https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.98.17

Education and teaching sessions

Physiology 2015 is a great way for our students to find out about physiology and this year I am looking forward to teaching sessions as part of my new role in the undergraduate teaching course.

Mary J Morrell
Chair, Policy Committee, The Physiological Society

Community

Starting with my first trip to present a communication in Cambridge in 1988, my formative years in science were regularly punctuated by trips to some of the six (or occasionally more) Society meetings held each year (I think I managed to present at every meeting in 1995, good for my brain but perhaps not my liver). I cherish very fond memories of these times and the bond these regular gatherings represented for the UK and Ireland physiology communities. There was of course the cut and thrust of quality scientific debate, but also some memorable social interludes. The world is clearly a different place these days, and The Society has evolved in many ways, but I still relish the opportunity the annual meeting provides to catch up with those careers have developed in a multitude of ways, and in so doing scattering them to the four corners of the globe.

As always these is much to see in the programme this year, and some tantalising “to be confirmed slots”. Personally, and perhaps selfishly so, I am most looking forward to the symposium I am chairing.  It is dedicated to discussing the physiological credibility of human neural cells produced by reprogramming donor skin or blood, certainly a topic that most of us 30 years ago could not have imagined appearing on a 2015 Society meeting programme.

Andrew Randall
Professor of Applied Neurophysiology,
University of Exeter Medical School, UK
Theme Lead – Neuroscience

Publishing for beginners

For the third year in a row, we will be hosting the popular ‘Publishing for beginners’ general interest session. Although this session is aimed at students and junior researchers to help them better understand the mysterious world of journal publishing and publication ethics, it is also an excellent refresher for more experienced researchers.

Topics will cover how to write your articles so that they will get noticed and positively reviewed by the journal of your choice, the nuts and bolts of the peer review process and will explore some infamous cases of ethical misconduct; addressing how they were discovered, handled and resolved.

Many of the publication ethics misconduct cases encountered at The Journal of Physiology are due to poor author education and ignorance, rather than deliberate deception or fraud. The session will help researchers to ensure that they adhere to the basic principles of best practice and to avoid their paper being flagged as suspicious. We want to make sure your papers get noticed for the right reasons!

There will be ample time for a panel discussion at the end of the talk, so please do come armed
to the session with any questions you have about journal publishing or publication ethics.

Sally Howells
Managing Editor, The Journal of Physiology

Oral communications

This is my indulgence: The Physiological Society annual meeting, Physiology. Every year, I look forward to recharging my batteries… physiologically and networking speaking!

I will explain: I spend the year, giving (teaching, supervising student projects). However come the annual conference, I feel I am learning something at every session, this, in a mutually supportive environment. This is true of poster presentations through to prize lectures. In particular, one of my roles as

Theme Lead is to appraise oral communications for prizes. It is especially a pleasure to see junior physiologists doing their best to communicate often complex and always novel findings to a well-informed audience. In fact, the standards are such that it is extremely difficult to pick out single winners. There has not been a year when this has not been the case. I am sure that ‘Physiology 2015 in Cardiff’ will deliver, even exceed my expectations!

In addition, the prospect of putting faces to the names that I refer to in my own work and teaching, gives learning, that personal feel that somehow allows me to retain the information even better than I would otherwise. Not to forget, the location of the meeting itself is something that I look forward to… it feels like a staycation: … What more could one wish?  It truly is a case of ‘I cannot wait’!

Gladys Onambele-Pearson
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Theme Lead – Human & Exercise Physiology

Education and teaching sessions

I’m very much looking forward to attending the Physiology 2015 Education and Teaching Symposium, which will focus on the important topic of undergraduate physiology practical teaching.

It will include discussions of the relative merits (or otherwise) of traditional hands-on and ‘wet’ lab-based teaching compared with simulations and ‘virtual’ practicals that can be accessed online.

Practical teaching is an integral, but also resource-intensive, aspect of physiology and other medical science undergraduate degrees so I’m anticipating some interesting presentations on innovative educational approaches and I’m sure that these will also generate some stimulating debate.

Judy Harris
University of Bristol, UK

Prize lectures

The Annual Meeting is a great opportunity to meet many members (and prospective members!) and, most importantly hear some great speakers. I always think the Annual Review Prize Lecture and the Public Lecture are of exceptionally high class and, if you look back at who has given them over the years, you can see a long-list of stellar speakers. This year’s will, I am sure, continue this rich vein.

