https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.113.24

The purpose of these short updates is to keep you informed about the work of our committees. The following summaries detail the meetings of the past few months.

Council

The President, Bridget Lumb, welcomed new Trustees David Paterson (as President-elect), Matt Taylor (as the External Trustee) and Raheela Khan (as the Elected Trustee) to their first meeting of Council.

Council discussed Europhysiology 2018 and was pleased to note that it had been a great success in terms of the scientific programme, the education programme and networking opportunities. Council was looking forward to receiving a more detailed assessment of the event and would be looking to build on the successful elements. The Director of Scientific Programmes (Simon Rallison) reported that approximately 64% of attendees were not Members but some quantitative evaluation would be undertaken.

The main point of business at the October meeting of Council was the Governance Review. Governance Consultant, Lucy Devine (Director of Wellspring Consulting) gave an update on the Governance Review process so far, including the background and timeframes of the project to date and summarised the outcomes of the workshop session from the previous day. She noted that the draft recommendations had been developed based on feedback from Trustees and staff and that any future structure should: reflect the strategy, remove duplication, enable agility, engage a wider cohort of Members in activities, remove stagnation of composition and engage with external experts.

Council was open to the structure in principle and requested that a fully worked up proof of concept be developed. This would be reviewed by the Governance Working Group and their recommendations taken to Council in December.

An update was given on our property and following a recommendation from the Property Strategy Working Group and the findings of the Charity Report (which was provided by Mann Smith & Partners, RICS surveyors), Council approved the tenancy lease for the second floor of Hodgkin Huxley House.

Council received a paper from the Chief Executive Officer (Dariel Burdass) and Simon Rallison on Innovation and Income Diversification. Trustees noted their responsibility for future proofing The Society and the threat to the stability of subscription journals from open access (and particularly Plan S). It was also noted that while The Society had healthy reserves, and could look at ways to reduce operating costs, Council agreed that it should consider alternative methods of income diversification. This would be considered again in 2019 following a review of the Reserves Policy.

The Head of Professional Development and Engagement (Chrissy Stokes) highlighted the new version of The Society’s career resource,Understanding Life, which was created in time for Physiology Friday. This was an amalgamation of two resources and had been evaluated with the target audience of undergraduates but was also popular with 16 – 19 year olds. The resource provided information about the definition of physiology and career options for physiologists, and will feature prominently on the careers section of the new website.

Education and Outreach committee

With the new Society Strategy aimed at engaging with 16-25 year-olds, most of the discussions at the Education and Outreach Committee meeting in October either focused on exploring new initiatives or reviewing existing activities to achieve this aim. The existing Public Engagement Grant scheme has been reviewed and renamed as the Outreach Grant Scheme, which will prioritise activities engaging with 16-25 year-olds. Applicants will be able to apply for funding to support a broader range of activities that support The Society’s vision to see physiology flourish. This scheme will open for applications in December 2018.

The Committee also discussed a new project to conduct some research exploring current education choices and career pathways of 16-25 year-olds. The Committee was presented with an updated version of the “Understanding Life” booklet, which showcases new areas of physiology research along with related career profiles.* It is hoped that the proposed careers project will build on this resource to inform The Society’s future careers information, advice and guidance for 16-25 year-olds. The first phase of this work will take place in 2019.

The Committee also reviewed the Research Grants and Techniques Workshops to ensure that they align with the new strategic focus on 16-25 year-olds while still supporting more established researchers. And finally, the Committee agreed to support an Education and Teaching-themed workshop in 2019, on educational research approaches. This workshop will be open to academics, technicians and undergraduates across the life sciences.
*For hard copies of the booklet, please email education@physoc.org

History and Archives committee

The History and Archives Committee meeting in October included an update on the upcoming symposium, “Physiology and medicine: First World War perspectives”. The Committee discussed chairs and titles for the talks as well as how best to promote the symposium. The WW1 symposium took place in Leeds on 16 November 2018, to coincide with the centenary of the end of WW1, and focused on physiological and medical developments that occurred during the war.

The Committee also discussed the new post of History and Archives Manager who will join The Society in December 2018, to work specifically on History and Archives projects. This will include building a list of Honorary Members past and present. The Committee also provided feedback on The Society’s new website and reviewed the Paton Prize Bursary, which offers researchers at any stage of their career £1,000 to carry out a project on the history of the major ideas that have shaped modern physiology and the scientists behind this work. Further details of the Bursary will be published on the website and in a future edition of Physiology News.

Meetings committee

The Meetings Committee selected the 18 symposia and a number of satellite meetings for Physiology 2019 in Aberdeen, to ensure a diverse and vibrant scientific programme for the Main Meeting. It also chose the awardee of the Sharpey-Schafer Prize Lecture, which will also be given there.

The Committee reflected on The Society’s Themes, recommending some changes to ensure that they represent not only physiology as a subject but also Members’ interests. The proposed changes will be reported to Council in December. Two new Theme Leads for Neuroscience were selected.

Finally, verbal reports were received on recent meetings, including Experimental Models in Physiology, From lab to clinic: Pathways to translational brain–machine interfaces for rehabilitation, and Europhysiology 2018.