Early Career Symposium
17 October 2024
Churchill House, London

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Networking at event

Join us for our Early Career Symposium, where we will explore a range of professional development themes and celebrate diversity within research careers.

Targeted at those across the early career spectrum (late-stage PhD students, postdocs and beyond), three engaging and interactive sessions including invited expert speakers will provide ample opportunity for learning, discussion, and networking.

This event is FREE for Biochemical Society members; a £30 deposit is required to secure your place, which will be refunded following the event. The non-member registration fee is £30.


Sessions will include:

Starting your own lab (10.30 – 12.20)

Speakers will share their experiences of starting their own independent research groups, sharing insights to equip and inform about this career milestone, with roundtable discussions allowing for deep exploration of the process and speakers’ highlights, challenges, and advice.

Confirmed speakers:

  • Dr Colin Hammond, Lecturer, University of Liverpool
  • Dr Clinton Lau, University of Oxford
  • Dr Alison Twelvetrees, Sir Henry Dale Fellow, University of Sheffield

Entrepreneurship and commercialisation of research (13.20 – 14.30)

This panel discussion and Q&A will focus on the process of commercializing research from those who have started their own companies, and how entrepreneurial skills can be developed as an early career researcher, as well as tools, resources and support available.

Chaired by Dr Dan Jamieson, CEO & Founder, Biorelate

Confirmed speakers:

  • Dr Ewa Nowicka-Ratajczak, Head of Regional Hub, Innovate UK ICURe programme
  • Dr Jonathan Curd, CEO/Founder, PeptiMatrix
  • Dr George Foot, Co-CEO and Founder, SixFold Bio

Diversity in research careers (15.00 – 17.00)

This careers roundtable session will focus on diverse careers and journeys, allowing you to explore where research can take you. Speakers’ experience will span different research-focused roles in a range of settings, providing insights into these different environments, and roundtables will allow for engagement with the speakers.

Confirmed Speakers:

  • Dr Maria Barreira Gonzalez, Lead Scientist, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult
  • Professor Sanjib Bhakta, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Biochemistry, Birkbeck / UCL
  • Dr Sarah Davies, Research Development Manager, King’s College London
  • Dr Chrysi Sergaki, Microbiome Group Leader, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

Reception (17.00 – 18.00)

The event will be followed by a networking drinks reception.

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Sponsorship opportunities are available for this meeting. 
For more details and to find out how you can get involved, please contact Hannah Atkins, Sponsorship Manager.

Biochemical Society Bursaries

We offer a wide variety of grants and bursaries to help you attend this event and save money on registration fees! Support is available to cover registration, accessibility, companion costs and more.

Apply during the registration process for any of the following schemes:

Not a member of the Biochemical Society? Join today and save at least £100 on your registration fee.