5th Summer School in Medical Physics 2023: Data Science and Machine Learning in Radiotherapy

For 2023 we are happy to announce our 5th Summer School in Medical Physics about Data Science and Machine Learning in Radiotherapy, to be held in September 2023. The course is organized under the auspices of the Heidelberg Institute of Radiation Oncology (HIRO) in close cooperation with our partners (see below).

Since 2017 we offered four Summer Schools in Medical Physics on different topics such as Computational Methods for Radiotherapy or Image-Guided Radiotherapy (see our course archive here for further information about our past summer schools).

The 5th summer school is subdivided into an online phase of about four weeks and an attendance phase of one week, following the hybrid model, such that all sessions of the attendance phase are additionally available online as a live online phase via Zoom. Thus, participants can decide to follow the course online and on site or 100% virtually.

The online phase with pre-recorded lectures introduces the basics in machine learning, focusing on 3D voxelized geometries, its most frequent applications, and methodological as well as ethical aspects. The live online and attendance phases will then expose how machine learning may interfere radiotherapy workflows in detail. The knowledge of deep learning methodologies for image synthesis, organ and target segmentation, and image registration in the context of radiotherapy will be expanded. Furthermore, applications in computational dosimetry and plan optimization will be discussed, ranging from dose prediction, guided plan optimization, and treatment outcome prediction.

Scheduled interactive sessions, a science slam as well as a poster session during the course will allow the attendees to exchange thoughts and ideas with each other and our teaching experts.

We are happy to receive your applications as well as abstracts for the science slam or the poster session. Please note: you can apply for participation without submitting an abstract for the science slam or the poster session.

Please feel free to download our flyer and share it with colleagues and friends. 

Our summer school is designed for national and international PhD/MD, MSc or BSc students with a background in Physics, Medical Physics, Medical Engineering, Radiation Therapy or Radiology or similar. Due to several requests, we also accept applications from young scientists and clinical trainees with degrees in the respected fields without being enrolled as a student of a university. 

Ca. 25 participants can attend 100% virtually, max. 24 participants can attend online and on site in Heidelberg.

Once successfully completed, participants will get a certificate of attendance including supplement with 4 ECTS points, issued by the German Cancer Research Center and our partners.

We are very happy to announce three prizes for the science slam as well as one prize for the poster session. Therefore, we invite all applicants to submit abstracts for the science slam or the poster session (in addition to the regular application documents). All authors of accepted abstracts have the chance to get one of the following awards: 

• 1st Prize of the Science Slam: €250
• 2nd Prize of the Science Slam: €150
• 3rd Prize of the Science Slam: €100
• Poster Prize of €100

More information is available in the section "Fee and Application" below. 

Our summer school starts with an online phase of about three weeks. During this period, participants get access to the virtual learning platform Moodle which provides all learning materials such as pre-recorded video lectures and lecture notes as PDFs as well as short tasks. Furthermore, mandatory live online sessions via Zoom with experts from Heidelberg and other national and international experts are scheduled during this online phase (days and times see "Dates and Program").

The online phase is concluded with the first mandatory online test consisting of multiple-choice questions about all topics taught during the online phase. The test can be done during the last two weeks of the online phase whenever participants have time, and its successful completion (50% of points indicated) is a prerequisite to participate in the attendance phase or the live online phase.

Please also download and read our technical requirements to attend our virtual summer school.

The attendance phase in Heidelberg is hosted as a hybrid event and thus, all sessions are available as a so-called live online phase to those who attend online only.

Lectures by our national and international experts are scheduled during the morning sessions. Interactive sessions such as pro-contra-discussions, hands-on workshops, the science slam and the poster session as well as interactive discussion rounds take place during the afternoon to strengthen active participation and to initiate scientific exchange between experts and participants.

The whole summer school is concluded with the second mandatory online test (multiple-choice questions) about all topics taught during the attendance phase or live online phase (duration see "Dates and Program").

Our networking activities such as Get Together or the Guided Tours (e.g. to the new building "Imaging and Radiology" at the DKFZ or to the Heidelberg University Hospital) are only available to on-site participants.

Once the application is accepted, on-site participants will get a code to book a room themselfs at special rates in a hotel in Heidelberg. Traveling costs for on-site participants such as train tickets, costs for accomodation as well as living expenses have to be covered by on-site participants themselfs. 

The hybrid attendance phase takes place at the following venue:

Marsilius-Kolleg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.1
DE-69120 Heidelberg

The Marilius-Kolleg lies diagonally opposite the main entrance of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).

How to get there

Fees for online/on-site participation:

• PhD/MD students and young scientists/clinical trainees: €125
• Master's & Bachelor's students: €75

Fee for online attendance: 

• €60 for all online participants

Payments can only be done either by Credit Card or Wire Transfer/Invoice. The candidates will receive all relevant information to initiate the payment by email once their participation is accepted and confirmed. Please only register for the course, if you can use one of our two payment options. Please note: Neither on-site/cash payments nor payments by Paypal are possible.

Application Procedure

APPLICATION IS CLOSED NOW.

Start of Application: March 2023

Confirmation of acceptance: at the beginning/middle of July 2023

Once the application is accepted, each participant gets further instructions on how to pay the fees either by Credit Card or by wire transfer based on an invoice. 

To see more information about the application procedure as well as to finally submit your application and your possible abstracts for the science slam and poster session, please click on "Application and Abstracts" below. Applications by e-mail cannot be accepted. 

Prof. Oliver Jäkel, PhD

Head of the Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology, DKFZ, Heidelberg
Head of Medical Physics at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT)
Professor for Medical Physics at the Medical Faculty Heidelberg of Heidelberg University

Prof. Jürgen Debus, MD, PhD

Medical Director of the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) and of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Radiation Therapy at the Heidelberg University Hospital
Vice Dean at the Medical Faculty Heidelberg of Heidelberg University

Kristina Giske, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher and Research Group Leader: Computational Patient Models
Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology, DKFZ, Heidelberg

Niklas Wahl, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher and Research Group Leader: Radiotherapy Optimization
Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology, DKFZ, Heidelberg

Please feel free to contact us by email to symposium.medphys@dkfz-heidelberg.de if you have any questions.

Local Organizing Team

Anna Moshanina, Dr. Simone Barthold-Beß, Marcel Schäfer
Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology

German Cancer Research Center
Im Neuenheimer Feld 280
DE-69120 Heidelberg, Germany

Phone: +49-6221/42-3481