Researchers needed!

The British Library have commissioned a study to look at the research behaviour of doctoral students born between 1982 and 1994.

At the moment they are looking for late-stage PhD students in all disciplines to form focus groups that will inform how the study proceeds. These focus groups will meet on 27th or 28th April at the British Library.

More information and details of who to contact of you are interested are available here.

FameLab

FameLab is a competition that aims to find the new faces of UK science, engineering and maths. Entrants must prepare an exciting 3-minute presentation about a scientific topic that will engage a non-scientific audience, and then attend a regional heat (the London one is on 25th April) and present in front of judges. Alternatively you can video your presentation, send it in and have the chance of going straight through to a regional final. Ten finalists picked from the regional finals will win a weekend masterclass in science communication and the opportunity to take part in the FameLab final at the Cheltenham Science Festival in June.

See the website (link above) for more details, and have a go!

If you decide to enter, I would be really interested to hear about your experiences. Please let me know if you're thinking about it - j.m.cordy@qmul.ac.uk.

Biotechnology YES

The Biotechnology YES (Young Entrepreneurs Scheme) is an innovative competition developed to raise awareness of the commercialisation of bioscience ideas among postgraduate students/postdoctoral scientists.

More information can be found here.

In order to enter the competition, you need to form a team of (usually 4-5) PhD students and/or post-docs and develop an imaginary idea that has the potential for commercialisation. As the website says, "Your idea should be based on biotechnology that is realistic, but is currently hypothetical. For example, you could assume for the sake of the competition, as the 2002 winning team did, that a micro-organism has been identified with novel enzymatic activity. Remember that you idea must be believable; you should be able to account for the advances in science needed to develop your imaginary technology."

Local three-day workshops are then held to help you develop your idea into a business plan, and to prepare a presentation to sell your idea to a panel. Two teams from each local workshop are then invited to participate in the final.

The closing date for entries is 17th June, so there's still plenty of time to get thinking of ideas. Local workshops will be held in the autumn, and the final will be held in December.

For anyone working in the biosciences who is interested in finding out about commercialisation of biotechnology, this really is a fantastic opportunity. I took part in the 2002 competition (or 03? Can't quite remember!) while I was doing my PhD, and spent an amazing few days at a local workshop in Edinburgh, attending presentations from business and biotech experts, and staying up until all hours putting together our business plan and presentation. Sadly, my team didn't make it through to the final, but I learned an incredible amount from those few days, both about commercialisation of biotechnology research and about myself and what I am capable of. Plus, it was really great fun, and we got to go to the zoo on the way home. Can't argue with that!

Perspectives - A poster competition with a difference

Do you discuss your science with confidence?

Or is its social impact just a brief sentence at the start of a publication?

Scientists often have to show that they are aware of the social & ethical context of their research. Yet most early-career researchers have little time set aside to consider the social implications of their work.

Perspectives, a poster session with a difference, is a chance for you to discuss your research with a non-specialist audience. Attend an interactive training day – learn about poster design and sharpen your communication skills. Then present your poster at the British Science Festival in September, at the University of Surrey in Guildford. Cash prizes are awarded by a panel of expert judges.

For more information, and to apply online, visit the website.

It's survey time again! - The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2009

The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2009 has been launched today, and I would like to encourage (beg, even!) you to complete it. As a postgraduate researcher at Queen Mary, your opinion of your experience here is very important, and any information you provide will help us to improve things for you during the rest of your time here, and for future students.

PRES is an online questionnaire and it should not take longer than 20 minutes for you to complete it. All data collected will be held anonymously and securely. Your results cannot be traced back to you in any way.

A high response rate is necessary to obtain robust results, so your participation is very important and your time is greatly appreciated. You may have completed this survey last year, but please take the time to fill it in again, so we can see what improvements have been made since then, and what areas still need work. After this year, PRES will not run again until 2011, so it is a good opportunity for you make your views known now!

The survey is available here until 30/04/09.

The survey consists of 5 pages and once you click ‘Continue’ you will not be able to come back to the previous page.

The higher response rate we get to this survey, the more accurate picture we can obtain of what things Queen Mary does well, and what needs improving, and that will lead to a better experience for all research students. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you!