Partner events: Special one-off events
BSMS Research Bake Off competition
Monday 17 March, 10:00-11:30. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
Facilitator: Beatrice Ramunno.
We are excited to announce the Great BSMS Research Bake-Off Competition, a unique opportunity to blend culinary creativity with academic research. Participants are invited to craft sweet or savoury baked goods that creatively reflect their research themes - think colours, shapes, and themes that reflect your academic passions. Compete as an individual or as part of a team and showcase your research with a poster or banner at your stand. Our panel of judges will include a professional baker (Selene Aio, from Selene’s Sweet Cakes, Brighton) evaluating baking skills, alongside an academic judge (Professor Melanie Newport) assessing how well your creation embodies your research. Prizes include £150 for first place and £75 each for second and third. This event aims to bring researchers together in a fun and engaging environment while celebrating our collective excellence.
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Get published - navigating the academic publishing process: insights from PLoS ONE
Monday 14 March, 10:30-12:00. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
This talk will be presented by Dr Johanna Pruller Associate Editor and a member of the Public Health & Medicine in-house editorial team at PLOS ONE. It will cover topics including how to prepare your manuscript for submission to an academic journal, deciding on where to submit and an overview of the peer review process from submission to publication.
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Hearing Grants Reviewers’ Perspectives
Thursday 3 April, 10:00-12:00. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
In this session, four BSMS colleagues (Professors Sarah Newbury, Carrie Llewelyn, Mel Newport along with Dr Chris Jones) who have all been part of different grant review panels will be sharing their experience on panel composition, the review process and consideration of policies and guidelines on confidentiality, equity, inclusion and conflicts of interest. The aim is to help researchers understand what grant reviewers look for, their perception of the quality and effectiveness of research proposal and how a panel discussion can influence the decision. A further objective of this session is to help researchers write a competitive and compelling grant application.
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Creating a strong social media profile as a researcher: Choosing from a range of platforms
Thursday 3 April, 15:00-16:30. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
Facilitated by Matt Bemment, Digital Communications Officer,BSMS.
Social media can help you to maximise the reach of your research and to engage with your target audience. But how do you choose which platform to use? How do you decide your goals and reach the right audience? This session will explore using social media as a researcher, looking at how LinkedIn has increased in popularity, why researchers create video reels for Instagram and why X might still be relevant for your research.
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Building a research career – independent or inter-dependent?
Monday 7 April, 10:00-12:00. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
In this workshop four colleagues from across BSMS and Life Sciences, Professors Chris Pepper and Gail Davey, Dr Charlotte Rae and Dr Mahmoud Maina, will share their experience of forming and leading their respective research groups and establishing a research team. It will debunk the myth that researchers need to be independent investigators and will instead focus on the importance of teamwork and developing a shared sense of purpose. Come along if you are in the process of building a critical mass of researchers within your field, and looking at bringing together varied skills and experience and will be working towards a shared research vision.
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Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Your Research
Tuesday 8 April, 15:00-17:00. Online via Zoom.
Facilitator: Alex Pearson MBE.
Alex specialises in Personal Leadership and Sustainability and is a qualified Carbon Literacy Trainer and Climate Fresk facilitator. She is also a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex Business School. What’s your research carbon footprint? While the average person in the UK emits 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, many academics emit more than 15 tonnes. In this interactive and non-judgemental workshop, we’ll consider how our energy use, digital activities, travel, diets, consumer habits, and research practices all contribute to our emissions. The session will cover a) Why we need to urgently reduce our carbon footprint; b) What science tells us about the impact of our activities and c) How we can make changes to reduce carbon emissions. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have Insights into your current carbon footprint; practical actions you can take to reduce your emissions; tools for considering the impact of future activities.
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Running a national multisite clinical trial- challenges and pitfalls
Wednesday 9 April, 14:00-16:00. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
Facilitators: Sumita Verma and Wendy Wood.
In this session, Professor Sumita Verma and Wendy Wood (Director of Brighton and Sussex Clinical Trials Unit BSCTU) will share insights from the development of a NIHR grant for a multicentre clinical trial (REDUCE 2) and then show how the CTU has helped with delivery of the trial with Alison Porges (REDUCE 2 Trial Manager). We will discuss how BSCTU works with researchers throughout the life cycle of a trial as well as the expected impact of REDUCE 2 on improving health outcomes and quality of life for patients with end-stage liver disease.
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Tackling the two elephants in the room: “Engagement” and “Evidence” and starting to frame an impact narrative
Monday 14 April, 10:00-13:00. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
Facilitators: Deeptima Massey and Chris Pepper.
In this half-day workshop, we will make a start in framing the impact narrative for the forthcoming REF but also when drafting funding applications and outputs. We will consider bringing together different material gathered so far and, in the pipeline, to sketch out a writing framework for impact. Most importantly we will tackle and unpack the two often confusing aspects ‘engagement’ and ‘evidence’ when thinking about impact. Do come along, let’s start early and prioritise developing impact in our research.
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Understanding Due Diligence (tentative)
Monday 28 April, 12:30-14:00. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
Facilitator: Sarah McDonald (Research Development Manager)
Career Options and Pathways for Developing Researchers
Thursday 8 May, 10:00-13:00. Online via Teams.
At this half day online event jointly being hosted by BSMS and NIHR ARC KSS a series of talks will be delivered focussing on developing research careers in and beyond academia. One session will specifically focus on abilities and skills development such as writing CVs, preparing for interviews, effective communication and teamwork and building a social media presence. Thereafter, there will be an opportunity to hear from a range of professionals including those from academia and health and care organisations. The aim of the event is to equip you take control of your research career journey, set specific goals, identify strengths, interests and capabilities and connect with peers and professionals.
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Promises and Pitfalls: AI's Role in the Future of Research Communication
Thursday 15 May, 11:00-12:30. Meeting room, Medical Research Building.
Facilitator: Andy Tattersall, an Information Specialist at The Division of Population Health (ScHARR) at The University of Sheffield.
There’s much we do not yet know about the impact of generative AI within academia, but we do know it comes with opportunities and threats. One benefit we are starting to see is the area of research dissemination, but that is not without potential hazards. Academics and aligned specialists, including library and information professionals all have a vested interest in the communication of new knowledge. The barrier to this often comes down to the triple threat of time, money and expertise - AI might be able to help with that. Yet it is not so simple, the lure of new shiny things as with any new technology requires a greater understanding of how to leverage them. In his talk, Andy Tattersall will explore some of the opportunities to employ AI to help disseminate research using digital technologies and AI but also investigate what pitfalls await those keen to rush in without consideration.
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Explore our partner-run events through the webpages listed below. These events are open to health and care academics across Sussex. Please see read the specific event details for further information and guidance on registering.
Click to University Hospital Sussex NHS Foundation Trust Events >
Click to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Events >
Click to ARC KSS Events >