Weekly round-up #114

Newsletter

Weekly round-up #114

Welcome to our rather packed 114th Weekly Bulletin. We have plenty of information on funding and job opportunities as well as some tips for those in lockdown. As usual, we would be very happy to hear from you with ideas or content you'd like to see in these bulletins, so do get in touch if you wish to contribute.

VALIDATE Training Grants: Our next grant round is now open. As you know, these grants can award Associate members up to £3,000 to take up an opportunity that could help advance your career and research, such as attending a course or workshop, or visiting another lab to learn new techniques and build collaborations.

More information about the grants, and how to apply, can be found on our Training Grants page. The closing date for this round is 17 June 2020.

Things to do in lockdown: The work of a vaccine researcher is never done and we know many of you are always hard at work both in and out of the lab. Members in countries affected by the COVID-19 lockdown may no longer be able to perform lab or clinical work, so now is a great time to catch up on all those papers you always meant to read, write your own papers, do data analysis, brainstorm and plan future research, and write grant applications. The resources section of our website has links to a number of guides and articles about career development (including the MRC’s Interactive Careers Framework), while our Twitter feed and publications page give you some fantastic reading material. Those interested might want to check out HSTalks' excellent online lecture series on Neglected Tropical Diseases. 

If you have produced or spotted any relevant online content, such as video lectures or interactive guides, we would be very happy to promote it through the network. Let us know by email to validate@ndm.ox.ac.uk.

BCG and COVID: We recently highlighted the press interest in the possible use of BCG in the fight against COVID-19. The interest and debate continue with the WHO issuing a Scientific Brief outlining the current state of research and Nature Microbiology publishing a critique of some of the orginal research.

Is your VALIDATE profile up to date?: Your online VALIDATE biography is how our 375 members can find out about your research interests and engage you in new collaborations. We know that science moves fast, with you all acquiring new publications, research interests, job titles and even institutes, so do take a look at your profile on our members' list and let us know anything you would like updated or added – validate@ndm.ox.ac.uk.

Funding: 

  • Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships - For UK universities to fund 15 Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships in a priority research area for that institution - deadline 5 June 2020
  • The Academy of Science's Springboard - These awards provide up to £100,000 over two years and a personalised package of career support to help newly independent biomedical scientists launch their research careers - deadloine 24 June (please see the scheme timeline for more detail).

The following deadlines are upcoming:

You can find lots of further open grant calls on our funding opportunities page.

 

Training Opportunities:

  • The TRANSVAC2 Open Call for M14 'Regulatory aspects of vaccine development' is still open: This two-day interactive training workshop on vaccine development will introduce participants to planning a regulatory strategy for vaccines with emphasis on the early phases of development - 11-12 June 2020, but the application deadline is today - 15 April 2020
  • LSHTM - Introductory Course in Epidemiology & Medical Statistics - A course focusing on the design and interpretation of epidemiological studies and the statistical methods that underpin many of the founding principals, 15 Jun - 3 Jul 2020 - deadline for applications 10 May 

 

Events:

Most events have been canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please keep us posted if you have any planned online events you would like to promote.

 

Job Opportunities: 

Visit our job webpage for further opportunities that are currently available.

Publications:

 

Highlights on Twitter this week: Due to the long Easter weekend Twitter has been unusually quiet, but this week we promoted Nature's excellent Interactive database of Leishmania species distribution in the Americas, and we've highlighted Dr. Mwele Malecela's webinar "A WHO NTD Roadmap towards 2030" hosted by ISNTD. StopTB called on governments worldwide to ensure continuity of TB services during the COVID outbreak, while the BSI and others are highlighting the importance of continued routine childhood vaccinations to avoid resurgance of other infectious diseases.  We also retweeted some advice for those in lockdown, including some tips for finding worklife balance from Nature Careers, some suggestions for how to connect with fellow scientists from Science Magazine and an article by Jen Heemstra on building your resilience in times of uncertainty. Write That PhD also provided 12 tips to help you set and achieve writing goals. Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @NetworkVALIDATE.  

 

Published: 15 April 2020