SEB Annual Main Meeting 2008 - Education and Public Affairs Programme
Sunday 6th July
12 – 2pm (over lunch – lunch available)
Registration fee: £5.00
Careers workshop
Skills, job seeking and CVs
Open to postgraduate students and postdoctorals, we will examine the skills developed during your research including management, communication and enterprise. We will also see how these can be translated into an effective CV fit for applying for positions in academia, industry and other organisations (research and non-research).
Monday 7th July
7.30pm for 8.00pm Palais des Arts (next to the congress centre)
£20 – full delegates
£15 – students
Women in Science dinner.
Speaker: Madame Pierrette Trichet, Maître de Chai de la maison Rémy Martin
Menu includes three course menu with wine.
Open to all; men and women, postgrads, postdocs and academics, the Women in Science dinner aims to bring delegates together to raise awareness and discuss issues which affect women (and men too, in many cases) with respect to the work environment and culture. Its format is conducive to networking with delegates seated at tables of 8 and presented with an appetising buffet which includes dessert and wine. Our invited speaker, will talk on a topical issue for around 15 – 20 minutes which will act as a catalyst for a lively discussion afterwards.
Tuesday 8th July (am)
Science & Society– Bioenergy Debate
Bioenergy Technology – WHAT and WHO decides the way forward?
The session will start at 09.00and will run for a half-day with a refreshment break at 10:30.
Co-chairs: Professor John Bryant (University of Exeter, SEB, UK) and Professor Steve Yearley (Sociology of Scientific Knowledge, University of Edinburgh, UK)
This session complements the Bioenergy session. Bioenergy technology is poised to forge ahead with large collaborative research groups tackling new ways to produce energy as heat, power and fuel. As with GM, there are wider social responsibilities attached to this technology which need to be considered by scientists as they move forward. We invite delegates to debate the issues surrounding Bioenergy technology with an expert panel, which will provide a balanced perspective from social science, civil society, politics, economics and scientific standpoints. Delegates will debate the issues with the panellists and have the opportunity to formulate their own opinions on this hot topic. Abstracts from three of our four panellists were received at the time of publication of the conference programme. The panellists are:
E2.1
Achieving sustainable biofuels from plant feedstocks
Steve Long (University of Illinois, USA)
E2.2
Bioenergy technology – what are the implications for Society?
Suzanne de Cheveigné (L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Sciences Sociales, CNRS, Marseille)
E2.3
Bioenergy technology – balancing energy output with environmental benefits
John Clifton-Brown, Astley Hastings, Pete Smith, Paul Stampfl, John Valentine, Mike Jones, Iain Donnison (IGER, Aberystwyth, UK)
E2.4
Economic challenges facing the biomass market
Elisabeth Le Net (Pôle Economie Energie Prospective Institut Technologique FCBA)
Wednesday 9th July (Day 4)
Science Communication Workshop
12 – 2pm (over lunch – lunch available)
Registration fee: £5.00
John Bryant and Sarah Blackford (Education & Public Affairs Section, SEB)
Science is nothing without its communication. Whether it's the dissemination of your latest results at a scientific conference such as the Society for Experimental Biology or telling your friends what your research is all about, the most important factor is that the audience understands what you are saying. Scientists are well trained in presenting their work as a paper, poster or talk at a high level of subject specificity but are sometimes less able when it comes to engaging at the public level. This is an important skill which needs to honed as it may determine whether your work reaches the wider parts of Society and even whether you secure future funding.
This workshop aims to assist you in the latter type of communication, i.e. communicating with the wider public. This could be producing a readable media release which catches the eye of a science editor and so is published in a newspaper, magazine or is aired on the radio or even TV. It could be engaging in a debate on your subject with the public, who will need to understand your argument in layman's terms if they are to be persuaded by it. Or it could simply be giving a talk to the local gardeners club or women's group.
This is a practical interactive workshop which will show you skills, tips and hints on the ways to make something of your science to the wider public by getting your communication right
For more information please contact Sarah Blackford
