Submissions open for life sciences PhD symposium

The annual Sanger-Cambridge PhD Symposium (SCAMPS - see sidebar) is an excellent opportunity for PhD students to present their research, learn more about work taking place elsewhere in Cambridge and form stronger links within their community.

Keynote speakers at SCAMPS will include world-renowned scientists, who will deliver talks covering both the academic and careers aspects of life sciences research.

A speaker will open each of three academic sessions, which will also include student talks and poster presentations, selected from the submitted abstracts.

The event will close with drinks and the presentation of prizes for the best posters, as chosen by all students participating in the symposium.

Dr Janet Thornton, Director of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, will deliver the introductory speech.

Academic talks will be given by three of the keynote speakers:

• Richard Durbin, co-leader of the 1000 Genomes Project, an international effort to create a detailed picture of human genetic variation. Durbin has been involved in organising a number of genetic databases, as well as studying variation in the yeast genome.
• Agnar Helgason, senior research scientist in biological anthropology and population genetics with deCODE Genetics. Amongst other areas, his work focuses on the genetic history of Icelanders and Inuit, patterns of natural selection associated with complex diseases, and statistical analyses of ancient DNA.
• Timothy Bliss, head of Neurophysiology at the National Institute for Medical Research. Bliss is well-known as co-discoverer of Long-Term Potentiation, the dominant theory for the neural basis of memory formation, and has authored over 130 publications in his area.

Careers talks will be given by Tony Kouzarides, deputy director of the Gurdon Institute and Royal Society Napier Professer, and Ottoline Leyser, Professor of Plant Developmental Genetics at the University of York.

Registration for SCAMPS, which will take place on 15 April at the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus is open now. Attendance is free and all PhD students from life sciences institutes and departments at Cambridge are welcome to attend. Priority will be given to those submitting abstracts.

The symposium includes an abstract book, lunch, refreshments, and free transport to the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, which will be leaving from the coach bays on Queens Road.

For more information on keynote speakers, events during the day, abstract submission and to register online, visit the SCAMPS website via the sidebar.