Clinical and research training have to go hand in hand, but at the same time need to not interfere with, and thus, hamper each other – this is the key challenge of all clinician scientist programmes, and will receive special attention in the iDfellows-programme.

Protected research time is of course essential, but so is excellent clinical training including “protected clinical time”.

It is a misconception that good clinical training necessarily impairs scientific careers. Indeed, as good research questions arise from careful and thoughtful clinical observations, and good research work requires a good understanding of clinical problems, both the clinical training and the research training will receive close attention in iDfellows, and both will be clearly aimed at developing knowledgeable and curious independent clinicians and researchers.

1. Pre-entry training and experience

iDfellows will be expected to have at least two years of clinical experience, usually 2 – 3 years, before entering the clinician scientist programme. During this period, they need to have acquired and demonstrated sufficient clinical acumen and efficiency to allow the prediction that they will be very good clinicians and well-organised enough to successfully manage a combined clinical and scientific career.

2. Research training and experience

The programme iDfellows entails one year of full-time research followed by two years with 50% protected research time, either spent “en bloc” in 3 – 6 months periods, or, depending on the research needs and the clinical training needs, part-time continuously.

3. Clinical training and experience during the fellowship

In order to become an excellent infectious diseases specialist, a sound clinical training is of utmost importance.

Two clinical tracks will be implemented in iDfellows:

(A) Clinician scientists in internal medicine specialising in infectious diseases

(B) Clinician scientist of adjacent clinical disciplines with a strong focus on infection research within their specialisation.

4. Mid- and long-term perspective

The successful fellows of this iDfellows-programme will have the chance of continued support and funding. All those who have been successful during the three-year funding period, measured primarily by the successful application for a full research grant (DFG Sachmittelantrag or equivalent) will be able to enter a second phase of the Clinician Scientist programme offering another three years of 50% protected research time

Embedding of iDfellows within existing UKE Clinician Scientist Programmes:

Mentoring

Each fellow shall have four mentors along the clinician scientist career path

• A clinical training mentor
• A research mentor, who is the direct supervisor, i.e. the principal investigator of the research project
• A second research mentor, who is a PI of another research group
• An international mentor, who is a successful clinician scientist working in a related field

The following mentors were selected to participate as international mentors in the iD fellows-programme. They were selected based on their important contributions to the field of infection research and will serve as highly successful role models for the selected iD fellows.