Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany
Contact person
Dr Katharina AlpersDepartment for Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Robert Koch-Institut
Seestrasse 10
13353 Berlin, Germany
Tel +49 1888 754 3690
Fax +49 1888 754 3533
Description of the institute
The health care system in Germany has a federal structure where most of the responsibilities for health care and direct measures for intervention are at the state level (Bundesländer). The Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) is the central federal institution responsible for disease prevention and control and is located in Berlin, the capital of Germany. The institute has about 750 employees. The RKI has virology, bacteriology, and immunology laboratories, which work closely with epidemiologists in the Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology. This Department has over 120 staff members, most of which are scientists and consists of 6 units:- Data Management
- Surveillance
- Vaccine Prevention
- HIV/AIDS/STI
- Gastrointestinal and foodborne Diseases, Zoonoses and Imported Infections
- Respiratory diseases
Training opportunities
Because Germany is a large country with a growing infrastructure for infectious disease epidemiology, the opportunities for training are enormous. EPIET- and PAE-fellows have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of outbreak investigations, in the development and evaluation of surveillance systems, in the development and conduct of specialised epidemiological studies as well as in teaching and communication. The results of most projects are published in international or national journals. Short-term international assignments are possible. All necessary support including up-to-date computer equipment, communication and library facilities (both, electronic and printed media) is available. The fellow will be fully integrated in the work of the department and will have access to all information and databases of the department. In addition to the EPIET modules the fellows participate in an introductory week where the work of the department and the German Surveillance System are presented and a further module at the laboratories of the institute (both virology and bacteriology).Training supervision
The fellow will be integrated in the PAE. The projects are directly supervised by the epidemiologists working in the Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, eleven of whom are EPIET- or PAE-graduates and two of whom are graduates of the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA. One of the EPIET Scientific Coordinators is based at the department.Language requirements
Good knowledge of German is essential.Training history
Number of EPIET fellows trained at institute: eleven (1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 [2], 2007)Number of EPIET alumni working at institute: eleven
Available as a training site for cohort 14: Yes