The Interdisciplinary Projects 

Participants worked intensively together to identify feasible projects they were interested in and then wrote them into a proposal that would encourage a reviewer for a grant funding organization to keep reading. According to Sandro Sousa, “the hardest part was coming up with the topic with the group – I had to compromise on topics that mattered to me and let others guide the direction, to ensure equal participation. We spent a lot of time debating what to do with our common interest, once we found it.” 

The final day at IceLab Camp was a short one ending at lunch.  The students reviewed each other’s proposals, which was a valuable learning experience in and of itself, as most participants had not considered a proposal from the reviewer’s perspective. This exercise helped them see their proposals in a new light. For Sandro and many others, this was their favorite part of the whole Camp experience.

The project topics themselves are unpredictable and a source of consistent surprise to Martin Rosvall. “Even though I have organized this camp for ten years, I am excited each year because I always leave the camp with new insights and skills. Something that always surprises me is the creativity and diversity of project ideas the groups come up with – they always exceed my expectations.”   

This year’s projects covered topics from creating a new approach to scientific publishing – a ‘sciencepedia’ – and studying the impact of collaboration between countries on migration flows to the impact on the structure of DNA of applying molecular force to a cell’s nucleus and applying lessons from superorganisms to super societies. This last project was ranked highest by the participants, thanks to how well written it was, clearly including key elements of a grant proposal Martin had shared in a prior Camp session. 

Reflecting on the whole 

The importance of communication for writing a great research proposal was something that, while not explicitly stated during the course, became clear over the week and was one of the key elements that will linger and continue to influence Filip. “I will probably remember the tips and tricks of how to structure a proposal – and also the soft skills around science because they seem to be the difference between being really successful instead of just successful. Communication is the essence of science – it’s about sharing your science.” 

Eric Libby, IceLab associate professor and co-instructor at IceLab Camp, hopes the students come home with new insights about the process of doing good science – and valuable tools for becoming more creative researchers. Like Martin, he also finds the Camp a source of inspiration.

At the end, everyone involved had good things to say about Camp. “Why is this not a part of every university’s program?” asked Sandro Sousa on the bus ride back. Many carried on their conversations from Camp in the evening around Umeå, on trains and planes, saying farewell with warm hugs. Meeting each other was a highlight and may have lingering positive effects.  

For Carmen, this was why she applied to join Camp. She is alone in a group of biologists and biochemists with no one to have deep discussions with about bioinformatics and gene networks and wanted to meet people she could consult in the future. Carmen says she achieved the goal.

Looking forward

IceLab Camp returns in 2023. Additionally, the camp concept has expanded beyond early career researchers. In 2021, IceLab organized the Medical Faculty-AI hackathon, following a modified IceLab Camp model where new multidisciplinary research teams worked on converting their ideas into real research proposals to help new collaborations succeed. IceLab will hold the Medical Faculty-AI hackathon again in Spring 2023.