Uncategorised

2019 European Researcher Night

by

Two of our synBIOcarb ESRs, Juvissan Ariza and Paras Kundalia, based in the Institute of Chemistry at the Slovak academy of Sciences participated in the H2020 MSCA European Researcher Night (NIGHT) in Bratislava on 27th September 2019.

They explained the basics of the world of sugars to children and their families such as where they are found in nature, why they play an important part in daily life and their role in cancer. The NIGHT gave then opportunity to demonstrate biochemistry experiments to a wide audience and to improve their dissemination skills communicating their science to a public audience.

The event included some exceptional talks, such as the ‘Experience of Space Exploration’ from former astronaut Mary Ellen Weber and ‘The future of Artificial Intelligence’ from teenage honorary IBM consultant Tanmay Bakshi who is a teenage honorary IBM consultant. Listening to these talks not only inspired them to pursue high impact research but also encouraged them to be involved in future NIGHTS.

SynBIOcarb First Training Event – UK

by

Our newly recruited synBIOcarb ESRs and their supervisors met for the first time together for a four day training event hosted by the University of Leeds. Two of our synBIOcarb project partners, Glycoselect and the University of Orleans, were also able to participate.

The trip began with a day out in North Yorkshire, taking in the delights of Brimham Rocks, Betty’s Tearoom and the Bolton Abbey Estate. All in all a fantastic start for the ESRs to get to know each other!

During the formal sessions our ESRs experienced some exceptional training including how to present to large audiences from performance coach Jane Oakshott MBE, how to communicate your science from Artesc, how to manage research and research ethics from Alastair Hay OBE. They were able to spend time thinking about their personal development as a first step towards preparing their career development plans and we were very delighted to have Professor Birte Svensson from the Technical University of Denmark join as an external mentor. She shared her expertise with our young researchers and gave some valuable starting guidance during an informal group discussion session.

  • Birte Svensson with synbiocarb ESRs following their mentoring session

After such a successful start to the synBIOcarb training programme our researchers are beginning to drive their project work forward and everyone is now looking forward to the next training event hosted by the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology where they will receive more in depth science training and guidance on scientific writing techniques.

Synthetic Glycobiology Issue of Interface Focus

by

A special issue of the Royal Society journal Interface Focus dedicated to synthetic glycobiology has been published. The issue was organised by synBIOcarb supervisors Bruce Turnbull, Anne Imberty and Ola Blixt and includes contributions from speakers at the Royal Society International Meeting on Synthetic Glycobiology that took place in October 2018. The issue includes 11 papers and reviews from researchers based in Europe, Japan and the USA including some of the other synBIOcarb supervisors: Ralf Richter, Birgit Wiltschi, Jan Tkac and Winfried Römer.

synBIOcarb coordinator Bruce Turnbull was also interviewed for the Royal Society Publishing Blog to mark the release of the special issue.

ITN Coordinator Information Day

by

synBIOcarb coordinator Prof Bruce Turnbull recently attended the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions information day in Brussels along with coordinators from 146 other new Innovative Training Networks. Lots of useful tips from the MSC team as we get ready to recruit our 15 Early Stage Researchers.

Synthetic Glycobiology Conference

by

The synBIOcarb team recently organised an international scientific meeting on Synthetic Glycobiology, generously funded by The Royal Society.

Participants from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore, Slovakia, UK and USA, met at the Kavli Royal Society Centre at Chicheley Hall in the UK to define the emerging field of synthetic glycobiology.

Full details of the meeting can be found on the Royal Society web page, and the meeting papers will be published in a forthcoming issue of Interface Focus.

 

Photo credit Sophia Coe, Royal Society