Post-Doc Society Annual Report
June 2014
Post-Doc Society Annual Report
June 2014
Post-Doc Society Committee (PDSC) members:
Katrin Beβer (CNAP), Jane Dalton (CII), Fiona Frame (YCR CRU), Tim Ganderton (YSBL), Erica Kintz
(CII), Liz Rylott (CNAP)
E-mail: biol-postdoc-society@york.ac.uk
The Post-Doc Society
This society comprises all Biology and YSBL Post-Docs (Postdoctoral Research Associates PDRAs) and
is organised by a committee of Post-Docs.
Aims of the Society



Organisation and facilitation of informative sessions on issues regarding Post-Docs’ careers,
work and development.
Facilitate integration and visibility of Post-Docs in the Department
Organisation and facilitation of networking opportunities
Progress over the last 12 months
Committee Members
12 June 2013- 12 June 2014
In the last 12 months, the PDSC has met every two months. Minutes of these meetings are recorded
here http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/intranet/postdocsociety/committeemeetings/.
In February 2014, Mellissa Brazier-Hicks (CNAP) stepped down from the PDSC after 2.5 years of
service. In July 2013 Tim Ganderton and Erica Kintz, and in May 2014, Fiona Frame were recruited to
the PDSC.
Post-Doc reps for dep. Committees
This year the PDSC has advertised, and filled, vacant positions for Post-Doc representatives on
several of the Departmental Committees. The current representatives are shown below:
Research Committee – Simon Baker (JBU)
Biology Board of Studies – Fiona Frame (YCR CRU)
Concordat Implementation Group – Liz Rylott (CNAP)
Athena Swan Committee – Melanie Smee (Ecology & Evolution)
Staff Committee - Fiona Whelan (Biochemistry & Biophysics)
Outreach Committee - Robert Howlett (Microbiology)
Research Away Day Organising Committee - Erica Kintz (CII)
Making the Difference Award – Matthew Warner (CII)
Enterprise Group – Thilo Winzer (CNAP)
Committee representatives play a vital role in allowing Post-Docs to contribute ideas and gain an
understanding of the running of the department. These positions also increase the integration and
visibility of Post-Docs within the Department.
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Post-Doc Society Annual Report
June 2014
Networking events
The PDSC has organised four Coffee and Pastries networking events in the last 12 months. The aims
of these events are to encourage communications, both scientific and social, between Post-Docs and
to foster a sense of identity within the Department. The Coffee and Pastries event is now in its
second year, and attendance, shown in Table 1 averages 21 % of the Post-Doc population. These
events were funded by the commercial company VWR at the time, the February event, and future
events, are funded by Greiner bio-one Ltd (Representative John Newman).
Estimated *% of total PostDocs in Biology Department
10-7-2013
20
23
16-10-2013
26
27
17-12-2013
15
16
11-2-14
20
21
3-4-14
21
22
Table 1. Post-Doc attendance at Coffee & Pastries Networking Events * estimate based on
population of 96 Post-docs on 9-7-14
Event date
Number of Post-Docs attending
Careers Events
Hilary Jones previously ran a monthly Coffee & Careers event with the Department for Post-Docs
and PhD students. Following the departure of Hilary in December 2013, the PDSC agreed to take
over the organisation of this event until a permanent replacement could be found. Liz Rylott has
been running these events since February 2014. Details on the events are shown in Table 2. The
audience comprised approximately 40 % Post-Docs and 60 % PhD students. The refreshments (tea,
coffee and cookies) are funded by the Department of Biology, and provided by Cookies catering.
Event date
Speaker
Topic
Number of PostDocs and PhD
students attending
5-2-2014
7-3-2014
Sarah Blackford
Astrid Lorenz
Careers Advice
Patent attorney
(Synergy)
50
26
Estimated *% of
total Post-Docs in
Biology
Department
23
27
4-4-2013
Andrew Taylor
Planning Officer
17
16
20
21
24
22
(Hull University)
2-5-14
Lorna Warnock
Student
Employability
Officer
(Department of
Biology)
5-6-14
Ben Hall
Production
Technical Officer
(Syngenta-Bioline)
Table 2. Attendance of Post-Doc and PhD students at the monthly Coffee and Career sessions.
Notable was the attendance, and enthusiastic feedback, at Sarah Blackford’s Careers Advice session.
A report on this event was emailed from Liz Rylott to Nina Pirozek 19-2-14. Sarah presented
information on career choices and used a model she is developing to help people think through their
strengths and weaknesses, and what types of job they would be suited to. This session lasted one
hour and everyone appeared to find it useful and enjoyable. The positive comments included:
Requests for a longer session (26 people)
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Post-Doc Society Annual Report
June 2014
Love the resources page (2 people)
Very informative/helpful/interesting (7 people)
Useful framework for thinking about career/jobs.
Excellent and informative. Now changed the way I think about the jobs I am looking for.
Enjoyed the career theory approach to looking for jobs.
Very good workshop – need more like it.
Very useful session – much better than other career sessions
The refreshments (tea, coffee and cookies), provided by Cookies catering, and Sarah’s travel
expenses were funded by the Department of Biology.
Proposal for Post-doc and PhD student Careers Day
Feedback from the Coffee & Careers session run by Sarah suggested that Post-Doc and PhD students
would like to attend a longer careers session. This could take the form of a three hour session run by
Sarah, or be expanded to a Careers Day by the inclusion of shorter talks from other speakers
(industry, academia, teaching, patenting etc), and lunch. Liz Rylott is now in discussion with Lorna
Warnock and Sarah Knight to schedule a session for autumn 2014.
