Dariel Burdass, CEO, The Physiological Society

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.120.7

As we draw to the close of 2020 and reflect on what has been a year of unprecedented challenges, it has been heartening and uplifting to see that, as an organisation, we have drawn on The Society’s core strengths, namely the knowledge and skills of our members and the professional expertise of our staff. Combining this with our innovative and responsive approach, we have continued to find opportunities for physiology to flourish amid difficult constraints.

In doing this we have continued to put The Society’s purpose – To advance physiology in order to foster the understanding and improvement of life – at the forefront.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which looks like it is here for the long haul, has significantly impacted the global economy and we recognise that the pre-pandemic environment will be very different from the one our community will be faced with going forward.

We recognise that challenges face all our members, from those embarking on an undergraduate degree through to members working across academia. To gain a more in-depth understanding of these challenges and find out what we can do to help, we have drawn on the feedback from the 2020 member survey, which we thank members for completing. This gave us a better understanding of what the situation is like on the ground in universities and higher education institutions and has helped us better understand some of the difficulties and crucially how we can continue to support our members going forward.

For example, we have already heard from members that the shift to online education has meant an increased amount of time spent preparing resources, which has reduced the amount of time available for research activity. When we asked about the impact of the pandemic on physiological research, of those that responded around 70 percent felt that it had a large impact, around 50 percent were no longer able to conduct their research, and 15 percent had their lab time reduced.

Members were also asked how we could support their teaching, and 75 percent who responded replied they would like The Society to facilitate the sharing of resources. We are already acting on this request by creating a dedicated webpage for members to share their resources and by providing more support for practical teaching.

I think it is important to keep highlighting the range of resources that we have produced, in conjunction with members, which can be found in the COVID-19 hub on our website. These cover the breadth of physiology including the Scientific Theme webinars and The Journal of Physiology’s Virtual Journal Club through to professional development opportunities too.

With membership at the heart of The Society, it was positive to hear that the value of membership was recognised and the initiatives we have introduced during the pandemic had been well received.

At a time when many of us are having to connect in a virtual world, members have told us that providing opportunities to network with peers is more important than ever. We have some exciting initiatives for 2021 including a new member area on our website with resources and activities that are exclusive to members. Membership is at the heart of The Society and we look forward to working with our members during 2021 to connect them with peers, improve networking opportunities and learn about the latest breakthroughs in physiology.