YEBN Newsletter – August 2016

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Newsletter – August 2016

What is going on? Science does not know what is the

meaning of holidays!

…This is official!

We confirm that the

Round Table 2016 will take place

on 3rd and 4th of September in Stuttgart, Germany.

Late registration or Confirmation (requested) of your participation (if you registered on the

doodle) >> eb@yebn.eu

Official newsletter of the Young European Biotech Network (YEBN). Editors Maria Cano Chaichio, Horace Chan, Mathilde Bichelberger

YEBN Newsletter – March 2016 2

Program:

· Saturday

· Sunday

9h Breakfast

10h-13h YEBN general assembly

13h Lunch

Legal Notice The content of this newsletter is copyrighted by the Young European Biotech Network. Where not differently stated, the content is licensed under creative commons Attribution -Non commerci al-Share Alike 3.0.

YEBN Newsletter – August 2016

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LOOKING FOR EB CANDIDATES

If you are a motivated person, you would like to acquire leadership skills in an european environement, then do not hesitate to candidate!

Just need to choose a position!

Which is the suitable for you?

Secretary

Chairman/woman

Vice-chairman/woman

Communication Officer

Treasurer

Sponsoring Officer

YEBN Newsletter – August2016 Page 5

YEBN Alumni interview

ROBERT SCHWAMBORN

1. What is your background?

I got my primary degree in Biochemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt. Germany. While in Frankfurt, I became board member of the local branch of biotechnologischeStudenteninitiative (btS) in 2005 and organized the winter semester national meeting of the btS. I moved to Ireland in 2006 and did my PhD in Neuroscience at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, then did two postdocs at University College Dublin (from 2010 to 2014)

2.What is your current career? How do you spend your day at work? I’m currently employed in two part-time positions. One of my jobs isto establish a European association of system medicine, which is a deliverable of the EU-funded Coordinating Action Systems Medicine (www.casym.eu). My daily work involves a lot of administrative duties, such as scheduling teleconferences, setting up meeting agendas, writing meeting minutes, drafting of press releases, preparing content for websites and organization of conferences.

Coordinator of Amgen Biotech Experience Ireland & Administrative Staff at Coordinating Action Systems Medicine

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My second job is at a science education programm called the Amgen Biotech Experience. It is funded by Amgen Foundation, and it provides molecular biology lab equipment to secondary school teachers (www.abeireland.com). As part of my daily work I arranged equipment collections and return, prepared skill training courses for teachers, and took care of the budget and communication.

3. How were you involved in YEBN (or similar experiences in student organizations)? I got involved with YEBN in 2011, via the btS newsletter. I volunteered for the organization of a career conference and became main organizer of a team of nine for the 2nd Youth Conference on European Life Science Careers (2012). (seehttp://www.yebn.eu/projects/yebn-career-conference-2012/ was for more information) I wasthen elected into the executive board of YEBN, firstas vice-chair and one year later as chair of YEBN. During this period, I co-organised a Science to Business session at the Euroscience Open Forum (in 2014 Copenhagen, https://esof2014.pathable.com/#meetings/174670). I also initiated the Internship Information Platform (http://www.yebn.eu/internships/), organized training sessions for the YEBN task group leaders and initiated the transition of YEBN from UK to Germany, a process that currently nearing its completion. I ended my term as YEBN executive board member in Dec 2014, as I was expecting to become a father soon after.

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4. What is the advantage of being in a young professional network like YEBN? •For non-native speakers, a chance to practice and hone English speaking skills. •Being connected& making friends with people in other European countries. •Higher awareness of European support programs for students and young researchers (e.g. EURAXESS, EuroPass) •A sandbox for practicing project management and leadership

•Being part of an interactive, international project team is a good counterbalance to (monotonous) lab life.

5. How did your involvement with YEBN help you nowadays in your employment, or during your job hunting? For my current position of establishing a European Association of Systems Medicine I could use my experience from YEBN 1:1 - the position I now hold was in fact specifically created for me and my expertise in European associations. For the Amgen Biotech Experience programm I made use of my YEBN experiences of event organization and budget management. For job hunting in general: YEBN allowed me to get in touch with companies and know them better – through this I became more confident in approaching companies and also became aware of positions they had currently on offer.

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6. What is the importance of networking? And how about international contacts? Having a broad number of contacts is always advantageous. I saved a lot of time on projects and got most of my jobs because I was able to talk to the “right” people, who had the expertise I needed or who knew about open positions. However, don’t make the mistake to only talk to your contacts when you need something from them. Rather keep in touch regularly, remember their birthdays etc.

We thank Robert for sharing his experience.

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IE Business School Managerial and business skills however are key to making science- and technology-based projects and research implementable, feasible and sustainable. The program provides participants with much-needed managerial skills, with modules on Strategy, Economic Environment, Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Entrepreneurship and legal issues such as intellectual property.

