Postdoc Society

They organise the Friday Forum. This is a series of informal talks open to everyone at the Institute, including students, technicians, facility heads and group leaders. They run every other Friday at 4.15pm (currently taking place as virtual Zoom meetings – though normally they are held in the lecture theatre). Together, talks and follow-up questions usually last about an hour and are regularly given by both internal and external speakers on a variety of topics. To date, we have heard from journal editors (what publishers are looking for), industry scientists (the pros and cons of moving to pharma and the options available) as well as fellow academic-based staff on anything from personal development (resilience, communication, and how to survive the COVID lockdown!) to specific career-related skills (fellowship applications, peer review, networking, mentoring, etc.). The aim is to have something to discuss and we invite all participants to join in the discussions, chair a session or present themselves!

Postdocs are also involved in:

  • Organising regular social events throughout the year, including regular board game nights, an annual pub quiz, a fun murder mystery scavenger hunt and, whenever the Scottish weather permits, the occasional summer BBQ
  • Organising the annual Postdoc Conference between sites in Glasgow and Edinburgh
  • Running the Twitter feed @BeatsonPostdocs
  • Representing Beatson Postdocs on the Athena Swan/VOICE committee

The Postdoc Society is always open to new members and suggestions for speakers or topics: reach the committee at postdoc-society@beatson.gla.ac.uk