Recently the CSCI PhD and MPhil students got together for their annual Postgraduate Away Day for a day of talks, brainstorming sessions, and a pub quiz.
The event, planned by the student committee, took place on 25 April. The 25 new students from the October 2023 intake (pictured) under the supervision of 16 different PIs, were joined by several speakers, including mindfulness experts from Cambridge Inner Health, Dr Tasha Aley from CSCI sharing her tips for managing a PhD project, and a scientific speaker from outside the stem cell field, Dr Andrew Docker, talking about developments in chiral synthesis and their impact on pharmaceuticals and environmental science. The heart of the Away Day is a feedback session, in which students discuss the difficulties of being a graduate student and then brainstorm potential solutions as small groups. After the talks and session, the group then finished the day with a pub quiz and a dinner at Little Petra.
Jethro Lundie-Brown, chair of the Postgraduate Student Committee, said of the event, "The Postgraduate Away Day is truly one of the highlights of the calendar at CSCI. It’s often difficult to take time out and step back from the bench, so we organise the event to ensure that we strengthen the community of graduate students and give everyone a much-needed break.This event is important to us as it’s really the only event in the CSCI calendar that is dedicated to all postgraduate students. Building a community between lab groups is crucial for feeling supported as a student and events like help make CSCI a more inspiring place to study."
The 2023 cohort, pictured last October.
The postgraduates also plan other events throughout the year, such as their Postgraduate Symposium (2023 pictured below). The 2024 Symposium is scheduled for 24 & 25 October, where there will be talks, poster sessions, and prizes.
2023 PhD Symposium