SEB Bulletin March 2007
SEB Reportage
Report from President and Council
This has been a year of consolidation for the Society with no major issues or changes to report. Steady progress has been made on all fronts and a number of initiatives have been taken that should bring benefits in the future.
It is pleasing to report that the Society's finances are in good order with strong reserves and a good income from the two main journals, the Journal of Experimental Biology and The Plant Journal. As always, this needs to be qualified by the statement that the future is uncertain, and the effects of Open Access on journal income are a concern but, for now, we are in a healthy position. Thanks are due to the Investments Officer, Professor Len Evans, for his astute and forward thinking approach and to the Treasurer, Dr Martin Watson, for his oversight and management of the Society's day-to-day financial affairs.
Several initiatives with both scientific and potential financial benefits are beginning to bear fruit. The Plant Biotechnology Journal is doing better than expected at this point in its development and it should move into profitability in the next few years. This will help diversify our income. In addition, the first volumes of Advances in Experimental Biology will appear in 2007 adding another stream to our publication portfolio. The Publications Officer, Professor Mike Burrell is examining other opportunities to further diversify our publications.
The two companies established by the Society, Carronades Property Management Ltd (CPM) which rents out unused space in the Society's HQ in Southampton, and SEB Management Ltd (SML), which markets the SEB's expertise in organising scientific conferences, have had their first full year of trading. CPM made a profit of about £10k while business at SML has been growing slowly. For both companies any profits are gifted to the SEB. It remains to be seen whether these companies will provide major and regular income but they show that the SEB is not complacent about attempts to secure its financial future.
In another development to build for the future, the Vice President, Professor Ian Johnston, has been chairing a small working party to examine future directions for the Society. This has turned into a fairly wide-ranging examination of all of the Society's activities including how we should position ourselves to ensure we retain a representative and vibrant membership, how we can best serve the interests of those members, how we should utilise future income to promote our science, and whether the structure of the Society should be changed in the light of the recent advances and changes in emphasis in biology. The answers to these and other questions are still being developed and the final proposals will be put to the membership later in 2007. I hope these will be carefully considered and embraced as it is important we ensure the SEB moves forward and retains its leading position as a broad-based but leading edge learned society for biology.
The Society's Annual Main Meeting (AMM) in 2006 was held at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Although the scientific programme was up to the usual high standard and there was a good range of social activities, the meeting attracted only 620 delegates which was a lower number than expected. The reasons for this are hard to fathom because the last meeting held at Canterbury was very popular. The most likely explanation is that there was a “Barcelona” effect due to the meeting there having been held only nine months, rather than the usual one year, before the Canterbury meeting. This may suggest we should ensure we keep a full year between AMMs to prevent fatigue. Planning is currently underway for the next overseas AMM which will be in Marseille in 2008. The 2006 Annual Symposium was on 'The Cell Cycle' and was held at the University of Southampton in July 2006 and attracted 112 delegates. I would like to thank all of the individuals who contributed to the organisation of this and all of our other meetings over the past year for their dedication and enthusiasm. Without these volunteers the Society would not be the success it is.
The 2006 President's Medals were awarded at the Canterbury AMM and went to Giles Oldroyd of the John Innes Centre, John Pittman from the University of Manchester, and Kath Sloman, University of Plymouth.
The Society has increased its involvement with the Biosciences Federation (BSF) following the BSF's decision to appoint a full-time Chief Executive, Richard Dyer, and other senior policy staff. The SEB's Council took the view that academic biology must have a national voice and the BSF is the best chance of securing it. It was decided, therefore, to support the BSF with £15k per annum for each of the next three years to allow it to develop its approaches and policies. Concerns that the BSF may focus only on biomedical research have been allayed by Richard Dyer and we hope the BSF will become an important lobby group on behalf of all of biology in the UK and Europe.
Sadly, Mike Lakin who was the Society's Chief Executive from 1998 until 2005 died in late 2006 after a battle with cancer. Mike did much to modernise the SEB's office practices and was instrumental in securing the new HQ in Southampton. His beneficial legacy will be with us for many years and our sympathies go to his family and friends.
