On the 15th of January Times Higher Education published an article by Dorothy Bishop entitled “The big grants, the big papers: are we missing something?” This article is an important reflection on current grant funding and research evaluation strategies in the UK. It also refers to important statements by the BSDB chair Ottoline Leyser summing up results from a survey by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics about scientific research in the UK (see THE CONSERVATION). Dorothy Bishop’s conclusion in THE article is bleak: “If our focus remains so narrow, we … risk losing sight of the purpose and meaning of science itself.” However, she also hints at a new path of communication with major UK funding organisations. If you would like to contribute to this discussion, please, leave your comment below.
Category Archives: News
The BSDB Winter Newsletter is out
The new BSDB Newsletter is out. All old Newletters starting in 2000 can be downloaded here.
The newly elected BSDB postdoc representative Michelle Ware
Greetings from Rennes, in Brittany. I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to represent the BSDB postdoctoral community. I am a Developmental Neurobiologist now in my second postdoctoral fellowship working with Valérie Dupé at the Institute of Genetics and Development in Rennes, France. Having completed my Ph.D. at the University of Portsmouth with Frank Schubert, I moved to my first postdoc at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis with Xinwei Cao. I have worked on brain development projects to understand neurogenesis and axon growth, with the focus of my current research on the Notch/proneural network. Using the chick and mouse model organisms, I have identified novel proneural target genes that are expressed throughout neural cells in the developing embryo. Currently, I am investigating the regulation of these target genes by proneural transcription factors.
To my fellow postdocs, please do not hesitate to contact me with any suggestions or comments. I will endeavour to address them with the committee. I encourage you all to invite your colleagues to join the BSDB, follow ‘The Node’ on Twitter or Facebook and check the website regularly for many interesting posts and discussions. I look forward to hearing from you and meeting many of you at the BSDB meetings.
Note added in August 2015: Michelle started a postdoc position in the group of Jenny Morton in Cambridge
Nominations for the 2015 Beddington medal
Nominations are invited for the 2015 Beddington Medal for the best graduating PhD student in the field of Developmental Biology.
- The eligibility period covers PhD dissertations submitted anytime during 2014.
- The closing date for nominations this year is Wednesday 14th January, 2015.
Before submitting any nomination, please read further details here.
BSDB Gurdon Summer Studentship Report
In 2014, the BSDB has initiated the Gurdon Summer Studentship program with the intention of providing highly motivated students with exceptional qualities and a strong interest in Developmental Biology an opportunity to engage in practical research. The 10 successful applicants spent 8 weeks in the research laboratories of their choices, and the feedback we received was outstanding. Please, read the student reports kindly sent to us by Benedetta Carbone, George Choa and George Hunt.