1. Managing Entity IMI EMTRAIN, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
2. current address: Eli Lilly Regional Operations, Austria
3. EMBL – EBI, United Kingdom
4. Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
5. Coordinator IMI EMTRAIN, AstraZeneca, United Kingdom
6. Coordinator IMI EMTRAIN, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

on-course.eu [1] is the most comprehensive postgraduate biomedical course database in Europe. Launched in February 2012 it has grown rapidly. Currently the on-course.eu database contains more than 7,400 European courses from a wide range of disciplines relevant to biomedical research, including courses on transferable skills. Course seekers are offered free-text search with advanced search filters. A bookmarking function allows pooling courses in comparison lists. Registered users can set search preferences in their user profiles for repeated use. All data is implemented in a structure which prepares on-course.eu for automated feeds from course providers’ databases. Course providers benefit from easy-to-use data entry and editing, a recently improved registration tool and a newly introduced automated e-mail reminder option. The Toolkit for Trainers resource provides trainers with advice on choosing teaching methodologies. A learning-style quiz is also included. The on-course.eu platform provides detailed background information to users including statistics, publications, live-data graphs, information about trends and gaps and other facts and figures relevant for biomedical education and training. In the back-end on-course.eu curators can run effective queries to monitor course information. on-course.eu’s current usage statistics show steadily increasing user numbers. Future plans are aiming at linking courses to competency profiles. on-course.eu will soon include training courses for managers of research infrastructures. on-course.eu is also exploring options of supporting the European science4refugees initiative. on-course.eu was designed and built with input from a broad stakeholder group from industry and other employers, academics, students, policy makers and course providers. Continuing analyses of on-course.eu data regarding trends and gaps and surveys on demand areas formed the priorities within on-course.eu.

Link:

1. http://www.on-course.eu