Find more information here: http://www.ie.edu/executive-

education/programs/accelerate-building-business-science-technology/

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Shimadzu, one of the world leaders in analytical instrumentation, is calling young scientists from all over Europe to participate in the ‘lab4you’ student program in 2016. Up-and-coming talents can apply for laboratory bench space for their own research. The ‘lab4you’ program with its free lab space was first launched in 2015. The quality of applications was so high that Shimadzu spontaneously provided lab space for two students rather than one. “In terms of metrology, the ‘lab4you’ student program has opened up new horizons for me. I was able to use instruments in Shimadzu’s Laboratory World that brought my research results to the next level” said lab4you participant Carola Schultz after her time spent at Shimadzu.

Research in the fast

lane

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Shimadzu’s cutting-edge ‘Laboratory World’ located in its European headquarters in Duisburg, Germany, offers everything that a researcher could wish for: the entire band-width of analytical instrumentation – from chromatography, photometry and spectrometry up to materials testing machines. Master students, doctoral students and post-docs can apply for laboratory space to carry out their own research in Shimadzu’s cutting-edge ‘Laboratory World’ in Duisburg, Germany. Applications with short English abstract may be submitted via: www.shimadzu.eu/lab4you

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Comm4Science communicating science beyond the lab The main focus of the conference was the communication between scientists and the public. The aim was to discuss how scientific information is communicated to the public. This international event continued the tradition of ‘Comm4Biotech’, an event which was organized twice by btS Heidelberg and ‘Nouvelle Generation des Biotechnologistes’ (NGB) from France and inspired visitors from all over Europe. This time, btS Heidelberg was the main organizer and hosted the event with more than 100 participants in the communication center of the German Cancer Research Center on 6th and 7th of May.

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On Friday, Alexander Gerber (professor for science communication at Rhein-Waal university) und Ricarda Ziegler (Assistant of the management at ‚Science in Dialogue‘) gave an overview of the various aspects of science communication. Subsequently, the keynote speaker Dr. Franck Fourniol gave insights into this job as policy advisor at the Royal Society in England. During the workshop ‘From good science to a great story’, which was offered by Damjana Kastelic and Louisa Field, the participants were given the opportunity to improve their communication skills and to present their progress in the context of a science slam to the audience. In the next session, Dr. Katrin Schaller (cancer prevention at the German Cancer Research Center) and Elke Decker (LifeCodexx AG) shared their experience in the public health sector. In the following, Dr. Ralf Wilhelm (Scientist at the Julius Kühn-Institut) and Dr. Peter Nick (Professor at the KIT in Karlsruhe) provided valuable insight into the hot topic genetically modified food.

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On Saturday, the conference continued with the talks of Louisa Field (audio producer of ‚The Economist’) and Adam Gristwood (Editor of the EMBLetc journal at EMBL). Both speakers illustrated how efficient scientists can communicate with journalists and tell exciting stories with their science. The second keynote speaker Dr. Michael Groß guided us through his 20 years of experience as science author. A panel discussion moderated by Moritz Zaiss allowed the audience to get answers to their open questions. Overall, the speakers with various backgrounds and the heterogeneous audience created an inspiring atmosphere which allowed a lively exchange of knowledge and opinions. Comm4Science provided a frame for exciting discussions and the participants perceived the conference as enrichment of their knowledge and as extension of their horizon. The interdisciplinary topic of the conference arouse also the interest of the media: While the Rhein-Neckar newspaper reported in advance about the conference, Nature Jobs performed several

interviews with participants and organizers of the conference and will publish an article on their blog.

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ZYMO research

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Connect with us: www.zymoresearch.de

YEBN Newsletter – August 2016 Page 16

The Naturejobs Career Expo is a global career fair and conference series exclusively for the scientific community. Register and attend the Expo for free in London – September 16, 2016 or Düsseldorf – November 18, 2016. The expo offers talented researchers an excellent opportunity to meet a diverse selection of national and international employers from academic institutions and scientific industries, such as pharmaceutical organizations, digital technology companies, science publishing and more. Besides insightful conference sessions and workshops, your CV can be reviewed by experts.

Save the dates!

YEBN supports the Naturejobs Career Expo in London and Düsseldorf! We encourage you to participate on one of the expo!

Get inspired for your career! Your cv can be reviewed for free by experts! When? London – September 16, 2016 or Düsseldorf – November 18, 2016

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Our Network connects undergraduates, post graduates and young professionals that belong to national biotech organizations across Europe or are individual members. By networking we aim to strengthen the national and international cooperation among them. We inform about career opportunities and encourage the involvement of young people to develop their personal skills.

Follow us on:

1200 Members within

14 Countries

Representing Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland

5 Institutional

Organizations

Our Institutional Organizations

www.yebn.eu