The Royal Society of Chemistry is delighted to announce it will be hosting a 2-day residential workshop for researchers across the life sciences (chemistry, biology, clinical) to share their scientific expertise, expand their knowledge of drug discovery and develop new networks and skills. While the primary focus of the event will be to bring together life sciences researchers engaged in exchange fellowship schemes, drug discovery researchers at all career stages who are collaborating across industry/academia interfaces and/or across discipline boundaries are also encouraged to apply.
This flagship event, co-organised by the British Pharmacological Society and the Biochemical Society with additional sponsorship from the Royal Society and AstraZeneca is part of the suite of activities being led by the Drug Discovery Pathways Group - a partnership of Learned Societies (Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Society of Biology, British Pharmacological Society, Biochemical Society) working together to ensure the current and future generations of drug discovery scientists are appropriately equipped to thrive in the rapidly moving Pharmaceutical R&D sector
A major focus of the workshop will be a drug discovery challenge which attendees will address in small, multidisciplinary teams. The winning team will be awarded a prize of £3000 and runners-up £1000
Also attending the workshop will be senior drug discovery experts drawn from major pharmaceutical companies who will be on hand to provide mentorship as well as outline opportunities for workshop participants to build stronger links with industry.
Additional features will include:
• Talks by experts in drug discovery and life sciences about the importance of ‘moving out of your comfort zone’ to advance your research and career.
• Speed networking session – a way of meeting all workshop attendees
• Training sessions on emerging areas of drug discovery led by Institute of Cancer Research and Drug Metabolism Discussion Group
• Overview of schemes to support researcher mobility
• Researcher mobility grants for participants to expand their network subsequent to the workshop
Exchange fellows based in the UK and funded by the following schemes are particularly encouraged to attend this event.
• Doctoral Prize - EPSRC
• Flexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) - BBSRC
• Proximity to Discovery - MRC
• Partnership Grant - MRC
• Knowledge Transfer Partnerships – Innovate UK
• Industry Fellowship - Royal Society
• Marie Curie - Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development - European Commission- FP7
• Researcher Mobility Grant - RSC
• Clinical Fellowships - Wellcome Trust
• Clinician Scientist Fellows - Health Foundation/Academy of Medical Sciences, CRUK, MRC
Additional fellows, funded through alternative exchange schemes will also be eligible along with researchers actively engaged in cross-sector collaborations.
Feedback from previous event:
A similar event was held in 2013 – here is a selection of comments from the participants.
Clinician: “Absolutely excellent and I would very highly recommend it to all clinical and non-clinical scientists. For me invaluable, and I suspect for many clinician scientists near the middle or end of their period an absolute must for translating their work, and making the all-important networks that would facilitate this. So a really excellent meeting and easily the best I have been to all year.”
Biologist: “These 2 days were an absolute knock-out. It is the first meeting that I have attended where the speed networking was so effective and really worked. I got to meet everyone and have already followed up with three potential collaborators…Unique experience of my career.”
Chemist: “The discussions I had, particularly about chemistry, showed me how beneficial it would be for closer interaction between the start and end of the drug discovery process – clinicians and medicinal chemists have a lot to learn from each other.”
Registration
If you would like to attend this workshop, please register your interest by completing the registration form before 25th September. Please note, the capacity for this workshop is limited and participants will be selected to ensure there is an appropriate mix of expertise and experience.
Further information about the event will be circulated nearer the time to those who have been selected. In the meantime, if you have any specific queries, please contact us at researchermobility@rsc.org
Please note, all costs associated with attending this workshop, including travel costs up to £200, will be covered by the organisers.
This flagship event, co-organised by the British Pharmacological Society and the Biochemical Society with additional sponsorship from the Royal Society and AstraZeneca is part of the suite of activities being led by the Drug Discovery Pathways Group - a partnership of Learned Societies (Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Society of Biology, British Pharmacological Society, Biochemical Society) working together to ensure the current and future generations of drug discovery scientists are appropriately equipped to thrive in the rapidly moving Pharmaceutical R&D sector
A major focus of the workshop will be a drug discovery challenge which attendees will address in small, multidisciplinary teams. The winning team will be awarded a prize of £3000 and runners-up £1000
Also attending the workshop will be senior drug discovery experts drawn from major pharmaceutical companies who will be on hand to provide mentorship as well as outline opportunities for workshop participants to build stronger links with industry.
Additional features will include:
• Talks by experts in drug discovery and life sciences about the importance of ‘moving out of your comfort zone’ to advance your research and career.
• Speed networking session – a way of meeting all workshop attendees
• Training sessions on emerging areas of drug discovery led by Institute of Cancer Research and Drug Metabolism Discussion Group
• Overview of schemes to support researcher mobility
• Researcher mobility grants for participants to expand their network subsequent to the workshop
Exchange fellows based in the UK and funded by the following schemes are particularly encouraged to attend this event.
• Doctoral Prize - EPSRC
• Flexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) - BBSRC
• Proximity to Discovery - MRC
• Partnership Grant - MRC
• Knowledge Transfer Partnerships – Innovate UK
• Industry Fellowship - Royal Society
• Marie Curie - Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development - European Commission- FP7
• Researcher Mobility Grant - RSC
• Clinical Fellowships - Wellcome Trust
• Clinician Scientist Fellows - Health Foundation/Academy of Medical Sciences, CRUK, MRC
Additional fellows, funded through alternative exchange schemes will also be eligible along with researchers actively engaged in cross-sector collaborations.
Feedback from previous event:
A similar event was held in 2013 – here is a selection of comments from the participants.
Clinician: “Absolutely excellent and I would very highly recommend it to all clinical and non-clinical scientists. For me invaluable, and I suspect for many clinician scientists near the middle or end of their period an absolute must for translating their work, and making the all-important networks that would facilitate this. So a really excellent meeting and easily the best I have been to all year.”
Biologist: “These 2 days were an absolute knock-out. It is the first meeting that I have attended where the speed networking was so effective and really worked. I got to meet everyone and have already followed up with three potential collaborators…Unique experience of my career.”
Chemist: “The discussions I had, particularly about chemistry, showed me how beneficial it would be for closer interaction between the start and end of the drug discovery process – clinicians and medicinal chemists have a lot to learn from each other.”
Registration
If you would like to attend this workshop, please register your interest by completing the registration form before 25th September. Please note, the capacity for this workshop is limited and participants will be selected to ensure there is an appropriate mix of expertise and experience.
Further information about the event will be circulated nearer the time to those who have been selected. In the meantime, if you have any specific queries, please contact us at researchermobility@rsc.org
Please note, all costs associated with attending this workshop, including travel costs up to £200, will be covered by the organisers.
