Young GI angle: UEG research fellowship—Benefits of going abroad

"It always seems impossible until it's done" (Nelson Mandela). While this is true for many things, young researchers will admit the same feeling for for example, a grant application or scientific project. After successfully completing your PhD or training, the idea of an international postdoc is an even more daunting thought. Based on our own and previous experiences,1, 2 we illustrate how the benefits are definitely worth the effort when applying for the UEG Research Fellowship. I did not leave much time between my PhD and postdoctoral year abroad. My public defense was scheduled on a Thursday in October 2021, followed by a Friday off and car-trip to Paris with my 37-week pregnant wife. A little naive as we were (it was a first pregnancy), the idea was to have the car parked at the local hospital so I could leave whenever needed during the week. After a very lazy and sunny weekend, my wife took the train back on Monday and I started my first day at the Beaujon Hospital. Being unfamiliar with the later working hours in France, I came home exhausted and went straight to bed. Only 1 h later, my wife called me that it was already time to drive back to Belgium. The next morning our son was born (2 weeks early) and soon after we were strolling through the city with a baby and dog, somewhat less fashionable than Emily in Paris. While this all happened in that exact order, I did not spend only 1 day in my visiting institution before my planned but sooner than expected paternity leave. I actually spent more time preparing my postdoc than finishing my PhD and already worked on the protocols to have everything in place. I also visited the institution twice before coming over in September. This allowed me to collect data before and during my absence, as I could rely on dietitians and nurses. Teamwork truly makes the dream work, which included both working and living abroad. The later working hours also meant fewer people and distraction in the early morning, which was my most productive time and allowed me to spend my evenings not at work but at our new home in Paris. The exception being the "after-work" dinners and drinks with colleagues, who also became close friends. Besides some flexibility in facing the professional and personal challenges abroad, my biggest advice would be to plan ahead and anticipate that your research project will not be finalized after 1 year. I did not extend my stay with additional funding, similar to the previous Research Fellows, but continued working on the project after I returned home. I even went back a couple of times after my fellowship and combined this with presentations at affiliated research groups or national meetings. This not only kept the project running but also led to new friendships and international collaborations. Not all classrooms have four walls and the UEG Research Fellowships truly offers the possibility to cross borders in Europe! I am extremely grateful for this experience, which would not have been possible without the help from my local host Francisca and support from UEG. Merci! I have always been interested in research. Throughout my career, I have always been conducting research and clinical work at the same time. After becoming MD and specialist in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Sapienza University of Rome, I moved to Gothenburg, Sweden to do my PhD. During this time, I became interested in working with patients with rare liver diseases and, mostly, those with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). This is a very interesting and evolving medical field. To offer patients the most updated knowledge on their disease and answers to their questions, I decided to improve myself. To do so, I started planning to work on PSC in one of the biggest research centers in the world, the Norwegian PSC research center in Oslo (NoPSC). I had already an ongoing collaboration with Prof. Tom Hemming Karlsen and Johannes R. Hov from the NoPSC, through the International PSC study group (IPSCSG), which my clinical unit is part of. I contacted them and discussed the possibility of doing a post-doc in their center. The UEG Research Fellowship seemed suitable for me and the project that was assigned to me was in line with the aims of the fellowship. I wrote a proposal in close collaboration with Tom and Johannes, including my post-doc project that was about identifying new microbial metabolites involved in PSC pathogenesis. After receiving the news that I was awarded the UEG Research Fellowship, I started preparing for my post-doc: setting up everything to start my project and planning the move to Oslo. The NoPSC, the University of Oslo, and Tom and Johannes were of great help with housing accommodation and the paperwork necessary to start my new job. My research project was planned before my arrival to avoid unnecessary pauses waiting for data or results. After 2 years of work in Oslo, we have now produced interesting data, which are finalized in a manuscript that will soon be submitted for publication. I have also worked on many other parallel projects that have been published in the last year. I learned so much by being in one of the best centers in the World for the study of PSC, by sharing knowledge and enthusiasm with other colleagues, and by being in contact with amazing people at the NoPSC. I found exactly what I was looking for a stimulating scientific environment, great mentors, and friendly colleagues. Tom and Johannes have been wonderful supervisors, able to provide me guidance and the scientific freedom to formulate my own hypotheses and test them in the lab. This experience has been fundamental for me to understand how to plan and organize my future career in research and has provided me the opportunity to set up future collaborations for several interesting projects. My experience at NoPSC was wonderful and giving, both at a professional and personal level, and the UEG Research Fellowship provided me with one of the best opportunities of my career. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. Research data are not shared.