On the 20th and 21st of February 2020 the Graduate School for Pig and Poultry Medicine (PaP) held its annual symposium in the Panoramasaal of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. As per tradition the symposium was opened by a short introduction from programme director Anja Joachim illustrating the growth of the PaP programme over the years and some warm words of welcome from the Vice-Rector for Research and International Relations Otto Doblhoff-Dier. This was followed by a guest lecture from Samuel Camenzind from the Messerli Research Institute on the topic of ethics of human animal studies, a controversial topic that elicited a heated discussion among the audience. 

After everyone had the opportunity to enjoy a short coffee break, senior students Carlotta De Luca, Christiane Hundehege, Julia Lagler, Jemma Milburn, Daniel Ruhnau, Selma Schmidt, Sonia Villanueva-Hernández and Sophia von Buchholz presented their research in short oral presentations followed by short discussions and questions from the audience. To promote scientific exchange between all participants, this year’s poster session was held in a new format where posters could be reviewed and discussed during a longer coffee break allowing discussions to take place in a more relaxed and informal manner. The first poster breakout included posters by Sina Bagheri, Marcelo De Jesus Ramires, Victoria Drauch, Mohamed Kamal Abdelhamid, Katharina Strebinger, Clara Pernold and Emil Lagumdzic. The format change of the session was appreciated by poster presenters and attendees alike as there was no time limit per poster and questions could be debated in more detail. 

Another addition to this year’s symposium was the inclusion of presentations by postdocs, which were given in a first “Meet the postdocs” session by Anna Schachner and Surya Paudel from the University Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine. To conclude a successful day, dinner was served on location (provided by Mensa Catering) and everyone could relax with food and beverages of choice. 

The second day was opened with the second part of the “Meet the postdocs” session where Teresa Cruz-Bustos (Institute of Parasitology) and Christiane Riedel (Institute of Virology) provided an insight into their research topics. During the subsequent poster breakout the second group of first and second year students (Anna Feix, Alexandra Kiesler, Marlene Mötz, Spencer Sawyer, Stelli Stancheva, Melissa Stas, Sophie Dürlinger, Heinrich Kreutzmann) had the opportunity to present and discuss their PhD projects. 

In closed sessions faculty members and students were invited to meet with the scientific advisory board to review the progress and potential improvements of the PaP Graduate School. After a final wrap up speech by Anja Joachim, this year´s symposium ended with lunch at the Mensa of the University. The 6th annual Symposium of the Graduate School for Pig and Poultry Medicine was a great chance for students and faculty members of the PaP school for sharing and discussing their work and provided the basis for stronger collaborations between institutes as well as incentives for avenues that might be explored in the future.

On the 19th and 20th of November 2019 PaP students and faculty members assembled for the annual planned retreat of the Graduate School for Pig and Poultry Medicine (PaP). The 6th retreat was held in Rust (Burgenland), a beautiful Austrian city located on the west shore of Lake Neusiedl.

Once everyone was settled into their rooms at the Hotel am See, everyone assembled in a seminar room and Anja Joachim, the head of the Graduate School for Pig and Poultry, officially kicked off the start of our meeting. During the first round of presentations, all first year PaP students (Sina Bagheri, Marcelo De Jesus Ramires, Katharina Strebinger, Victoria Drauch, Alexandra Kiesler, Clara Pernold, Heinrich Kreutzmann and Sophie Dürlinger) had the opportunity to present their projects in 5 minutes. This round of presentations was concluded with a coffee break and an informal get-together of PaP students and faculty members.

After a satisfying lunch, the energy levels were refueled and we proceeded with two intermittent presentation sessions from the more advanced PaP students (Melissa Stas, Spencer Sawyer, Anna Feix, Carlotta De Luca, Sophia von Buchholz, Daniel Ruhnau, Marlene Mötz, Emil Lagumdzic, Jemma Milburn, Sonia Villanueva Hernández, Selma Schmidt and Stelli Stancheva). All presenters received challenging questions that led to great discussions, which highlighted the importance of this get- together in a friendly atmosphere. After a short break, we proceeded with separate sessions where the students brainstormed about the topic of networking and how the supervisors can be of assistance in this context. The possibility to gain experience in a laboratory abroad was also a hot topic, raising many questions.

Besides business, there is also room for fun! The first day was concluded with a tour in a local winery “Just Rust” including a wine tasting. Some of us even got acquainted with a cat friend.

The second day, everyone enjoyed a lovely breakfast and the students presented their ideas and concerns of the brainstorming session to the supervisors. Some questions were dealt with and some new questions popped–up. One issue that was accentuated was that the events organized by the Graduate School for Pig and Poultry Medicine (PaP) should be placed more in the spotlight. In order to raise more awareness about our graduate program, PaP members decided to wear PaP buttons to on- campus events. In February 2020, PaP will kick-off the first winter school and Anja Joachim gave us a quick preview about the planned program.

Lastly, two new student representatives were appointed on voluntary basis. Carlotta de Luca and Emil Lagumdzic proudly passed on the torch to Jemma Milburn and Victoria Drauch with the assistance of Clara Pernold. Hereafter, everyone went home with a feeling of fulfillment, new ideas to develop their career/project and some wine.