The first Fab meeting was held on 4th July (Independence Day, how apt!) We had a brief discussion on the aims of the network and feedback on the current set up. Over 20 people were in attendance , which was a great start for our network. If you came, please come next time and encourage others to attend!
Going forwards the plan is to have 3 slots in each meeting, with 1/3 given over to networking over coffee and cake, and 2/3 slots for presentations/discussions on anything ranging from sharing good practice, discussing new techniques, new data to outlines for grants and fellowship applications. In our final slot in our first meeting, Alison Twelvetrees (Neuroscience) presented her paper entitled: "The life of P.I. Transitions to Independence in Academia" (click here to visit Bioarchive version). This covers issues incredibly relevant to our network and highlights some of the challenges faced when setting up your own lab. The paper is based upon survey data from over 350 participants who had set up their own labs within the last 6 years (up to 2018). One of the major findings was that participants felt a lack of support/wanted more support as they went about setting up their labs... something we are hoping to help assist in via the peer-support Fab network. Alison and her co-authors (Sophie Acton - UCL, Andrew Bell - Sheffield, and Christopher Toseland - Kent) started the project off in part via discussions on a Slack group (I didn't know what this is... click here). Alison's Slack group is for new group leaders - if you'd like to join this group, which seems to be a good place to get a quick answer on the sort of questions new PI's face, email her ([email protected]). Alison also highlighted her role as an eLife Ambassador (click here); see also here for a number of interesting blogs from participants: link. Alison ended with a list of suggestions that might help early career researchers as they transition to independence. All sound, but I might suggest one more... Join the Fab network (or set up your own equivalent!) Looking forwards to the next meeting, which will take place early September, once folk have returned from Summer holidays etc!
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Participants write their own contributions to cover topics covered at our meetings or of use to our network's members Archives
August 2021
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