Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI), Author at The Early Career Researcher Blog

Institute of Clinical Sciences – Young embryologist Network (YEN) 2025 conference: Celebrating Science, Community, and Collaboration in Developmental Biology

Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI)

22 July 2025

By Laurine Jacob, Institute of Clinical Sciences.

Hello, I’m Laurine, a PhD student at the Institute of Clinical Sciences at Imperial College London. This year, I had the honour of chairing the 17th annual Young Embryologist Network (YEN) conference, which was hosted at the Francis Crick Institute and streamed online to a global audience.

YEN is a unique, free-to-attend conference that celebrates the work of early-career researchers in developmental biology. Bringing together PhD students, postdocs, and PIs, the event covers topics ranging from stem cells and organoids to IVF and chromatin dynamics.

This year’s conference was particularly special: not only did it welcome over 200 in-person attendees and around 100 online participants from 19 countries, but it also showcased exceptional presentations, posters, and thought-provoking keynote lectures that left us all feeling inspired.

School of Public Health – ECR Networking day with the Deputy Editor of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health

Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI)

1 July 2025

By Kimberley Foley, Centre for Paediatrics and Child Health

Networking day with the Deputy Editor of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health

On the 15th May, the Centre for Paediatrics and Child Health (PaeCH) welcomed Dr Josefine Gibson, Deputy Editor of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, a world leading paediatrics journal, to Imperial’s South Kensington campus. Our Early Career Researchers (ECRs) met with her for an informal lunch and discussion, and then later that afternoon we attended her seminar on academic publishing. The afternoon finished with a networking reception that brought together ECRs and other established clinicians/researchers from across the PaeCH network.

From Labs to Lunch: How the I&I PhD Networking Event Brings Us Together

Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI)

20 March 2025

By Sophie Ball and Katrina Fordwor, Department of Immunology and Inflammation

PhD students can easily get caught up in their projects, labs and work and not have the opportunity to network with other students, whether these students are from the same floor or other labs. The department for Inflammatory and Infection is spread over multiple floors, so it is easy for students to become siloed and not to interact with one another across the whole of their PhD. This is why we set up a monthly initiative to bring PhD students together in a relaxed setting. The Graduate School has granted us the opportunity to fund a monthly lunch.

LMS PhD Social Evening – Sixes Social Cricket

Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI)

28 February 2025

ECR Community Fund

On 14 November, the LMS PhD student committee organised a cricket night at Sixes in White City for the Institute’s PhD students. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to step away from their academic routines and connect in a fun, relaxed environment. The event was all about fostering connections between students from different groups and creating a sense of community beyond our workspaces.

The evening brought together 17 enthusiastic participants who were divided into two teams for a lively cricket match. The friendly competition was full of energy, with some surprising displays of skill and plenty of moments to laugh about.

Life Sciences – Living Planet Data Challenge

Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI)

20 February 2025

By Agnes Szwarczynska, PhD Researcher at Schroeder Lab at Silwood Park

Recently, I came across a Nature article titled “Reproducibility trial: 246 biologists get different results from the same data sets.” It got me thinking — what if Imperial students, with expertise spanning from animal communication to microbial science, took on the same challenge? That’s how The Living Planet Data Challenge was born — an exciting three-day event that, for the first time, brought together master’s and PhD students at Silwood Park to tackle a real-world data problem.

In the first week of February, participants applied their skills in data analysis, coding, and research to address a question at the intersection of ecology, evolution and environmental conservation.