Dariel Burdass, Chief Executive, The Physiological Society

https://doi.org/10.36866/122.7

Communities are an essential part of society, bringing people together around a shared interest. The Physiological Society is committed to empowering an inclusive and diverse community of members with networking opportunities and the skills required to fulfil their potential in a global economy.

Being part of The Physiological Society and its smaller communities is beneficial as it offers a space for collaboration, connection, networking, and friendships to occur. Being a “broad church”, our door is open to all physiologists, supporting members across all stages of their careers. We want members to come with us on a journey by providing an enhanced membership experience, to ensure The Society remains relevant, as they nurture their interest and career in physiology.

The strategic importance of inclusivity and community was highlighted at our event on 16 April with diversity advocate and physiologist, Dr Oz Ismail, as we took the first step to creating our Diversity and Inclusion Roadmap for Change. Oz is a research scientist and co-founder of the Minorities in STEM network, which helps support and showcase ethnic minorities in science. He is also passionate about raising LGBTQ+ voices both within science and within ethnic minority groups. Oz shared his experience, spoke about his advocacy work and about why it is important for organisations such as ours to commit resources to being an open and inclusive society.

We recognise that we are at the early stage of a long-term piece of work to ensure we reflect the communities we serve and are inclusive of all cultures, experiences, and identities as this will strengthen The Society and the discipline. Listening to our members will provide us with the qualitative evidence to support the data that already highlights the need for change. The event in April was the first of many opportunities that members and non-members of the physiology community will have to share their own experiences. Please do take time to join in and help The Society make positive changes on inclusion by sharing your views. Making your voice heard will help inform our Roadmap for Change and the more members that respond, the better we can understand your needs.

While we have not been able to meet physically since the pandemic began, we have sought ways to bring our community together virtually through our online meetings, networking opportunities and professional development activities.

As we plan our post-pandemic “new normal”, it seems certain that there will be a greater demand for members from across the UK and around the world to keep connected virtually. We have invested in a bespoke online membership platform and are excited to be launching our new online Member Area, featuring our online Member Community.

The Member Area will be accessed via our website and each member will have their own member homepage. A benefit of the Member Community is that it is fully integrated with our website, so every member automatically has an account, and it simply requires the same login credentials as is used to book an event or apply for a grant.

We are developing engaging new member- only resources, such as professional development advice and guides. Members will also be able to access a growing library of webinars and member-only content. By continuing to provide training and skills-based opportunities for physiologists, to enable them to take advantage of new technologies and the developments arising from them, this will enhance the membership experience.

Our Member Community will enable members to communicate wherever they are in the world about topics
related to physiology and The Society, as well as their research and teaching. This will offer a space to foster inter-member learning as members can share their experiences and debate the best solutions to common problems. This will also help The Society assess what members are interested in, so we can better tailor our member offering.

The Member Area and Member Community are due to launch this summer. Over the coming weeks and months, we hope to build a thriving online community of physiologists and look forward to hearing your feedback.