There were a number of changes in personnel in the Southampton Office during 2006. Nancy Baines left in July and this precipitated a number of changes in both duties and personnel. The Southampton Office now has four full-time members of staff and the team now consists of Chris Trimmer and Kate Steel who is a key member of the conference team and also manages the Society website among other things. Two new members of staff joined the team, Heather Budd who is responsible for membership and finance administration as well as being involved in Society meetings and Suzanne Brockhouse who is assisting with conference organisation and is managing the Society's non-journal publications with the Honorary Publications Officer, Mike Burrell.
I must pay tribute to Professor Bill Davies whose term as Editor of the Journal of Experimental Botany came to an end at the start of 2007. Bill did a fantastic job in enhancing the Journal and ensuring it remains a “must read” for plant scientists throughout the world. The Society owes him a great debt of thanks for all the hard work, dedication and imagination he brought to the role. He is succeeded by Jerry Roberts who I am sure will bring the same degree of energy and commitment to the job.
Finally, as this is my last report as President, I wish to thank all those in the SEB with whom I have worked and who have made my period of office such an enjoyable time. This includes all of the Honorary Officers, the Society's staff in Southampton and Lancaster, the staff of all the journals we are involved with, and the many sponsors who contribute financially to our meetings. It has been a pleasure for me to play such a prominent role in the SEB and I am grateful to the Society for providing me with the opportunity.
Roger A. Leigh
Honorary President
Financial Report from the Treasurer
Last year I wrote that whilst our financial position is strong and that we have had a few good years, the future was far from certain. Whilst our underlying position has strengthened there were a few worrying developments. I am confident though that with prudent planning and with Chris at the helm we can ride out any short term difficulties. Our overall financial position at the end of the financial year (August 2006) is very sound. We made a small surplus and that this is the fourth year in a row that we have had a good result.
Before I launch into the report there are, of course, the usual thanks due to numerous people. Roger Leigh (President), Ian Johnston (Vice-President), David Evans, Keith Lindsey and Richard Handy (Section Secretaries) and Sarah Blackford (External Affairs) who are valued colleagues on the Management Committee. As ever very special thanks go to Chris Trimmer. I cannot over estimate her value to the Society. Her boundless energy and enthusiasm make it a pleasure to work with her. Heather Budd has now taken over from Nancy Baines for the day-to-day financial management of the Society and is the one who keeps me on my toes. Nancy has moved to York and we all wish her well. Kate Steel and Sue Brockhouse make up the team and their endless good humour and hard work often goes unnoticed, but not by me!!
So how did we do financially for the year ending 31st August 2006 and what are our prospects for the future? Our accountants, Tudor John, must be thanked for the friendly, efficient and, believe me, thorough preparation and audit of our accounts. Reviewing the year as a whole the excess of income over expenditure for the year, after allowing for changes in the value of investments, is much reduced from the 2005 level at £50,529 (2005: £256,392). The Society's income was greatly reduced but expenditure was equivalent to last year. The surplus is mainly due to the continued recovery in the stock market and the rise in our earnings from interest. Elsewhere our position is almost unchanged. There is a surplus for actual “cash in hand” of £39,907 (2005: £158,383) so just about breaking even.
Our major source of income in recent years has been from the Journal of Experimental Botany and The Plant Journal. Both of these have had another good year and are generating revenue for the Society averaging in the region of £200,000. Realised investment income has risen sharply at £85,312 (2005: £34,722) subscriptions have dropped back to their previous level at £33,009 (2004: £40,515).
The major reason for our poorer overall performance this year has been the disappointing number of delegates at the Canterbury main meeting. There is a fine line between covering our enormous costs for the AMM and making a huge loss. For many years Chris has proven to be an expert at “reading the tea leaves” and getting out predictions (upon which we base our budgets) right. For reasons that we are not sure of, Canterbury, despite its proximity to London and an excellent scientific and social programme, did not attract the expected number of delegates. This is not a problem in the future if we budget for smaller numbers, but the planning cycle is long. For instance we are already planning, and paying, for conferences two years in the future. It is a risky business.
