Offers for technical assistants
The quality of the biosamples stored in a biobank depends to a large extent on the expertise of the technical staff who are responsible for processing and storing them and making them available for research projects. Members of the "Education and Training" working group have analysed the training needs of technical assistants (TA) and published the results(Hartung, M.L.; Baber, R.; Herpel, E.; Specht, C.; Brucker, D.P.; Schoneberg, A.; Winter, T.; Nussbeck, S.Y. Harmonisation of Biobank Education for Biobank Technicians: Identification of Learning Objectives. BioTech 2021, 10, 7).
In the underlying survey, the majority of participating TAs stated that they had never participated in any biobanking-specific training. Other training courses were not geared towards the work processes in a biobank. Based on these results, the working group began to develop corresponding TA-specific training programmes. These were also adapted to the processes and results of the EQA schemes carried out as part of the GBN.
On-site training
On-site training courses are offered on various topics - such as tissue sections or DNA isolation - and are organised at different GBN sites. They help to harmonise procedures within the GBN biobanks. All TAs working in GBN biobanks can take part; registration is via OpenILIAS.
On-site trainings" section on OpenILIAS
Report from the on-site training:
eLearning and online forum
Module "DNA isolation"
What is DNA? What isolation methods are there and how do they work? The learning module on the online platform OpenILIAS provides a comprehensive overview of the purpose, process, theoretical background of DNA isolation and the use of DNA. For TAs who wish to participate in an on-site training course on DNA isolation offered by GBN, successful completion of the module is a prerequisite. Participation in the course is open to all GBN biobank employees. It can be started continuously and completed at your own pace. After passing the final examination, GBN awards a certificate. The time required is approximately three hours, plus around 20 minutes for the final examination.
Module "DNA Isolation" on OpenILIAS
Biobanking Forum
In the "Biobanking Forum" on OpenILIAS, TAs in particular can exchange information with each other - on technical questions or interesting events - or simply network. The forum is open to all employees from GBN biobanks.
Registration on OpenILIAS
To use OpenILIAS, interested parties from the GBN create their own accounts. Click on the "Register new user account" tab in the footer on the start page. On the following page, you can create an account by entering your e-mail address and a user:in name of your choice. To complete the registration, you must then send the selected name by email to germanbiobanknetwork@charite.de.