EASTBIO Symposium 2017

The sixth annual symposium, on Debating and Delivering Research to Society, was held at the University of Aberdeen on the 11th of June (Central Building, Hillhead Student Village) and King's College Conference Centre on the second day) on the 12th of June 2017.

The Symposium presented a marvellous opportunity for all four EASTBIO cohorts of students and supervisors to meet and interact on a single day of talks and activities, followed by a formal dinner and a Ceilidh dance - and this was only the first day!

For information to attendeess, see here. For the campus map, see here.

For the Symposium programme, see here. The interactive programme was developed by our second- and first-year student reps with the support of the host university and the EASTBIO team.

Browse the Symposium Booklet here.

We offered all delegates accommodation on the night of the 11 June so as to facilitate cohort-building and consolidate relationships formed during our training activities throughout the year. We encouraged our supervisors to attend and engage with the programme prior to and during the Symposium - please note that although supervisors were invited to attend both days, they were primarily expected to engaged with the various sessions on the Monday.

This year's event was focussed on the Societal Impact of Research and will offered EASTBIO students and supervisors the opportunity to interact with one another and invited guests, and to engage with the topic via discussion and purpose-built presentations.

Keynote speaker (Sunday 11 June, 4 pm) Dr Lisa Boden (Veterinary Public Health; EPIC- Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks; University of Glasgow)

Lisa's talk was on 'Making an impact on policy: Perspectives from a Scottish Government Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks'
@Lisa_A_Boden

 

The Symposium featured a scientific debate on 'Inflation of drug prices: Is it justifiable?' (12 June, 14:30), chaired by Eleanor Bradford (Head of Communications, Press Office, University of Aberdeen).

Our panellists were Professor of Enzymology Sir Philip Cohen (Co-Director of the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy, University of Dundee) and Professor Martin Ryan (Biology, University of St Andrews).

The closing speech on 'Doctoral training: Achievements and future opportunities' was given by Dr Rob Hardwick (BBSRC). In this talk, Rob described why doctoral training is so important to BBSRC and highlighted some of the  achievements of DTP students. He concluded with a view on further opportunities for today’s students in the context of a changing Research Council landscape.

 

Symposium delegates were asked to vote for their favorite abstract, poster or presentation.

This year's winners were:

Best abstract (read all abstracts):

1st-year abstract: Scott Dillon (on the left, with Selma Gulyurtlu)

2nd-year abstract: Abigail Lee (on the right, with Selma Gulyurtlu )

3rd-year abstract: David Walker; see also here.

Best 1st-year pitch: Jennifer Wardle

Best 1st-year target-audience group: Families (on the right) -

  • Scott Dillon
  • Ivana Gachulincova
  • Clare Latta
  • James MacLeod
  • Charlotte Repton
  • Deon Roos
  • Andrew Strange
  • Luke Woodford
  • Charlotte Woolley

 

Best 2nd-year media group: GMOs team (on the right) -

Sophie Donovan

Jacob Hargreaves

Maiju Laurila

Aoife Leonard

Amy Molotoks

Benjamin Moore

Hamish Todd

Best 3rd-year PIPS Poster - Lindsey Caldwell (photo below)