SEB Bulletin March 2005 - In This Issue
Training PhD students isn't what it used to be and it's evolving all the time. The responsibilities of the academic community are being affected, in particular, by the recommendations of the Roberts Review (2002), which cites key areas for attention such as the professional development of early career scientists. In this respect, funding is being allocated to support training initiatives to be delivered by University departments, or to fund students to attend courses and workshops delivered by professionals in the field. This can include areas such as skills awareness, career management, bioethics, science communication and personal development. In this issue a number of initiatives are reported which illustrate the range of opportunities for which postgraduate students could benefit as part of their overall research training. The SEB continues to contribute its expertise towards this end by offering its regular Education and Public Affairs Programme of events during the Annual Main Meeting. These include two science communication workshops, poster presentations on innovative outreach activities being undertaken by the winners of our recent postgraduate competition (names to be announced in our next bulletin) and a special one-day session for local masters students in Barcelona who will also be able to attend some of our research lectures.
In addition to this the SEB, in conjunction with Oxford-Brookes University, is also staging a one-day intensive science communication workshop in June to provide postgraduates and postdoctorals with the tools to help them to communicate science to a range of non-academic audiences including the media, schools and the public. Thanks to John Bryant, Jenny Gimpel and Dominic Delaney, the hands-on workshops in the afternoon will give the students real-life examples of how to be effective and enthuse their audiences. A further opportunity for one postgraduate student this year will be the chance to act as our press officer at the Barcelona meeting as we offer a second science communication bursary. Incidentally, for those aspiring science communicators who are looking for a decent salary and career structure why not check out HORIZONS which profiles a career in medical writing. The industry is keen to hear from flexible communicators with any science background including plant and animal science, biochemistry and other disciplines represented by members of the SEB. Other organisations have long-established postgraduate development programmes which are effective, motivating and, most importantly, fun. The Researchers in Residence scheme funded by Research Councils UK and the th Wellcome Trust celebrated its 10 year in February this year. The scheme places young researchers in schools throughout the UK with the aim of inspiring and enthusing thousands of youngsters as well as developing their communication skills. UKGRAD has also been offering training and development courses for postgraduate students for many years and Steve Hutchinson, who runs the Yorkshire and North East UKGRAD Programmes, gives us a lively account of the benefits for students attending at least one during the course of their studies. There are even opportunities for supervisors and senior researchers to get involved as mentors, a very rewarding experience according to those who have taken on this role.
On to other things of interest to our members, not least of all our exciting programme of meetings for 2005. This month sees the hard work towards our Plant Frontiers Symposium Meeting in Sheffield come together and thanks go to our Plant Section Secretary, Richard Napier, his co-organisers and the office staff for what is set to be a very successful event. Our Teaching and Learning article this month complements this meeting with an overview on flower development adeptly written by Lucy Moore of Oxford University. Following on from this meeting is, of course, our first overseas Main Meeting in Barcelona which is detailed. Don't forget to get your registration form sent off and book early for a cheap flight. Next year we will be back in the UK and back to our regular April slot shortly followed by the Cell Symposium on the Eukaryotic Cell Cycle to be held in Southampton. For more details of these and other meetings see our Meetings Diary.
I hope you agree that there's plenty on offer from your Society and you are getting good value for your membership fee. And if that's not enough, we are now offering our new postdoctorals a more competitive membership rate. Spread the word!
Sarah Blackford
Editor