Our investment in educational activities continues. These have been a real success and much praise to Sarah Blackford for all of her efforts. In addition to her educational activities Sarah is also responsible for the Bulletin which costs £20k.
The remainder of Society expenditure is concerned with running costs. We now have a firm lid on this expenditure and every category came in on budget. In addition to this there are salaries (£154K) and travel expenses (£28K). We did have a nasty surprise when we were presented with a much larger than expected VAT bill. For us, being a charity, the VAT position is not simple. Many activities are VAT exempt, others are not. In addition we are not charged a simple flat rate, but as a proportion of our turnover (which is vast!).
Last year I warned about the future. It is still very uncertain and may yet get worse, so we must continue to be prudent. I also said that the financial viability of the Society runs on a knife edge, so it has proven. If it was not for the increased earnings from investments then we would have made an operational loss this year - our first for five years. Most of our income is derived from journal investments. The projected income from these sources is still predicted to remain buoyant in the short term, but we already expect the income to be less in the next financial year. The full impact of e-journals on our finances is certain to result in a huge drop in income. It is easy to see our profit being eroded almost overnight. We are already planning for a very different future for the SEB. Many of our activities will have to become self-financing. Our sole sources of income may be subscriptions, investments and a small amount from journals; very different from now. We appeared to have weathered the turmoil of the stock markets in recent years, so it may be that we can look forward to a period of stability here. It is unlikely that our income will increase, but stability allows us more accurate planning for the future. This brings me finally thank our long serving and excellent Investment Officer Len Evans. Without Len's tireless efforts the Society would not have the secure bedrock of investment that it now has.
Martin Watson
Hon. Treasurer
Publication Report
There is a new face in the SEB office - Suzanne Brockhouse. She has joined the team with two roles and one of them is as our editorial assistant to manage the many different publications that we have. If you are involved in an SEB publication she will be the person you are likely to hear from as she keeps things moving efficiently. Since she joined I can focus much more of my time on where we are going rather than keeping the wheels turning.
Now to turn to our publications. Two years ago when I asked my colleagues what they thought about Open Access most wondered what I was talking about. Certainly the scene has changed but it is still hard to find anybody who is really concerned. Why should we be concerned? The answer is, unfortunately, money. The SEB, as you know it, would not survive without journal income (just look at the treasurer's report). We have two very successful journals, TPJ (The Plant Journal) and JXB (Journal of Experimental Botany) that provide this income. For all papers to be published Open Access the author has to pay the entire bill instead of dividing it up amongst the many readers who would otherwise subscribe and the cost of this comes as some surprise to many academics. There is a widespread myth that the major cost of publishing is the printing of the paper and thus electronic publishing is much cheaper. Unfortunately people cost money and most of the people input in publishing is between you submitting the paper and it getting to the printer. Thus while electronic publishing undoubtedly saves a little cost it is not a large proportion. To just cover the cost of publishing a paper in our journals we need to charge somewhere between £1500 and £2000 per paper and therefore if we are to maintain the income to the Society we would have to charge substantially more.
The problem with the Open Access route is that the actual cost of publishing varies little between journals. Hence we have to exceed a standard which attracts authors. The SEB decided some time ago to offer both Open Access and subscription models so that whichever way the scene evolves we are positioned. Up to now there has been little enthusiasm amongst our authors unless they are getting Open Access free or for a nominal sum but over the last year more funding bodies are indicating they will support publication costs. Last year we decided that we would offer Open Access publication in TPJ for £1300 and we have now decided that JXB will move to a model where the cost will be £1500 or if your institution subscribes then you can publish free. This we believe is a route which maximises opportunities and minimises risks. We will be carefully monitoring the situation over the next year to ensure viability. However, I must emphasise that Open Access carries substantial risk since the lobby for funds to pay has been reduced to the few authors from the many readers.
