Staff and students of Imperial College can find recordings of the speakers on the day here. External attendees of the event can request access to the videos by contacting ukdri@imperial.ac.uk.

Tuesday 15 December 2020

Join us for an early Christmas treat for your career and learn more about 'Roads to Success for Funding Applications', 'Experimental Design and Statistics', 'Writing and getting your manuscript published' and 'Alternative Career Paths'! With a diverse mix of local and external speakers- each with their own experiences to share about research life- we hope to help you boost your skillset and research agenda with tips and examples on how to make the most of this stage of your career.

Programme:

Session 1: Roads to Success for Funding Applications
09:05  /  Wellcome Trust funding
                Dr Giovanna Lalli - Director of Scientific Affairs (UK DRI)
09:25  /  MCR funding
               Professor Paul Matthews - Centre Director (UK DRI Imperial)
09:45  /  ARUK grant applications
                Katherine Hanlon (ARUK)
10:05  /  Internal grant requirements
              Dr Antonia Gould - Department of Brain Sciences (Imperial)

Session 2: Experimental Design and Statistics
10:40  /  Experimental Design and Statistics
                Dr Nikki Osborne (Responsible Research in Practice)
12:00  /  Reproducibility and Data Analysis
                Dr Malika Ihle (Reproducible Research Oxford) & Nadia Soliman (Imperial)

Lunch break

Session 3: Manuscript Writing and Getting Your Paper Published
13:40  /  How To Write A Good Manuscript
                Dr Alla Katsnelson- Freelance Science Writer and Editor
14:14  /  How to Get Your Paper Published 
                Dr Christian Schnell- Senior Editor (Nature Communications)
14:45  /  Tips for Publishing Your Work and a Note on Transferable Skills
                Dr Min Cho-Director of Strategic Content, Global Medical Affairs (Eisai Inc.)

Session 4: Alternative Career Paths
15:30  /  Tips from the PFDC
                Dr Elizabeth Adelodun- Postdoc and Fellows Development Advisor (Imperial)
15:45  /  Careers in Industry
                Dr Lisa Wells- Head of Discovery CNS Applications (Invicro)
16:15  /  Careers in Scientific Editing & MedEd
                Dr Alfredo Sansone (Cell Press)

Each session will be followed by 10 min. Q&A

For more information on this event please contact a.wolfes@imperial.ac.uk or b.mota@imperial.ac.uk

Get to know the speakers

Dr Giovanna Lalli (Director of Scientific Affairs, UK DRI)

Giovanna offers a breadth of experience from both sides of the funding world: for her talk, she will no doubt draw on her 7 years of experience as a PI and lecturer of Molecular Neurobiology at King’s College London (and almost 20 years of research experience overall), as well as three years as Senior Portfolio Developer in the Wellcome Trust’s Neuroscience and Mental Health team. Now the Director of Scientific Affairs at the UK DRI, Giovanna also has first-hand knowledge of the scientific ongoings at UK DRI-affiliated departments – just in case this wasn’t enough deep insight for you!

Katherine Hanlon (Research Knowledge Officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK)

Katherine started her career in the university of York where she studied Biomedical sciences and had hands on laboratory experience working as a research assistant. She is currently the Research Knowledge officer at the Alzheimer’s Research UK. Yes, she is the person you want to talk with when you are looking for their money. Katherine is the one that’s going to advise you how to get the precious grants. Believe me, you want her advice, especially now with that so-called Brexit thing happening. Katherine will help you get that money but she will also hold your hand and help you navigate the post-award process too. Katherine manages the review process of the AR-UK response-mode grants and their Drug Discovery Alliance. 

Dr Antonia Gould (Divisions Manager, Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial)

Our star advisor in budget organisation and grant application is an experienced manager with a vast know-how working in academia, but be aware, she knows about the dark side, too. Antonia has also had experience in the research industry at GSK. Antonia is a strong operations professional with a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Imperial College London, and there’s more: after learning how the big companies make their money, she has come back to save us. After being in industry, she has changed career path again after her first child. Antonia is back to academia and is currently our goldmine in Grants Finance and administration at Imperial College London.

