A little tradition, a lot of physiology: Join us for a ‘Lab Lunch’
During the week of 30 March 2026, join us for a ‘lab lunch’ to celebrate 150 years of the Physiological Society.
Whether you are in a research institute, a university department, a hospital lab, or working in industry, gather your colleagues to take part in a collective conversation about where physiology is going next.
Your ideas, reflections, and comments from these conversations will be showcased at our Member Forum in November 2026 and will also become part of our historical archive, capturing the perspectives of physiologists at this landmark moment in our Society’s history.
How to take part
Join the conversation and be part of our history
We want these ‘Lab Lunches’ to be an opportunity to come together to celebrate 150 years as well as look forward to the future. Our journal Editors-in-Chief have compiled three thought-provoking questions to get you thinking and talking:
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How should physiology evolve to study complex, real-world biology rather than isolated systems?
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How can physiology better inform major societal challenges we face such as climate change, and health inequality?
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How does the study of physiology provide a unique framework for understanding how environmental conditions affect biological systems across multiple levels of organisation?
Let us know you will be celebrating
Let us know when and how you’re joining us for a ‘Lab Lunch’ so that we can share information, resources and materials to help you celebrate!
Make sure you let us know that you’re taking part by emailing our team (membership@physoc.org) with your name and institution.
Get ready for the occasion
To celebrate our anniversary in style, we have designed party hats for you to wear. Print the template, cut and assemble, and wear with joy.
Find your nearest event
Check out our global map to find your nearest ‘Lab Lunch’! Email us with details of your event and we’ll add your celebration to our map!
Tell us about your ‘Lab Lunch’!
Share your thoughts and connect with your global physiology community!
After your ‘Lab Lunch’ has taken place, share your thoughts with us. You can send us photos, videos, animated posters, word clouds; the more creative the better!
These will form part of our archive, and also be shared with the physiological community on our website and across our social media platforms.
The history behind this year’s ‘Lab Lunch’
On 31 March 1876, 19 physiologists gathered in a London townhouse (49 Queen Anne Street, to be precise) with a simple but powerful aim: to promote the advancement of physiology and facilitate the intercourse between physiologists. That informal meeting, chaired by John Burdon-Sanderson, became the beginning of what we now proudly known as the Physiological Society.
It did not take long for science and sociability to become inseparable. From the very earliest years, Society meetings were paired with dinners, and the Society quickly gained a reputation as something more than a formal scientific association. It was, in the words of our historians, essentially born as a “dining club”. The inaugural dinner took place at the Criterion Restaurant in May 1876, and gatherings combining scientific exchange and shared meals became a defining feature of Society life.
Even as the Society grew beyond its original membership cap (first 40… then 50… and eventually unlimited), the spirit remained the same: good conversation, shared discovery, and a strong sense of community.
There are wonderful stories from those early decades: weekend hospitality in Oxford and Cambridge, boating excursions, garden parties… and the famous annual Thames picnic, where the minutes record that provisions were arranged “conjointly” by senior physiologists or, to speak more truthfully… by their wives.
We are pleased to say that times have changed (thankfully!), and today the Society is a far more diverse, inclusive, and representative community than it could ever have been in those early years. But the thread that runs through our history remains remarkably consistent: Physiologists coming together to share ideas, share refreshments, and push the boundaries of discovery.
Historical sources
Celebrating 150 years of discovery (2025). Physiology News https://www.physoc.org/physiological_news/celebrating-150-years-of-discovery/
Bynum WF (1976). A Short History of the Physiological Society. J. Physiol 263, 23-72. https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.1976.sp011621
Sharpey-Schafer E (1927). History of the Physiological Society during its First Fifty Years, 1876 – 1926. Part 1. J.Physiol 64 (Suppl), 1-76. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1515042/
Sharpey-Schafer E (1927). History of the Physiological Society during its First Fifty Years, 1876 – 1926. Part 2. J.Physiol 64 (Suppl), 77-181. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1515044/