One way we can help to reduce the risk is through our membership. Our journals are your journals and if you submit your best papers to them rather than the competitive journals we all benefit. We help to sustain and improve the journals and the income we derive will go to the scientific meetings that you want to hold. The more funds we feed back to the meetings the more top scientists you will be able to invite and thus more attractive the meeting. It's a win win situation if we all participate.
Bill Davies retired as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Experimental Botany at the end of 2006 and the helm has been assumed by Jerry Roberts. The SEB owes Bill a huge vote of thanks. Since he took over, the journal has seen a steady rise in its scientific impact and profitability with only minor blips. He has provided a solid foundation with which Jerry can face the uncertain future. Last year the journal published more papers than ever before. The other member in the JXB team I should single out is John Hall. He retired this year from the editorial board after 25 years serving both as the Editor-in-Chief and on the board. We thank them both and wish them an enjoyable future where they only have to read the JXB papers that attract them.
TPJ continues to go from strength to strength and I am pleased to say that Harry Klee is to continue as Editor in Chief for the next few years. In the impact race TPJ has increased the distance between it and Plant Physiology. The number of papers submitted to the journal has continued to rise which has allowed the editorial board to be more selective.
Plant Biotechnology Journal has continued to grow. The impact of its papers is good and it has clearly found a niche. There has been a very pleasing increase in subscriptions and I look forward to the journal breaking even and moving into profit soon. So far it has cost the society a lot less than originally budgeted.
By the time you read this the first volume of Advances in Experimental Biology will be about to appear on the shelves and a second volume is about to appear. This I hope is the beginning of a steady two volumes per year.
With the help of Suzanne we now have a fairly smooth system for finding publishers for meetings that you want to organise. Her aim is to take the grind out of the editorial job for you. She will ensure that contracts get organised and do as much chasing of authors that you wish so that publications come out on time. Currently she has some 18 titles at various stages of inception through to publishing but we still cannot satisfy the interest of the publishers. Symposium and review volumes provide a steady but small income. Most textbooks make little money but if we can establish our name in this area we might stand a chance of finding a few good money earners and, once established, textbooks can have a reasonable life. At the moment I only have one topic suggested - more please. You don't have to volunteer to do all the editing yourself but we do need your perspective on what might be good topics. Please feed suggestions through your section secretaries and please do not negotiate with publishers directly.
I would like to finish with a long list of thanks. I thank Kate for getting the editorial system started in the SEB office and Suzanne for her willingness, always with a smile, to grapple with the minutiae of publishing. Her input has allowed the SEB to begin diversifying its publishing efforts. I thank Bill Davies, Harry Klee, Keith Edwards, Rod Wilson and Mike Thorndyke, their editorial boards and editorial offices for their superb efforts in moving our journals forward so effectively through troubled waters. Lastly but not least I thank Chris and the rest of her team for all their efforts and their willingness to respond to all my requests.
Mike Burrell
Honorary Publications office
Animal Section Report
The animal section, as ever, remains very active and has contributed a good number of sessions to the Glasgow 2007 meeting (see the January 2007 issue of the Bulletin for details), and plans made for various satellite meetings and for the annual meeting in Marseille 2008. There has been some natural turnover of the group convenors, and I would like to thank Mike Thondyke, Kevin Coward, Tobias Wang and Simon Webster for their contributions. Welcome to David McKenzie was has taken on the role of convenor for the respiration group since April 2006. However, we are also seeking new blood in the form of a convenor for the Endocrinology group. The current make up of section and the group convenors are as follows:-
Richard Handy, Plymouth (Section Chair).
Nic Bury, King's College, (Animal Section Deputy & Osmoregulation Convenor).
Alan Wilson, Royal Veterinary College (Biomechanics Convenor).
David McKenzie, Station Méditerrannéenne de l'Environnement Littoral, (Respiration Convenor)
Phil Newland, Southampton, (Neurobiology Convenor).
Ted Taylor, Birmingham, (section rep at Council).
