The Erwin L. Hahn Institute for MRI (ELH) is pleased to announce that it will host the 2026 PhD training program of the ISMRM DACH (DACH: Germany, Austria, Switzerland) section on the grounds of the UNESCO Heritage Site Zollverein. The 2026 event will take place on February 26^th/27^th and focus on the theme of "RF coils and parallel transmit methods (pTx) in UHF MRI."

The training program will bring together promising PhD students and early-career researchers from across the DACH region to engage with leading experts in the field, gaining valuable insights into the latest advances and future directions in UHF MRI technology. Participation is limited to 20 people.

Venue:

Erwin L. Hahn Institute for MRI

Kokereiallee 7

D-45141 Essen

Registration: Registration and participation fees will be handled by the DS-ISMRM. A link will soon be added. We only have limited space, so the registration is first-come, first-serve.

Student Stipends / Travel Allowance: Student members of the DS-ISMRM can apply for a travel allowance. The prerequisite is student membership of the DS-ISMRM. The DS-ISMRM decides on the allocation of travel grants.

Travel and Accommodation:

The ELH has blocked a number of rooms at the “Hotel Petul: An der Zeche” (https://www.petul.de/de/hotels-zimmer/an-der-zeche/), which is in the vicinity of the ELH. 

If you wish to stay closer to the Essen main station, there are plenty of options available on the usual platforms as well.

Journey planner for Essen: https://www.vrr.de/en/ 

Schedule:

Thursday, 26.02.2026

9:30 – 10:00      Registration and get-together

10:00 – 10:20   Welcome and introduction (Harald H. Quick)

10:20 – 10:40   RF Coils (Markus May)

10:40 – 11:30   RF Simulation and live demonstration (Farzad Jabbarigargari)

11:30 – 11:45   Break

11:45 – 12:30   Coil validation (Oliver Kraff)

12:30 – 13:00   Safety briefing (Oliver Kraff)

13:00 – 14:00   Lunch

14:00 – 16:30   Hands-on I

• Station 1: RF Coil bench measurements (Markus May)
• Station 2: Coil housing and 3D printing (Annika Verheyen, Carolin Stevens)
• Station 3: Field exposure measurements and dielectric properties (Oliver Kraff)
• Station 4: 7T MRI system (Stefan Maderwald)

16:30   Wrap-up and walk to the start of the tour

17:00 – 18:30   Coking plant tour „Von Kohle, Koks und harter Arbeit“ (in English)

19:00 Joint Dinner

Friday, 27.02.2026

9:30 – 10:00      Get-together

10:00 – 10:30   Clinical applications of UHF MR (Harald H. Quick)

10:30 – 11:00   The MRexcite System Mk3 (Stephan Orzada)

11:00 – 11:05   Break

11:05 – 11:35   Parallel transmission methods (Sebastian Schmitter)

11:35 – 12:05   Getting a multi-nuclear body coil to work (Quincy van Houtum)

12:05 – 13:00   Lunch

13:00 – 14:15   Hands-on II

• Station 1: Live Demonstration of pTx methods (Sebastian Schmitter)
• Station 2: 7T MRI scanning (Oliver Kraff, Quincy van Houtum)

14:15 – 14:30   Wrap-up

A flyer with the relevant information will be made available soon.

Should you have any concerns or questions, please contact: elh@uni-due.de