Organising committee 2023

The president, secretary and treasurer are responsible for overseeing the Organising committee, as head of the Executive Board.

The main task of the president, Julia Bakker, is to lead the Executive Board. He is responsible for the whole organisation towards and during the congress. Additionally, his task is to find suitable day chairs and jury members.

The secretary, Coco Wiegersma, is the contact person of the organisation. During this year she will work closely with the president. Besides that, she will be responsible for all of the registrations, both online and during the congress. She will manage the registration desk and will be happy to welcome you.

The treasurer, Emiel van Woensel, is responsible for all of the budgetary aspects of the congress. As treasurer, he is in charge of the incoming and outgoing money and he will manage the budget estimate for the congress.

Furthermore, we will take care of the statistics of our congress, to improve ISCOMS for the coming years.

We are looking forward to meeting you at ISCOMS 2023!

The Scientific Programme committee consists of six young and enthusiastic (bio)medical students. It is their responsibility to organise the scientific part of ISCOMS 2023. They are in charge of the keynote lectures, workshops, pre-course, interactive operation and the ISCOMS Research Fellowships (IRF). Their aim is to make the scientific programme of ISCOMS challenging and diverse. Besides this, they also supervise the abstract selection and ensure that students can present their research in a plenary, oral or poster session.

During the pre-course, the Graduate School of Medical Sciences will tell you all about the research possibilities in Groningen at ‘Your Future at the UMCG’. You will have the chance to improve your research skills in masterclasses and attend interesting speed-keynotes.

On three congress days five internationally well-established researchers will share their knowledge and experiences with us in keynote lectures. There are also a lot of exciting workshops you can participate in, ranging from practical workshops to patient demonstrations and interactive ethical workshops. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to attend an interactive operation. So even if you are not very familiar with research yet, you can visit the lectures, participate actively in hands-on workshops and gain new scientific skills.

For students who are interested in doing research in Groningen in the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), the Scientific Programme committee organises the two-week ISCOMS Research Fellowships. These short internships will take place directly after the congress and bring you into contact with researchers. Another possibility in order to come in contact with researchers from the UMCG is the workshop “Speeddating with Researchers”. This workshop will be organised during the congress and will provide you the opportunity to talk to researchers of various Research Institutes of the UMCG.

We are convinced ISCOMS is the perfect opportunity for students and young researchers from all around the world to present their recent work, meet fellow researchers and get enthusiastic about research. We enjoy creating a challenging and diverse scientific programme for ISCOMS 2023 a lot and we are looking forward to meeting you all!

ISCOMS cannot take place without its financial funding. The committee of Sponsors and Fundraising takes care of the financial resources. The Sponsors and Fundraising committee consists of five enthusiastic, dedicated students who will make every effort to make this congress financially possible. They do their very best to contact and inform companies in order to establish a good cooperation between the sponsors and ISCOMS.

Due to the fact that ISCOMS is one of the biggest student congresses for biomedical sciences within Europe and due to the numerous national and international students attending, ISCOMS has a great amount of sponsoring opportunities to offer. Besides students, there will also be scientists, professors, researchers and UMCG medical specialists attending the presentations, lectures and workshops. Hence making ISCOMS very attractive for potential sponsors.

Being a sponsor of ISCOMS allows extensive prospects for both large and small companies to create more awareness for the company, subsequently acquiring new business opportunities. Our purpose is to establish an agreement of mutual benefits. Companies can present themselves with an appearance of their logo on for example our website or our congress bag, a stand or giving interesting workshops. The sponsor program is available on the website under the heading ‘supporters’.

Apart from contacting potential sponsors, the committee will also subscribe several funds to support ISCOMS. Besides that, one of the committee members is going to assist the treasurer with the finances during the congress. They are also responsible for the journal subscriptions which the presenting participants can win during the congress. And last but not least, they carry the responsibility to provide the participants with a full congress bag which contains gadgets, journals and information and will be online from this year. So bring your own bag!

If you are interested in supporting biomedical research and if you want it to be able to reach hundreds of national and international motivated (bio)medical students or if you are willing to support ISCOMS as a high standing platform to exchange in international scientific knowledge, please take a good look around on our website! If you have any questions, please contact us and we are more than willing to give you all the information you need.

The International Contacts committee takes care of the international part of ISCOMS. Their daily responsibilities include the worldwide promotion of the congress, and taking care of participants who encounter problems with their registration or experience other difficulties while preparing themselves for ISCOMS 2023. 

The International Contacts committee takes care of the promotion by e-mailing, calling, and sending promotional materials across the globe. In this worldwide promotion they are supported by our highly motivated and valued ambassadors, who were inspired by their own ISCOMS experience. Click here to see what ambassadors do and which ambassadors you can contact in your own country. 

