University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
The Immune System: Friend or Foe
7 - 9 October 2025
Konventum, Helsingør, Denmark
Aim and Content
This course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD Students from NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. This also applies to PhD students from NorDoc member faculties. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.
Learning Objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
- understand the molecular basis of the T-cells in the immune response.
- describe the importance of Immune Regulation in Health and Diseases.
- describe examples of autoimmunity with B-cell and antibody involvement.
- describe involvment of B- and T-cells in neuroinflammation.
- understand that different parts of body can be of importance in the immune response.
Content
The Immune System is our biological defense system which protect us from external and internal dangers. A number of factors can affect the inflammatory response such as genes, microbiota and gender. This can cause detrimental effects if there is a compromised regulation of the immune response. The course aim to deal with and explain these challenges.
Beside presentations by invites speakers, a number of students will be selected for shorter presentations. An organized poster session will be arranged and all students will be anticipated to bring a poster presenting their own research project.
The meeting will take place at Konventum in Elsinore. Accommodation will be provided for the participants, but travel to Konventum will be the responsibility of the participants.
For all participants attending the course there will be a separate registration for accommodation and food.
Participants
PhD students enrolled at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and main supervisors.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD student from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
- Immunology and Infectious Diseases
- Molecular Microbiology and infection
- Clinical Cancer Research
Course directors
- Mogens Holst Nissen, professor, MD, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen. Head of Graduate Programme in Immunology and Infectious Diseases, mhni@sund.ku.dk
- Lea Klingenberg Barfod, Professor, PhD, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen. PhD Coordinator of the Graduate Programme in Immunology and Infectious Diseases, lbarfod@sund.ku.dk