From 21 to 24 October 2025, the PROVIDE Network’s third Training School took place in the historic city of Antwerp, Belgium. Over four days, network members gathered for another packed programme of scientific lectures, transferable skills workshops and collaborative sessions, all designed to strengthen our doctoral training environment and drive our research agenda forward.
Day 1: Research Updates & Supervision Training
The Doctoal Candidates (DCs) opened the meeting with 10-minute oral presentations of their research progress, followed by 5-minute discussions. Two scientific lectures followed: Dr Wouter van der Valk (Leiden University Medical Center) presented “In vitro models to investigate the vestibular system”, and Prof. Dr Vincent Van Rompaey (UZA) discussed “Environmental and genetic risk factors of vestibular disorders”. These lectures were recorded and will be available via the PROVIDE Learning Hub.
At the end of the day the Principle Investigators joined a guided intervision on supervision workshop facilitated by Brigitte Hertz (Hertz Training for Scientists), sharing experiences of supervision and exploring new supervisory tools. The day concluded with a consortium dinner at a local restaurant in Antwerp.
Day 2: Patient Perspective & Dissemination of Clinical Training Tools
The morning started with a session by Els de Hondt, a member of the “de negende van” patient association. She shared her lived experience of hearing loss and balance problems, bringing another patient perspective into the scientific environment. Next, Prof. Dr. Raymond van de Berg introduced the clinical training tools developed with the Bárány Society and led a brainstorming session about their dissemination within PROVIDE.
In the afternoon, the Supervisory Board met to review updates on finances, governance, training, reporting, research compliance, open science, research data management and communication. Afterwards supervision team meetings were held to discuss the scientific projects and related secondments in more detail.
Day 3: Citizen science, PhD perspectives & lab tour
The morning included an interactive session by Dr. Laure Jacquemin (UZA) on two citizen-engagement projects, sparking ideas for how to involve citizens more directly in vestibular research. Then a PhD-perspectives panel offered DCs insights into the doctoral journey through talks from three PhD graduates, Dr. Amaya Miquelajauregui Graf, Dr. Matheus Lourenço and Dr. Eleni Fitsiou shared their experiences on career paths, opportunities and challenges.
The DCs toured the clinical vestibular labs at UZA in the afternoon, where they had hands-on exposure to vestibular testing equipment. In the evening, the DCs enjoyed an outing exploring Antwerp’s historic underground sewage system.
Day 4: Presentation Skills Workshop
The final day was devoted entirely to an interactive presentation-skills workshop delivered by Eva Pantelakis. The full-day session featured practical exercises and tools to boost confidence and effectiveness in scientific presentations, a key transferable skill for all researchers.
In summary
TS3 in Antwerp successfully delivered a stimulating mixture of scientific content, professional development and community-building. PROVIDE thereby continues to foster a collaborative, high-quality training environment for the next generation of vestibular researchers.
We look forward to seeing the connections forged at this event bear fruit across the network and into future research outputs.