Rod Wilson, Exeter, (section rep at Council)
There is a vacancy for the Endocrinology convenor, although the group remains active with a big session planned for Marseille 2008. The Animal Genomics group is evolving, and there is a proposal to build this into an “omics” group which is headed by the Cell Section.
Strategy Document
There is much competition on the conference circuit, as well as more pressures on academics, and Council initiated a discussion about the future of the society, its strategic plan, and just exactly where the SEB should be going in the future. The incoming President will report on this in due course, but the animal section has been involved in this debate (which is ongoing), and after collating the views compiled via the group convenors, we essentially agree that there is need for change and forward thinking. We looked at a number of areas including ways of attracting more delegates to meeting/meeting locations, the organisation of the sections and financing, governance of the society, and the evolution of groups. We also considered if there were new scientific areas where groups should be formed (your ideas on any of these topics are most welcome!).
Satellite Meetings
A number of satellite meetings went ahead in 2006 and are proposed for 2007 including:-
- 2006 - Conference of European Comparative Endocrinologists (CECE) Manchester, 29th Aug-2nd Sept 2006. This went ahead and was a success.
- A proposal for funding in 2009 was received from Vance Trudeau, Nic Bury and Neil Hazon for funds (ICCE 2009).
- IUBS Brazil 2007 - 3 sessions on comparative physiology are proposed for this meeting in Brazil, the respiration group has been particular active in contributing to this event.
We hope to formalise the application process for satellite funding, and we propose to do this via an online application form via the web site (for funding in 2008 onwards).
Animal Symposium 3-5th September 2007, King's College, London.
“Essential & Non-essential Metal Metabolism in Aquatic Organisms”
It is the Animal Section's turn to run the annual symposium. This is going according to plan, flyers are now available and the organisers are thanked for their efforts in putting together an exciting programme. The proceedings will hopefully be published (probably by Taylor & Francis in an SEB symposium volume).
Publications from animal section
The section is keen to disseminate our science via a number of publication routes. The new Annual Serial "Advances in Experimental Biology" (Mike Thorndyke/Rod Wilson editors) is taking shape with the 1st volume on nitric oxide at the publishers, and a second volume on toxicogenomics due 2007 (Hogstrand et al editors), and other volumes in progress. Suggestions are also welcome from groups on the subject matter/themes of the Taylor and Francis SEB seminar series, in addition to the animal section symposium, “Drosophila as a model of human disease” (neurobiology group) is in progress. A proposal for a volume on osmoregulation is also suggested.
Future Meetings: Marseille 2008
The session timetable for Marseille is already taking shape, and the programme is looking very full. The meeting promises to be excellent and very busy. Suggested sessions included the following themes (although exact titles and content will evolve over the coming months):
Osmoregulation and Endocrine groups
- Progress in ion transporting cell research: studies on invertebrate and vertebrate models and their regulation - Nic Bury, Neil Hazon and Gert Flik
- Biomechanics Group
- Linking Mechanics and Energetics - Rich Marsh
- General Biomechanics
- Animal Section
- General Animal Biology - Handy & McKenzie to lead, but all convenors to contribute
- Respiration Group
- Physiological strategies to optimise oxygen delivery - Colin Brauner and David McKenzie Sources and consequences of intra-specific diversity - Guy Claireaux and David McKenzie
- The secondary circulatory system - John Steffensen
- Neurobiology
- Two Neurobiology sessions
- Cross Section Session
- Systems Biology - Section secretaries
Richard Handy
Animal Section Secretary
Neurobiology Group
The Neurobiology Group has had another busy year of contributing to meetings and publishing books. Following on from the Canterbury main meeting in 2006, Amritpal Mudher and Tracey Newman (University of Southampton) have edited a book with contributions from the speakers at their meeting that is entitled 'Modelling Neurodegenerative Diseases in Drosophila'. This book is being published by Taylor and Francis and synthesises much of our current knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, and highlights the importance of model systems in understanding such issues. Following on from this at the Glasgow meeting in 2007 the Neurobiology group is hosting a two-day meeting on insect taste and nutrition that is being organised by Phil Newland (Southampton, UK) and Frederic Marion-Poll (Versaille, France). This session has attracted a big international participation with speakers coming from Australia (Sylwester Chyb), USA (Kristin Scott and Marta del Campo), Europe (Joop van Loon, Frederic Mery, Michael Pankratz, Hans Schuppe, Jeri Wright and Matthew Cobb) and Japan (Teiichi Tanimura, Makoto Hiroi and Mamiko Ozaki). Phil, Frederic and Matthew Cobb (Manchester, UK) are planning to edit a book on the contributions from this meeting to by published by Taylor and Francis.
