ARICE

The Medical University of Graz (Med Uni Graz) in Austria had its beginnings in 1863, when the the Austrian emperor founded the faculty of medicine at the Karl Franzens-University of Graz. However, it was not until 2004 that the faculty became an independent university, opening as the Centre for Medical Research with a library and Learning Centre. At the same time, a Nursing Science programme was launched. Today, the university has a Laura Bassi Centre of Expertise, part of a Europe-wide series of such research centres which are led by top-level female scientists. The Ludwig Boltzman Institute, launched in 2007, is just one of an Austrian network of specialized research institutes. In the same year, the university launched its first international PhD programme. Other facilities include a state-of-the-art MRI scanner research facility, the Bad Aussee Hospital for psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, and in 2009 became the first in Austria to open a Clinical Skills Centre. Its alumni include Fritz Pregel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Julius Wagner von Jauregg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Pharmacologist Otto Loewi, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1936 for his discoveries about synapse signal transmission, was forced to flee two years later at the dawn of the Second World War.

The Med Uni Graz will be responsible within ARICE for the improvement of skills in study design, genomics interpretation and scientific writing (WP2) including the grant writing training. Additionally, it will be responsible for the networking, communication and dissemination (WP6) and the linking of the acquired knowledge within YSMU with other institutions in Armenia and regionally.