Qualified training in radiation sciences
- a European mission

Wolfgang Dörr, Francesco d'Errico, Paul Schofield

The present issue of the EURADOS Newsletter entitled "European Research in Radiological Sciences" focuses on education and training. This themed issue was motivated by the need to support the otherwise rapidly declining expertise in the radiological sciences. A prominent example of a disappearing discipline is radiation chemistry, but many other radiation research areas are progressively losing consideration and support. Radiation protection is among these, especially as regards radiation risk assessment and management of accidental exposures. To reverse this general trend, training in the radiological sciences must be promoted at different levels, from public education to the preparation of teachers and specialists.

First of all, maintaining a high level of expertise in the radiological sciences is needed to ensure the quality of the researchers in the field, especially at a time when their number is declining. Since retiring scientists are rarely replaced, career opportunities in almost all radiological research areas have become extremely scarce in most European countries. The few researches who do succeed in achieving a position in the field must be adequately prepared to face their increased responsibilities.

Support for the radiological sciences has to be provided both at national and international levels in order to guarantee the presence of high-quality researchers, instructors and advisors. In particular, radiological science educators must be provided with consistent, high-level training and validated, up-to-date teaching materials. In fact, while most European countries have "official experts" in various areas of the radiological sciences, the educational tasks are often delegated to non-expert teachers.

Training standards must be high as well as consistent throughout Europe. This is essential to permit the future mobility of researchers within the European community, and it requires uniform curricula and evaluation criteria. While in areas such as radiation oncology these innovative options are already being considered, other disciplines still rely on older instruments and do not benefit from the cross-fertilisation provided by international exchange and standardisation.

The overview provided by the two moot points and reports presented in this issue clearly demonstrates that several high-quality training programmes and courses have been set up, mainly at a local or national level, but partly already on a European scale. These may serve as start-up modules to build a European education programme. However, further complementary modules must still be developed. Moreover, the use of novel information technology resources, such as internet-accessible databases like PATHBASE (http://www.pathbase.net) or ERA ( http://www.gsf.de/ERA/), must be integrated in the training activities. 

A combination of various modules is expected to allow participants in the programme to achieve a European degree in one or more sub-disciplines of radiation sciences. The requirements for this degree should be defined on an international basis. An important aspect already implemented in some courses is that training programmes must include a strong inter-disciplinary component. For example, radiobiology modules for molecular biologists or for geneticists must be included in order to facilitate the interaction of radiation science with other scientific areas.

The proposed initiatives aimed at improving and standardising training and education in radiological sciences at the European level require the full support of the European Commission and could be based on actions or groups already existing within the scientific community like EULEP and EURADOS.

The importance of the topic of training requires continuous contacts during the forthcoming years between the EC and the organisers of courses, etc. The newsletter "European Research in Radiation Sciences" provides a dynamic platform, which may be used to facilitate and promote this exchange. Therefore, the editors encourage the submission of correspondence and comments to the enclosed papers as well as to related topics.