Also at the Glasgow meeting Sean Sweeney from the University of York is organising a one-day session on 'Membrane Traffic at the Synapse in Health and Disease' in which his speakers will explore and illuminate how lipid signalling and movement can give rise to events that underpin neuronal communication, synaptic plasticity and neurodegeneration.
Looking forward to the Marseille 2008 meeting, the Neurobiology group is hosting two 1-day sessions, the first of which will be organised by Joel Parker from the University of Southampton and will provide a forum for discussion about current findings in ageing, focussing on a range of model systems that span many phyla, and a range of approaches. We still have time available for a further one-day session so if you feel you would like to become involved in putting a session together, which takes very little effort, please let me know.
Finally, if you have any ideas for future SEB sessions please do not hesitate to contact me (pln@soton.ac.uk) or Tom Matheson (tm75@le.ac.uk).
Phil Newland
Neurobiology Group Convenor
Osmoregulation Group Report
The Osmoregulation group is supporting a number of sessions at Glasgow this year, and it is a pleasure to be involved in the A3. Drinking, Salt and Osmoregulation session. This session has been organised to recognise the contribution to the field of Fish Physiology made by one the stalwarts of the SEB, Prof. Brian Eddy (Dundee University) who will be retiring this year. Thank you Brian for the innovative research you've instigated over the last 40 or so years. Other sessions of interest to the group include A1. In vitro Techniques for Invertebrate and Piscine Physiological and Ecotoxicological Studies and A2. Integrative Approaches to Animal Behaviour and Physiology: Towards Ecological Relevance and Welfare.
Next year the SEB moves to Marseille and the Osmoregulation group is involved in helping to organise the Progress in Ion Transporting Cell Research: Studies on Invertebrate and Vertebrate Models session. This session is in conjunction with the Endocrine group that currently has no convenor. Hopefully, this session will instigate a renewed interest in the SEB's Animal Endocrine activities, and we encourage those interested in the Society's activities with an interest in endocrinology to consider becoming the Endocrine group convenor. On this latter note we also welcome any suggestions for session titles at future meetings.
Nic Bury and Kath Sloman
Group and Deputy Group Convenors
Plant Section Report
It's been a busy year for the Plant Section. Paul Devlin (Royal Holloway) joins the Section Committee as Co-convenor of the Plant Development Group, as Jane Taylor takes on the role of Deputy Section Secretary. Julian Hibberd (Cambridge) is also welcomed as a second new member of the Committee, as co-convenor of the Plant Metabolism Group. He replaces the space previously occupied by Nick Smirnoff, who nevertheless stays on the Committee as a 'Plant Rep'. And as Roger Leigh suns himself in Adelaide, we will miss him, not only as current President of the Society, but as a valued and long-standing active participant in the Plant Section. We wish him well in his new role at the Waite Institute.
The 2006 Annual Main Meeting was held in Canterbury, and a couple of points are worth making here. The first is that the Developments in Plant Biology session, designed principally with opportunities for presentations by the younger ones among us (PhD students, post-docs) in mind, was very successful and will be maintained as an important component of future meetings. We really want to keep that special feature of SEB meetings going. The other point is that in future we will have more cross-section sessions, illustrated in Canterbury by the Systems Biology and the Cellular Micromanipulation sessions, which were very well attended. These will focus on important emerging areas of multidisciplinary science, which the SEB is well placed to organize. There is a view in the Plant Section that we should propose fewer but larger sessions in future main meetings, to increase their scientific impact. The Transport Group organized a successful satellite meeting in September, and we contributed financially to a Plastid meeting organized by Christine Raines in Essex in September; and also to a Plant Science to Crop Products symposium at Rothamsted in October, with GARNet.