Dr Nikki Osborne (Founding Director at Responsible Research in Practice)

Our champion for embracing Experimental Design and Statistics has worked in animal research and welfare for over 18 years, in the UK, Europe, and beyond! Her work bridges the academic, commercial, regulatory, and NGO worlds, with the 3Rs at heart and improving scientific rigour in mind. As the founder of ‘Responsible Research in Practice’ (2015), Nikki knows how to drive change and promote careful scientific design. On top of that, she actively supports several committees working on the 3Rs, publication ethics, research integrity, and laboratory animal experimentation.

Dr Malika Ihle (Coordinator at Reproducible Research Oxford) & Nadia Soliman (UK Reproducibility Network lead at Imperial)

This dream team’s talk on reproducibility and data analysis diverges far from your standard science gig: Malika’s track record includes postdoc positions in the UK and US, becoming the first reproducible research coordinator at the University of Oxford, and giving workshops on experimental design and computational reproducibility since 2016, while Nadia not only bears responsibility as the UK Reproducibility Network lead at Imperial, but also sports hands-on experience in leadership and project management from her time as a British Army Officer. Their combined experience will be worth listening in on if you’re ever dealing with designing rigorous experiments and the complex data analysis that can come from long-term data sets.

Dr Alla Katsnelson (Freelance Science Writer and Editor)

Our scientific writing star is a full-blown freelance science writer and editor with Nature, Scientific American,BBC Focus, and The New York Times on her portfolio, to name just a few. From her PhD in brain development from the University of Oxford to her regular contributions to Chemical & Engineering News, Alla has over 20 years of experience in navigating diverse fields. She knows not just how to translate data into stories, but importantly, how to get through to your readership and publish your work. Tune in for concrete tips on good writing for your manuscript!

Dr Christian Schnell (Senior Editor at Nature Communications)

A Neuroscientist by training, Christian investigated neurodegeneration and neurodevelopment diseases before acquiring his taste for scientific publishing at Nature Methods in 2017. And he’s been around: with additional experience from Nature Neuroscience, Nature Biomedical Engineering, and Nature Communications under his wing, he now gets to see the latest science on a daily basis as a Senior Editor (and occasional English-to-German translator). And there’s more: he helps make our universities more diverse by supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are interested in academic careers. Join his talk for tips on how to get your work published!

Dr Min Cho (Director of Strategic Scientific Content Management at Eisai Inc.)

Min has a long-standing interest and experience in scientific communication – as a scientific editor, manager and now back as an author! As a scientific editor or publisher for the combined 13 years in Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications and Wiley, he has broad expertise to all things related to neuroscience research. Recently, Min transitioned to the biopharmaceutical industry as a director of strategic contents in Global Medical Affairs, Eisai Inc., where he is responsible for the development and finalisation of scientific and medical publications, international conference abstracts, and presentations all related to Alzheimer’s disease. A strong advocate for transferable skills, Min will discuss general tips of effective scientific communication in all mediums from the perspective of both editor and author, and will share the story of his career progression from laboratory bench to publishing desk to a combination both.

Dr Elizabeth Adelodun (Advisor at the PFDC at Imperial)

You can learn a thing or two from this career development star of the Imperial College Postdocs and Fellows Development Centre: she has lived in the US and Canada, was awarded her very own fellowship specifically to become an expert in the mentorship experience, and with a PhD in Neuroscience, Elizabeth understands the obstacles academics face on a daily basis. She has over 8 years of experience under her belt when it comes to helping professionals at university settings boost their portfolio, whether by advising postdocs and fellows in 1:1 sessions, setting up mock interviews, or developing research grant proposals. Her specialty: empowering Early Career Researchers – doesn’t that sound like just the thing!

Dr Alfredo Sansone (Senior Scientific Editor at Cell Press)

Last but not least, our final speaker of the day will tell you about his career ‘Euro trip’ of getting science out there ­– from Italy to Germany to the UK, to most recently, the Netherlands. He has seen life as a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at UCL, Senior Editor at Nature Communications, Editorial Team Lead at a Medical Communications agency, and Senior Scientific Editor at Cell Press. In his talk, Alfredo will share not just how this impressive portfolio came about, but also provide an overview of the many flavours scientific editing and medical education can come in. It’s always worth knowing what else is out there, so why not join for this talk when you’ll get two [career overviews] for the price of one?