Category Archives: News

News, Reports

Postdoc and Postgraduate Survey Results

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The BSDB postoc and postgrad representatives, Alex Ashcroft and Michelle Ware , undertook a survey with BSDB junior members to find out how our society could better serve their needs. The results are in! Read below the message from Michelle and Alex explainng the outcome and the conclusions and measures that will be taken.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated. We had a tremendous response of over 100 participants. We have collated the results which can be found here. Some clear trends emerged from the survey, namely a desire for more (transferable) professional development at the annual Spring Meetings and beyond. We are extremely excited to have now a basis on which to make changes that we hope will benefit the future generation of developmental biologists.

The survey results were discussed in detail at the most recent committee meeting, and we will be making the following changes:

  1. The 2016 Spring Meeting will now include a Sunday afternoon careers session. This will include sessions on non-academic career paths and transferable skills. We are liaising with the BSCB reps to invite a number of guests.
  2. We are liaising with the BSCB reps to revamp the graduate student and postdoc social.
  3. We will be investigating introducing science breakfasts/dinners so students and postdocs can have an informal group discussion with prominent leaders in the field and/or science clinics to get one-on-one training.
  4. The graduate student seminar will now include talks from transitioning graduate students and postdocs.
  5. Away from the Spring Meetings, we are investigating the logistics of introducing sustainable postdoc and graduate student training days.
  6. We will be working with the communications officer, Andreas Prokop, to create a graduate student and postdoc area on the BSDB website.
  7. We will be working with the 2017 Spring Meeting organising committee to bring other exciting changes that you have asked for.

As announced, there was a prize draw where parcipants could win a number of Kindles and £30 Amazon vouchers. Congratulations to the winners:

  • Maria Kotini (University College London) – Kindle
  • Harriet Knafler (University of Sheffield) – Kindle
  • Nestor Saiz (Sloan Kettering Institute, New York) – Kindle
  • Federica Berti, (University of Portsmouth) – Kindle
  • Monica Tambalo (Crick Institute, London) – voucher
  • Wendy Gu (University of Zurich) – vouncher

Please, feel free to contact Alex (student@bsdb.org) or Michelle (postdoc@bsdb.org) with any further suggestions or comments. We would really love to hear from you. And don’t forget to join us on the BSDB Facebook site.

Thank you again for everyone who participated in the survey.

Best wishes,

Alex and Michelle

Meetings, News, Reports

Science on the Beach: the Autumn Meeting Report is out!

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Autumn2015-logos

On 7-10 Oct 2015 the Joint meeting of the BSDB with the Spanish and Portuguese Societies of Developmental Biology took place on a sea side resort of the Algarve in Portugal, organised by António Jacinto, Domingos Henrique, Miguel Manzanares, Josh Brickman and Kate Storey. If you did not have the opportunity to attend or would like to relive the experience, please read the detailed meeting report by Ana Ribeiro which has now been published on The Node and features talks by Austin Smith, Sally Lowell, Berenika Plusa, Andrew Johnson, Kate Storey, Elisa Marti, Anna Philpott, François Guillemot, Alexandre Raposo, Cláudia Barros, Rita Sousa-Nunes, Leonor Saúde, Andrew Oates, Berta Alsina, Juan R. Martinez-Morales, Claudia Linker, Ana Pombo, Rui Martinho, Javier Lopez-Rios and Moisés Mallo.

Events, News

Supporting the Science is Vital campaign

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As you are probably aware, concerns are growing about the current government’s funding policy (details below). Funding for science and engineering in the UK is under serious threat. We, the research community, can help campaign against this trend, for example by supporting Science is Vital (SiV).

SiV has grown into a well-respected grassroots organisation composed of scientists and supporters of science and research in the UK, chaired by Dr Jennifer Rohn (UCL), Stephen Curry (Imperial) and Andrew Steele (Francis Crick Inst.). SiV was formed in 2010 as a response to the previous government’s proposed cuts to science, and the group remains a key advocate for increasing investment in science. Their particular strength is in enabling the thousands of voices of the research community to be heard. They also work closely with the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) and with the major learned societies in coordinating campaign activities.

Back in 2010, SiV helped to fight off the threat of cuts and secure a flat-cash ring-fenced budget for science. It has been a tough five years. Inflation has eroded that settlement and the UK’s public investment in science has declined to 0.44% of GDP, the lowest of any G8 country in the last 20 years. Now that the UK is pulling out of recession, George Osborne and BIS have told the research councils to model cuts of 25 to 40% instead of planning to reverse the decline in the R&D budget. If we are to influence key decisions being finalised for the November Comprehensive Spending Review, we urgently need to raise awareness of the damage that further cuts would inflict on UK science.

To make a difference, you can support the SiV campaign as well as help spread the word about it. The more people get involved, the greater the chance that we can stave off damaging cuts to the research budget in the next spending review. Some possibilities:

  • Get tickets for a rally at Conway Hall in central London from 7-9 PM on 26 October, which will be live-streamed to similar gatherings across the UK. Confirmed guests so far include Jim Al-Khalili, Uta Frith FRS, Simon Singh, Lucie Green; Mark Miodownik, Helen Arney, James Wilsdon and Adam Rutherford.
  • For local rallies and activities please see here.

Certainly, the importance of fundamental science can and must not be underrated, and the current White House campaign in favour of basic research seems to take a very different few from that of George Osborne.

News, Opportunities

BSDB students & postdocs: have your say and win a prize!

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A message from Alex Ashcroft (BSDB student rep) and Michelle Ware (BSDB postdoc rep):

The British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB) has elected us as your student and postdoc reps. We now have the opportunity to give students and postdocs a voice in moving the BSDB forward.

Therefore, we are trying to gauge what you want to see included as part of the society and the meetings. We have lots of ideas and have created a short survey for students and postdocs who are BSDB members (LINK). Your feedback will be key to determine what will be worthwhile in pursuing.

As a thanks we are offering four kindles and two £30 Amazon vouchers as prizes. We’d be grateful if you could complete it by October 26th.

Many thanks,
Alex Ashcroft and Michelle Ware