The Glasgow Annual Main Meeting has an exciting programme in an exciting venue (i.e. in what looks like a steel armadillo). The Plant Section is running sessions on: Symbiosis, Photomorphogenesis, Transport of Growth Regulators, Nutritional Genomics, Redox Signals and Plant Stress, and the above-mentioned Developments in Plant Biology. The cross-sectional session on Ageing and Antioxidants will also be of interest to plant scientists. Prof. Alison Smith (John Innes Centre) will be delivering the Woolhouse Lecture, and our nomination for a President's Medal for 2007 is Stefan Kepinski (Leeds), who has done some outstanding work in auxin signalling mechanisms. Plans are also well developed for the 2008 annual meeting, to be held in Marseilles, and for the 2008 SEB Symposium, entitled Plant Development in a Changing Environment. Very timely.
The Section has also been discussing future strategy, both its own and also more widely that of the SEB. A discussion document is in preparation by the President Elect, Ian Johnston, and the membership will have an opportunity to have input into that process. There are some exciting times ahead, and the glaswegian armadillo is just the first.
Keith Lindsey
Plant Section Secretary
Cell Section Report
The Committee for 2005/6 comprised David Evans (Hon Cell Section Secretary), Mathis Riehle (Deputy Cell Section Secretary), Cliff Bray, Claire Grierson, Martin Watson, Jim Murray and Adam Benham. In addition, Susan Brooks is co-opted to the Committee to foster our association with the Royal Microscopical Society. Mathis Riehle and Jim Murray represented the Section on Council (in addition to the Section Secretary, who also attended SEB Management throughout the year). Cliff Bray accepted a second term on the committee and Kris Vissenberg (Antwerp) and Steve Aves (Exeter) agreed to join the committee from April 2007. We are grateful to Frans Ramaekers, who ends his second term on the committee in April 2007.
The Cell Cycles Group, convened by John Bryant and Dennis Francis ran a very successful SEB Symposium, 'The eukaryotic cell cycle'- in Southampton, from the 3rd to the 6th of July. The Symposium included with a keynote lecture by Nobel Laureate Tim Hunt 'Getting in and out of Mitosis'. The symposium fulfilled the Cell Section's brief of being 'cross kingdom' and included yeasts (fission and budding), frogs, flies, mammals (including humans), birds, protists, algae and higher plants. The book resulting from the Symposium, to be published by Taylor and Francis in 2007, should be an essential for library and researchers shelves.
The other groups- Cell Signalling, convened by Martin McAinsh, Cytoskeleton convened by Patrick Hussey and Thermobiology, convened by Hans Poertner, were all active during the year. The annual main meeting at Canterbury included sessions on Nanobiology, Systems biology (joint with the Plant Section), Adaptations to Temperature Extremes and Thermal Biology of Coral Reefs. The Cell Biology Section also supported the 'Cross Section' Session on water transport. Advances in Cellular Micromanipulation, run jointly with the Royal Microscopical Society was accompanied by a very successful demonstration of equipment by researchers and suppliers. The Bidder lecture was given by section nominee Keith Roberts and Jon Pittman (Manchester) was a fitting President's Medallist.
Plans for Glasgow, 2007 include sessions on Programmed Cell Death, Beneficial Acclimation, Cardiovascular Control of Cellular Regulation, Cell and Organ Culture (joint with the Animal section) and a General Cell Biology session. The Cell Biology Section is also sponsoring 'Oxidants and Ageing' and the Crossectionsal session at the meeting. Planning for Marseille 2008 is well underway, with a joint Royal Microscopical Society session on glycobiology, Systems Biology as the cross-section session and sessions on the Cytoskeleton and plant development, Circadian Clocks, and Thermobiology. A satellite session is planned for September on the nuclear envelope and Golgi apparatus and satellites suggested for subsequent years. Planning is also underway for the SEB Symposium for 2009, with 'Cell Signalling and the Eukaryotic Cytoskeleton' as the chosen topic.
