This year's second RIGeL-BIOMEDIGS Summer School took place from September 11 to 12 at the Monastery of Ensdorf. This time, we were a smaller group of 27 participants, which made the schedule a bit more comfortable compared to the one we had in June.

Upon arrival at the monastery, we started with a small refreshment of coffee and pretzels. After a short welcome by the coordinators and the summer school team, the participants were divided into four smaller groups for the Team Challenges. The four teams rotated between four challenges throughout the entire summer school. We played Activity, Ice Flow Challenge, Flat Folding, and Indiaca. The team games were a complete success, as the survey at the end of the summer school showed. When asked what participants liked most about the summer school, the most popular answer was the team games.

Of course, there were also more serious moments during the summer school. We had poster and talk sessions where participants could gain insights into different research fields from the Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, as well as the Faculty of Medicine.

Although it rained at times, the weather remained pleasant enough for us to enjoy our "traditional" campfire with stick bread in the evening. We spent our free time together by the fire, engaging in enjoyable conversations and socializing.

As a guest lecture, we had a very interesting talk by Dr. Katrin Brunner from the global pharmaceutical company Novartis. She shared valuable insights into her role as a Medical Science Liaison Manager and provided important tips for applying for jobs at global companies.

The official end of the summer school came with the award ceremony.

Lorenz Kick was awarded the Best Poster Prize for his poster CHANGES IN FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN DEPRESSIVE PATIENTS UNDERGOING ECT.

The Best Talk Prize went to A.E. for his presentation on Real-Time Monitoring of Pancreatic Tumor Dynamics in a 3D-in-vivo-model as an alternative preclinical model.

Finally, the team "PhD All Stars" won the Team Challenge Prize.

We congratulate all the winners and thank all participants for making this summer school a memorable experience.

To be continued next year...