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The Babraham Institute works to deliver impact by translating our science and understanding of fundamental biology to promote lifelong health and wellbeing. Our blogs offer scientists, staff and guests the chance to share their individual views and experiences on the Institute's efforts to deliver research impacts and to build a welcoming and diverse community.

 

 

21/11/2017

Campus collaboration leads to further investment

Becky Gilley, a post doc in the Cook lab is the latest KEC blog contributor.  Becky has been involved in a Babraham Research Campus Collaboration Fund (BRCCF) project which has gone from strength to strength.  Her blog tells us why the BRCCF has been critical in securing further funding and what this collaborative research project has meant to her.

21/11/2017

Pipetting Workshop at Newmarket Academy Science Club

John Pascall, who is a regular contributor to the Babraham Institute's Public Engagement activities, describes the challenges of going back to school at Newmarket Academy.

15/11/2017

The importance of knowledge exchange in political engagement

James Tooze, Policy Officer at the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), takes up the reigns in this latest KEC post. In his guest blog, James tells us about the partnership between CaSE and the Babraham Institute and explains why scientists’ engagement in policy is so important. 
 

09/11/2017

From Barcelona to Babraham

In our third and final Innovative Training Network (ITN) KEC Blog series, we hear from visiting PhD student Piotr Kobiałka on his recent knowledge exchange visit to the Babraham Institute. Piotr is a PhD student in Dr Mariona Graupera’s lab in IDIBELL (Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge) in Barcelona.  He tells us why this visit helped his research and why researcher mobility is so important to advance scientific programmes:
 

31/10/2017

Making our Mark at Big Biology Day

Prof. Wolf Reik, Associate Director of the Babraham Institute and Head of the Epigenetics Research Programme was part of a team of scientists who took a new exhibit on Epigenetics to Big Biology Day at Hills Road Sixth Form College in October.

26/10/2017

Retreating is crucial to advance

We are very proud to share this latest KEC blog by Babaraham Institute post docs, Clara Novo, Danika Hill and Claire Senner.  In a drive to bring the International postdoc community together, our BI pioneers tell us exactly how they established the first EU-LIFE joint postdoc retreat.

20/10/2017

A PhD life for me!

In the second of our ITN (Innovative Training Network) blog series, PhD student in Babraham’s Signalling Programme, Piotr Jung, lab tells us why this program is so important for advancing knowledge of key biological concepts. 
 

19/10/2017

Chromos VR at Science Museum Lates

Zahra Fahmi, a researcher in the Lipkow laboratory, describes her involvement in the Chromos project showcase at the ‘CelluLates’ event at the Science Museum, London

17/10/2017

Schools' Day - igniting a passion for science

As he starts to plan Schools' Day for 2018, Michael Hinton, part of the Public Engagement team, looks back at the event in previous years and reports views from students, teachers and from both junior and senior researchers who run projects on the day.

16/10/2017

​Success for The Royal Society Worm Project at Cambridge Young Scientist Journal Conference

Guest blogger Ella Willsmore, a student at Colchester County High School for Girls, describes her experiences at the Young Scientist Journal conference in Cambridge, during which she won a prize for her poster, which outlined her work with Olivia Casanueva's group on a Royal Society Partnership project.

09/10/2017

Networks pave the way for early stage researchers

In the first of our series of KEC Blogs from Innovative Training Network (ITN) students, we hear from PhD student Christina Courreges about her involvement and the legacy of a recent workshop held at the Babraham Institute.  
 

05/10/2017

Postdoc policies gain momentum

As one of the sponsors of the first National Post Doc meeting held in Cambridge recently, Babraham Institute are proud to report on the success of the event. BI Post doc and co-organiser, Dr Sven Sewitz, shares his view of the event and tells us what plans are in store for next year.

03/10/2017

The Pampisford Society visit labs and facilities

The public engagement programme at the Babraham Institute seeks to engage people of all ages. As well as working with school students and teachers, the Institute interacts with adult community groups from across Cambridgeshire.  Here Tacita, the Institute’s Public Engagement Manager, discusses a recent event with the Pampisford Society.

26/09/2017

Cutting edge ideas appeal of the Cambridge Bioinformatics Hackathon

The Cambridge Bioinformatics Hackathon is underway and already generating lots of ideas and solving bioinformatics-based problems.  In this latest KEC blog, guest editor, Kevin Dialdestoro from Genestak, tells us what he is expecting from the event and why Genestak was keen to support this and (hopefully) future Hackathons.  

26/09/2017

Returning To Work After Parental Leave

What is it like returning to work after parental leave? Two returners, Laura Biggins and Laura Norton, write about their recent experiences at Babraham.

19/09/2017

Summer student placements - it's more than just the lab work!

Shaun Png is another undergraduate on a summer placement, working in Rahul Roychoudhuri's group. He explains how it's not just being at the bench that makes the Babraham Institute a great place to work.

14/09/2017

Replication and repair

As part of their knowledge exchange activities, Babraham Institute Group Leaders travel far and wide to discuss their research findings. In this latest blog, Dr Jon Houseley explains why a niche conference in Rome was exactly the right platform to promote his recently published work and build scientific support for a potentially controversial discovery.

 

11/09/2017

What do you expect from scientific research? Come and tell us!

ORION is a EU funded project to facilitate Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation in the Babraham Institute and other European research funding and performing organisations. Open Science is about making research more accessible, which is increasingly important for improving the quality of research and for assessing it. Whether citizen or researcher, this project needs you. Get involved! 

08/09/2017

Summer student placements - an undergraduate's view

In the second of a series of posts written by summer placement students, undergraduate Alice Buckingham explains her project and what brought her to the Institute.

31/08/2017

Transplanting science - bringing together basic biology and clinical care

Our research collaborations take many shapes and forms, often looking beyond academic research into industry or the clinic. The value of these partnerships in driving innovative and effective research progress is becoming increasingly apparent and supporting more partnerships like this is a vital part of our work to maximise the impact of the Institute’s research.
 
In this latest blog, clinician Dr Gavin Pettigrew tells our Knowledge Exchange Manager, how a collaboration with the Linterman lab has resulted in some surprising and interesting discoveries with potential benefits for scientists, doctors and patients.

24/08/2017

Summer student placements - a sixth-form perspective

Millie is an A level student who joined the Institute during summer 2017 to gain a few week's of experience of working in the lab. Each year we welcome a number of students from schools and universities to work on short-term project that help them to develop their skills and confidence in research. Here Millie explains how her placement led her to discover the complexities of Bioinformatics.

22/08/2017

Stem cells under the microscope

"There has never been a better time to be a stem cell biologist".  In this latest KEC Blog, Dr Rugg-Gunn speaks of his excitement and enthusiam for his research field and shares his account of the recent Interntation Society for Stem Cell Research conference.

16/08/2017

Core Facilities find a common voice

BI’s staff and scientists find many routes to share their knowledge and know-how, often creating networks or co-creating events in respective their fields.  In this blog, Head of Bioinformatics Facility, Dr Simon Andrews tells us why he applied for KEC funding to establish the Bioinformatics Core Facilities group and how this group helps to develop his research interests.

16/08/2017

A technical services perspective on Public Engagement

Run as part of the visit by Generating Genius students as described in the previous blog, Oliver Burns from the Institute's Technical Services team describes the interactive tour he has developed to show visiting students how much work it takes to keep a research lab working safely.