine Institute (ITM) and Coris Bioconcept from Belgium, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the University of Warwick from the United Kingdom, the Charles University Prague (CUNI) from the Czech Republic, the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) from France and BMD Software LDA from Portugal.

The main goals of the meeting were to constitute the EUROLEISH-NET boards, define the work package activities and clarify the recruitment process of the candidates that will develop their PhD within the project's framework.

Recruitment of 15 PhD Students

Importantly, the kick-off meeting also marked the opening of the selection process of the PhD students that will obtain a three-year contract to develop one of the fifteen projects that include areas such as drug development, vaccines, diagnostic tools, genetic population studies, vector control and integrated control programmes.  The deadline for applications is April 5, after which the institutions will proceed to the selection process and interviews. Awardees will join the corresponding host institutions on July 1^st, 2015. 

Further information on the projects and selection process in www.euroleish.net