Our second-year students will be taking part in a live 'Speed Science' event, which is part of the British Science Week activities in the partner University of Aberdeen on the 17-18 March 2016.

This is an interactive element of their EASTBIO Science Communication training run this year by the University of Aberdeen, where students will be putting into practice skills developed in the two-day workshop in front of a live audience.

More details to be published here soon.

We are currently revising our Training Programme and wish to draw the attention of our students and supervisors - existing and new ones - to the changes in requirements and timelines for each of the four EASTBIO student cohorts.

Please go to our Programme page to see a variety of guides for students and supervisors or click on the child pages to see year-by-year views of our Training.

Browse the revised EASTBIO Student Handbook 2015 for more insights into the thinking and interconnection of the different strands of our training.

As we are finalising the details of some of the optional training open to EASTBIO students across the partnership, we would appreciate the input by partners and colleagues. Please check these pages regularly for updates and contact us at EASTBIO if you spot any mistakes, obvious omissions or wish to offer a suggestion.

Our Induction Day for students who start their PhD in 2015 and hosted by the University of Dundee (28 September 2015) will be followed this year by a Foundation Masterclass on Statistics and Experimental Design (29 September), delivered by Dr Margo Chase-Topping (Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, University of Edinburgh).

Find more details here.

We will be welcoming our new students and supervisors at our Induction Day 2015 which will be hosted by the University of Dundee on Monday the 28th of September 2015 at the West Park Conference Centre.

The Induction Day will be followed by an EASTBIO masterclass on "Statistics and Experimental Design" course on Tuesday the 29th September 2015.

The programme for both days and general information will be posted on our Induction Day page soon. Email EASTBIO for any questions.

Places are still available for SysMIC, an online course in systems biology.

The course provides introductory and advanced training in maths and computing, based around biological examples. Participants will gain an understanding of programming MATLAB to model and simulate biological systems and the R package to run statistical analysis of results.

Every topic includes code examples, exercises and quizzes, with hands-on support provided by online tutors.

There are three modules available to study, each lasting six months and requiring about five hours work per week.

1 - Basic Skills

2 - Advanced topics and applications

3 - Project work

You can find the full course details here.

We issue a suggested schedule to help participants complete in 6 months, in time for certification, but the deadlines are flexible as SysMIC is a self-directed course.

Module 1 for the spring 2015 cohort started on the 20th of April 2015.  The next cohort will be around October/November 2015.

SULSA’s Assay Development Fund is actively recruiting innovative molecular targets for which there is a strong rationale for therapeutic potential.

Our aim is to take your basic reagents (recombinant proteins, substrates, cell lines etc.) to develop a high quality screening assay on our robotics infrastructure. Final validation of the assay will consist of screening a well curated collection of ~7000 small molecules, comprising both known bioactives and diverse lead-like structures, to identify potential chemical starting points for drug development and to provide key information to assist in further screening and/or funding. 
We will deliver the developed assay, the associated SOPs and the data back to you, along with the hit compounds.

This results from the screen will help you leverage follow on funding or provide access to the various drug discovery initiatives that are available to the academic community, i.e. MRC DPFS, Bayer G4Targets, Wellcome Trust translational fund, the European Lead Factory, AZ innovation portal etc.

The EASTBIO PIPS Q&A event was held at the University of Dundee on 20 February 2015. The day featured talks by PIPS administrator, Dr Caroline Pope and representatives from the University of Dundee Careers Office, Lynsay Pickering and Ben Carter, followed by a discussion with EASTBIO students and Dundee-based academics.

Click on the images below for the PIPS session slides:

The events below are of potential interest to our students within the Bioenergy and Industrial Biotechnology priority area:

A. Innovation Forum together with Excellence with Impact organised an event on Leadership and Entrepreneurship in the Biotech Industry. The event is open to all postgraduates in the School of Biological Sciences and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh.

Date: Monday 16 February 2015, 2pm.
Location: Waddington Building, King’s Buildings, Seminar room 1.08

To register, contact j.fyffe@ed.ac.uk  as spaces are limited.

B. Manchester Life Sciences interdisciplinary conference

The University of Manchester postgraduate society will be hosting its
annual ‘Life Sciences’ PhD conference on 8th May 2015.

Sesha Venkateswaran, third-year EASTBIO student has found himself on the spotlight, both at the University of Edinburgh and the national broadcaster. This was following publication of research on how to cut infection risk with new coatings for surgical devices.

Many congratulations to Sesha for their publication and impact, with all best for more research outcomes!