Between August 5 and 8, the Bloorview Research Institute (BRI) welcomed international guests from the research community for the third annual Canada-Norway Summer School. The school, funded by a three-year grant from the Research Council of Norway, brings together members of the Oslo-Toronto Alliance in Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition to share knowledge, create collaboration and share cultural experiences between like-minded researchers from the two countries.
The four-day conference was headed by Dr. Anders Fjell and Dr. Kristine Walhovd (Fjell and Waldhovd labs in Oslo, Norway), Dr. TomášPaus (BRI), Dr. Zdenka Pausova (Sick Kids). Thirty research trainees from Canada and Norway were in attendance and heard from internationally celebrated scientists in the field, such as Dr. Mark Mapstone (University of California) and Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou (Holland Bloorview). Dr. Louis Richer from the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi also attended as a collaborator.
“One of the biggest benefits of the conference is the ability to grow our research network and in some cases share similar data,” said Dr. Paus, Holland Bloorview. “We need big numbers to move forward in science and the connections made at the summer school have allowed for this to happen.”
The connections made through the Canada-Norway Summer School has resulted in five of published papers to date, with more underway.
In between presentations and guest lecturers, social activities were planned to allow all attendees to build personal connections that can lead to academic and research partnerships.