This is my last report as Honorary Secretary of the section and I record my gratitude to all those people on the committee, in the SEB offices and session organisers who have facilitated the success of the Section in my time in office. I am pleased to record that Mathis Riehle takes over as Section Secretary in April, with Claire Grierson as deputy. In their hands and with the support of a very active committee and groups, the future for cell biology in the SEB is strong.
David Evans
Cell Section Secretary
Education & Public Affairs Report
The Education & Public Affairs Committee welcomed three new members in 2006 each representing the Plant, Animal and Cell membership, respectively: Alison Kingston-Smith, Dominic Delaney and Jean-Pierre Verbelen whose additional experience of working in mainland Europe and their science communication expertise will enhance the breadth of the committee's knowledge of educational issues and opportunities. One of the key discussion points for the Committee in its autumn committee meeting centred on the strategy document being drawn up our Vice-president, Ian Johnston. We were pleased to be able to contribute to the debate and submit our views to the Management Committee in November.
The key activities of the EPA Committee during 2006 centred on the SEB Annual Main Meeting where we ran a vibrant programme suited to a wide range of our SEB membership: a techniques training workshop on Bioinformatics tutored by Professor Terri Attwood (University of Manchester); a problem-based learning workshop which we co-organised with the HEA Academy's Centre for Bioscience; the Careers Workshop 'Managing your lab' which was well attended by junior postdocs and postgraduates considering an academic research career and went down well over the lunch hour slot. Our 5th Women in Science dinner was well attended again with our speaker, Professor Anna Rychter (University of Warsaw) giving us a very intriguing talk about her journey from student to professor. In addition, Jeremy Pritchard ran an event for local students at the University of Kent to demonstrate the importance of effective communication in science.
Our two 'firsts' of 2006 were: a Women in Science event at the FESPB Meeting in Lyon (as well as a highly vibrant debate about the public's influence on the future of plant science in Europe); and the first in a series of stand-alone careers workshops held in Birmingham with the next two scheduled for Oxford-Brookes and Durham Universities. These workshops, for postdocs and postgrads, aim to help hone their career planning and management skills so that they can be self-reliant in their pursuit of their present and future careers. (see SEB Bulletin, Oct 2006 issue for a report on these events).
This year in Glasgow we will run an EPA programme which is representative of the key aims of our committee: education, training and communication. The central session is on Monday and will feature scientists and prominent media professionals speaking on the topic of 'How to get popular science to the wider public'. We will follow up the morning's talks with a hands-on workshop run by BBSRC's Communication department. Either side of this session we have two career workshops, one centred on finding your own research funding, the other focussed on how to write an effective CV. Our Women in Science dinner is being held in the centre of Glasgow in a beautiful building which used to be a bank and is now the Corinthian restaurant and bar. This venue will also be used for our pre-meeting networking session aimed at postgraduates and early-career scientists wanting to get to know a few people before they start the week. Outside of the meeting, we are again offering a communication workshop for the local students of Glasgow University and on Monday evening we will join forces with the local organisers of the Glasgow café scientifique to run an evening for the public in one of the city's bars.
Policy and collaborative activities feature prominently in the EPA's remit and we continue to respond to consultations and take part in policy strategies via our affiliation with the Bioscience Federation. In addition, we contribute to operational activities such as careers conferences, schools resources and public outreach events. Our major collaborative outreach initiative in 2007 will take place in Glasgow during the Photosynthesis Congress. Our Light and Life 2-day event will feature science shows, exhibitions, education and debating events for children and adults. We will also run a Women in Science and education session during the conference week.
Plans are already underway for the SEB Meeting 2008 in Marseille where we aim to incorporate collaborative activities with our European counterparts into the EPA programme. We will run education, career development, communication and training events as well as the Women in Science dinner so look out for further information in the near future.
Christine Foyer and Sarah Blackford,
EPA Committee chair and EPA office
