Insights from EMBL – ribosome profiling and other highlights

By Dr Matthew Brook, University of Edinburgh

The EMBO  conference on ‘Protein Synthesis and Translational Control’, held at EMBL in Heidelberg, Germany in autumn 2015, is without a doubt the main European meeting for the mRNA translation field and as such, is the forum at which it is crucial for Early Career Researchers like myself to present data and gain real-time ‘peer review’ from the world leaders in the field.

Endocrinology in Edinburgh: That’s barrie!

By Martin Read, Senior Research Fellow, University of Birmingham

I am a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham and I attended the annual conference of the Society of Endocrinology BES held in Edinburgh, UK, 2^nd-4^th November 2015.

Supportive and collaborative culture among social amoeba specialists

By Dr Jason King, Advanced Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Sheffield

This August I attended the 2015 International Dictyostelium meeting at Royal Holloway in London. Although I have attended this meeting several times in the past, I had only just started my own research group in Sheffield, so felt this was an important opportunity to build the collaborations that will be essential for me to succeed in my new life as a boss. Fortunately, a Biochemical Society travel grant meant that I was able to go, as well as one of my PhD students.

Fresh ideas for the classroom at the 40th Federation of European Biochemical Societies Congress

By Isabel Soto-Cruz, PROFESSOR, National University of Mexico

This was a very interesting and large scientific congress and I updated my knowledge in leading research areas, such as chromatin structure and epigenetic modifications and maintenance of the genome; translational control and protein turnover and mechanisms of membrane transport as well as systems biology in stem cells, which are outside my own research area. This allowed me to communicate this interesting information to my students in the classroom.

Timely and interesting updates in the world of RNA

By Cristina Montiel-Duarte, SENIOR LECTURER, Nottingham Trent University

I am a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and I recently attended the EMBO conference ‘RNA localization and local translation’ in Hersonissos, Greece courtesy of my department and a travel grant from the Biochemical Society.