Month: March 2023

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The One Health Early Career Champions -program continues in 2023-2024!

The One Health Early Career Champions -program continues in 2023-2024!

The One Health Early Career Champions (ECC) -pilot was successfully implemented in the years 2021-2022 and culminated in a festive awarding ceremony at the University of Nairobi in December 2022. The Early Career Champions -program will continue in the years 2023-2024 in the tradition of the ECC-pilot with a second edition of the One Health theme. This thematic focus encompasses a multitude of One Health research areas including, among others, virology, anti-microbial resistance, and food & nutrition. 

The Early Career Champions -program is part of the University’s Africa program and brings together doctoral researchers and mentors from the universities of Helsinki and Nairobi. As part of the strategic partnership between the two universities, the One Health Early Career Champions -program promotes career advancement and international networking of early career researchers from various disciplinary backgrounds, focusing on One Health. It includes four workshops with different topics like career planning and entrepreneurship, mentoring sessions, monthly seminars, and an awarding ceremony at the end of the program. ECC Early career champions program university Helsinki Nairobi participants Grande finale

The ECC program creates long-term partnerships, supports international activities of doctoral researchers and more experienced scientists, enables multidisciplinary research, and promotes the development of a lasting community of Early Career Champions comprising active ECC mentors and mentees as well as ECC alumni from Kenya and Finland. 

It is now possible to apply to become an ECC mentor or ECC mentee in the upcoming second term of the One Health Early Career Champions -program.  The application forms for new ECC mentors and ECC mentees will be open 3.4.-24.4.2023. The selections will take place in May 2023. 

Please contact the planning officers Mia Vehkaoja (mia.vehkaoja@helsinki.fi) or Lauri Turpeinen (lauri.turpeinen@helsinki.fi) at the Researcher Training Services, if you have any questions. 

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EEC Experience by Joseph Ogola

EEC Experience by Joseph Ogola

ECC program is a well-thought-out idea that gave me a chance to interact with my fellow mentees and mentors from different disciplines. Through this interaction, my network grew and I was able to learn on their career trajectories from early school years. These experiences were motivation to me and offers the much-needed synergy as I define my future path after completion of my PhD studies. ECC Early career champions program university Helsinki Nairobi participants in Helsinki. Photo by Joseph Ogola

My greatest lesson learnt in this program is having a clear vision and being committed in following the path leading to the vision irrespective of the challenges. The one on one interaction with my mentors also offered me a chance of bringing clarity to my career path post PhD. The visit to Helsinki was fan having spent 1.5 years at the university of Helsinki before and during Covid-19 pandemic. I had a chance to reunite with my friends but it also offered opportunity to visit different research groups and to learn the One Health researches and different collaborations across geographical range.