All incoming emails of students who want to submit their abstract or who are seeking additional information about ISCOMS are answered by the International Contacts committee. They are also the committee that has contact with the embassies when aiding students in obtaining their Visa. Lastly, they are responsible for the Travel Grants for students that require financial aid in order to attend our congress. 

As the International Contacts committee, we are constantly looking for new contacts around the world that would like to help us with promoting ISCOMS 2023. If you believe you can help, please send an email to iscoms@umcg.nl. If you have any other questions regarding promotion, Visas, ambassadors, Travel Grants, and so forth, please send us an email and we will be glad to help you! 

We hope to see you at ISCOMS 2023! 

The Hosting and Logistics committee is responsible for hosting of participants, the social programme and the logistics during the congress. 

When the participants come to Groningen, they need a place to stay. Next to providing discounts on various hotels and hostels in the city, the Hosting & Logistics committee can usually offer a cheap and fun alternative. In the stay with a student option, participants will sleep in a typical dutch student house. Next to it being cheaper than a hotel, participants will get to socialize with students from Groningen and see how they live. 

Next to the scientific programme, ISCOMS offers a broad social programme for the participants to socialise and have fun with each other. 

The Hosting & Logistics committee organises a city tour, a salsa workshop, a formal dinner on Tuesday, a “social evening” on which various activities were held and after the last day of the congress the World Wide ISCOMS night. A night on which everybody dresses up in a typical/classical outfit of their country and comes together to have a party to celebrate the amazing week they had. On Friday, one day after the congress, ISCOMS will go to another Dutch city. There, the Post Congress Tour is held, a day with activities and relaxing. 

At last the Hosting and Logistics committee handles all the logistics at the congress. Together with the Scientific Programme committee they provide the programme for the congress, as well as the plan of action, a book in which every detail of the congress is laid out. 

We hope you are as excited as we are and we are looking forward to seeing you at ISCOMS 2023! 

The Media & Branding committee is responsible for the appearance of ISCOMS and the online promotion of ISCOMS.

Their main task is to deliver the graphical design of all material that will be handed out at the congress and of all flyers, posters, booklets and cards that are spread all over the world by our colleagues from the International Contacts committee. Furthermore, they compose and design the Book of Abstracts that will be handed out at the congress to all participants. This book contains information about the congress and the people involved and contains all abstracts of participants who present their research at ISCOMS 2023. Last but not least, the committee is responsible for the social media community of ISCOMS, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The main goal of the Research & Development committee of ISCOMS is to innovate and improve every upcoming edition of the congress. They establish this by extensive evaluation that helps us determine what we can and should change. Also, they try to think of how it could be changed. The committee makes sure the improvements are implemented at the upcoming congress. Brainstorming is a great part of the committee’s task. Thinking of new ideas that will enhance the congress. These ideas come from the evaluation sheets that participants fill out and, for example, brainstorm sessions with the entire organisation that our committee organises.

A good example of innovation of ISCOMS is the application for smartphones that has been set up and launched five years ago. In the meantime, it has been updated by the committee and is improving every year.

Furthermore, the Research & Development committee is responsible for the website. This means that, in addition to providing the website with its lay-out, they also keep the website up to date at all times to ensure you will receive the correct information.

Furthermore, they maintain partnerships with other student congresses, because these are vitally important to the improvement of medical congresses in general. Each year they evaluate these partnerships and look for possible new ones. As partners, ISCOMS tries to become an even more inspiring congress.

We would be delighted to welcome you to ISCOMS 2023!

ISCOMS is a congress organised by and for students. Thirty biomedical students are responsible for all scientific, financial, and organisational aspects of the congress. As the congress is organised every year by a new team of students, the advisory board can assist in the continuity of the congress. They have helped organising ISCOMS for many years now. Their expertise, experience and contacts are of great support for the Organising committee. The advisory board consists of three seniors from the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG).

Prof. Paul de Vos PhD

Full professor immunoendocrinology at the University of Groningen

Advisor since 2009

Robert A. Pol MD PhD

Vascular and transplant surgeon at the UMCG

Advisor since 2018

Matijs van Meurs MD PhD

Intensivist at the UMCG

Advisor since 2016

We would like to thank the advisory board for their continuous support and useful advice.

The ISCOMS First Year Crew (FYC) is made up of 12-15 enthusiast first year (bio)medical students. The FYC gives the Organizing committee a helping hand during the congress. They help build up the congress and they participate in the social and scientific programme. The FYC also awards one plenary speaker with the First Year Jury award. Although these first year students do not have a lot of medical experience, they will judge the plenary sessions open minded and with care. One of the things the FYC likes most about helping out at the congress is meeting and socialising with the international students, so if you see them at the congress, have a chat and say hi!