The Annual Meeting also represents a time when the Council and staff report back to Members at the AGM. I do hope you can find time to attend it – it is your chance to hear about how we are using The Society’s money and more importantly, your chance to ask questions. I look forward to seeing you in Cardiff!

Philip Wright
Chief Executive, The Physiological Society

Workshop and career development sessions

I’m looking forward to the great workshops that are being organised for Physiology 2015. In particular I’m excited about organising the Networking and mentoring skills workshop which I hope will be bigger and better than last year’s debut.  On that note I also invite Affiliate members to attend the pre – meeting social to get the networking underway. There are many symposia to attend that I’m also keen to attend and eagerly await the programme to outline which talks to attend. Physiology 2015 in Cardiff is set to be a packed conference with plenty for an Affiliate to do.

Fiona Hatch
Affiliate Representative, The Physiological Society

Trade exhibition

I always spend some time going around the trade exhibits. They provide a chance to see new equipment up close and to discuss relevant problems and issues with expert staff. It’s worth picking a quiet time in addition to the crowded peak times with beer and wine.

Michael Evans
Chair, Membership & Grants Committee,
The Physiological Society

Kick start collaboration

As I still class myself as an early career researcher Physiology 2015 will be  a great opportunity to network and develop ideas with other more established physiologists. This year has a more personal touch for me as I am organising a symposium. The session brings together 2 distinct groups of physiologists, those interested in calcium signalling and those interested in hydrogen sulfide. This exciting session will hopefully bring new ideas, new voices and new collaborations to the ever expanding field of calcium physiology. Outside of this symposium the meeting has all the regular ingredients of a Physiological Society Meeting and so will be the place to be in July 2015.

Mark Dallas
University of Reading, UK
Theme Lead, Neuroscience

Annual General Meeting

I went to my first Physiological Society meeting in 1977 and can still remember the abject sense of fear while giving a communication.  Would it be accepted or rejected by the members?  This adversarial element has disappeared but the collegial nature of the meeting remains.

I particularly enjoy the chance to meet up with old friends from all parts of the world.   I also very much appreciate the mixture of sessions.  I can get my teeth into a symposium in my own area and learn about things of more peripheral interest.  Perhaps the main highlight is the outstanding collection of Prize Lectures.

As Deputy President, I encourage all members to come to the AGM and tell us what you want from the Society.

David Eisner
Manchester University, UK
Deputy President, The Physiological Society

Old friends and new collaborations

I attended my first Society meeting in 1993, about 2 weeks after moving to London to start my PhD. These meetings helped me to develop as a research scientist and twenty-odd years later, main meeting is “blocked” in my diary at the start of each academic year: and we build our other conference plans around that.  Of course the high quality of sciences is very important. For Physiology 2015, I’m particularly excited by the symposia on “Extracellular vesicles, exosomes and micro particles” as we have an active research programme in this emerging area of physiology. In recent years, I’ve attended more symposia outside my direct research interest and this year, I’m looking forward to learning more about non-coding RNAs.  The meeting also gives me a chance to catch up with old friends and develop new collaborations. Indeed, several such projects trace their origins back to a chat at one of the Society’s meetings and for this reason I always enjoy the poster sessions.

Matthew Bailey
University of Edinburgh, UK
Theme Lead, Epithelia & Membrane Transport

Education and teaching sessions

I’m looking forward to an exciting day of education focused sessions throughout Tuesday, from the symposium on undergraduate practicals in a digital age, Judy Harris’ Otto Hutter Teaching Prize lecture on “Engaging students and rewarding teachers”, to colleagues sharing their latest student education interventions and experiences in the E&T oral and poster communications sessions.  Something for everyone, whether you are a student, a teaching-focused colleague or combine teaching with research.

Dave Lewis
University of Leeds, UK
Theme Lead, Education & Teaching

Rob Clarke Awards

I went to my first Physiological Society meeting in 1977 and can still remember the abject sense of fear while giving a communication.  Would it be accepted or rejected by the members?  This adversarial element has disappeared but the collegial nature of the meeting remains.

I particularly enjoy the chance to meet up with old friends from all parts of the world.   I also very much appreciate the mixture of sessions.  I can get my teeth into a symposium in my own area and learn about things of more peripheral interest.  Perhaps the main highlight is the outstanding collection of Prize Lectures.

As Deputy President, I encourage all members to come to the AGM and tell us what you want from the Society.

Lucy Donaldson
University of Nottingham, UK
Chair, in vivo Committee, The Physiological Society

Physiology 2015
6–8 July 2015
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, UK www.physiology2015.org