Post-Doc Lecturing Series
We have devised, organised and delivered two Post-Doc Lecturing Series. These lecture series were
delivered by Post-Doc volunteers who have an interest in gaining teaching experience, particularly
delivering lectures to undergraduate students. The lecture series were open to all undergraduate
years and attendance was voluntary. The purpose of these series was three-fold 1) to provide a
lecturing opportunity to Post-Docs, which is currently not available within the department 2) for the
department to provide added value to the undergraduate students in what is a quiet time of year 3)
to give the undergraduate students the chance to find out about interesting science that is
happening on their doorstep. The first series was a pilot series to determine the commitment of the
Post-Docs to deliver it as well as gathering feedback to determine the value to the undergraduates
(lecture details shown in Table 3). On the basis of the success of the pilot series in 2013, we have
organised another series this term (lecture details shown in Table 4). This second series also resulted
from discussions with Head of Department, Ian Graham, and Chair of the Board of Studies, Richard
Waites.
Summer term 2013 – ‘Bitesize Science’ (eight lectures / weeks 8, 9, 10)
Summer term 2014 – ‘Biology Behind the Scenes‘(five lectures, weeks 8, 9)
Date
11th June
Speaker
Claire Bourke
Title
Immunoepidemiology: studying immune responses to infectious
disease in their natural environment
11th June
Jayant Rane
The usefulness of ‘useless’: The impact of non-coding DNA on
gene regulation.
12th June
Roxana Teodor
Molecular breeding of crops: from cutting-edge technology to
elite cultivars
19th June
Simon Baker
What's inside the slime? - Understanding bacterial biofilm'
20th June
Kate Atkin
What's inside the slime? - Understanding bacterial biofilm'
th
25 June
Erica Kintz
Salmonella & Syringes: Strategies in Bacterial Pathogenesis
26th June
Ellie Harrison
100 tiny worlds: using experimental evolution to explore hostsymbiont interactions
27th June
Helen Price
Leishmania: how to control a deadly pathogen
Table 3. Bitesize Science Lecture Titles
Feedback on Bitesize Science:
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Post-Doc Society Annual Report
June 2014
Attendance – (Lecture number) No. of students = (1)42 (2)13 (3)25 (4)14 (5)1 (6)4 (7)8 (8) 12
Which students? 86 first year / 21 second year / 9 third year.
Was the information at the right level? 90 % said yes.
Did the speaker explain the topic clearly? 92.3 % said yes.
Are you happy to be taught by postdoctoral researchers? – 94 % said yes. (3 students said partially
and 3 students were unsure)
Overall Rating (1 – not good / 5 – very good). 94.9 % received 4 or 5.
(Detailed results available on request from Fiona Frame).
Date
10th June
13th June
Speaker
Andrea Harper
Thilo Winzer
Title
CatASHtrophe! The battle to save British trees
Nature's Pharmacy - unlocking the genetic secrets
underlying the medicinal properties of opium poppy
19th June
Johannes Doehl
Neglected Tropical Diseases at the University of York
19th June
Anna Szczepanska
Who ate all the plants? Story behind enzyme discovery.
19th June
Jean Whittingham
Rhodococcus equi: a tricky bug to catch out.
Table 4. Biology Behind the Scenes Lecture Titles
Department of Biology Research Away Day
Erica Kintz, Post-Doc representative on the Biology Research Away Day committee, and PDSC
member, undertook a survey of Post-Docs with the aims of identifying why Post-Doc attendance at
the 2013 Away Day was poor. Feedback indicated that Post-docs did not feel like efforts were made
to integrate them well into the agenda. This year appeals were made to PIs to encourage Post-doc
attendance, efforts were made to include more talks given by Post-docs and the amount of time for
social interaction was increased so Post-docs would have the opportunity for more interaction with
other attendees.
Welcome and Buddy scheme
The PDSC is informed of new starters by Biology HR and sends out a welcome letter to all new Postdocs in Biology. This gives information on what we do and how to contact us along with details on
how to edit individual webpages and our buddy scheme. We have a number of volunteers who will
buddy and new Post-doc within the department if needed and help with them settling in. This can
include anything from advice on how to set up a bank account in the UK to going for a coffee with a
friendly face. This has had a very positive impact on the feeling of inclusion within the department.
Additional activities
We have this year liaised with many people within the department on behalf of the Post-doc
community including:
Meeting with Ian Graham our HOD to discuss future opportunities and issues within Biology
Facilitated a meeting of all Post-docs representatives on Biology committee
Meeting with Nina Pirozek Biology HR manager
We have facilitated Post-doc visibility by successfully getting Post-docs listed on the Biology Staff
webpages with each member getting their own web profile
We continue to aid communication through regularly updating the PDSC webpage
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Post-Doc Society Annual Report
June 2014
Postdoc Destination Data
Before she left, Dr Hilary Jones had collected 2006-2013 exit data from Post-Docs in the Biology
Department of the University of York (Figure 1). There were 133 useable responses. She gave the
survey to Fiona M. Frame who produced the pie chart shown in Figure 1 to represent the results of
the survey. The large variety of Post-Doc destinations suggests that advice on a broad range of
careers for Post-Docs is needed. It may also be helpful for this information to be circulated to
academic staff. An awareness that continuing onto a permanent academic position is more of an
exception than a rule in terms of Post-Doc destinations may help academic staff to offer balanced,
realistic and helpful career advice to Post-Docs.
Figure 1. Results from Post-Doc exit survey showing subsequent destinations (133 Post-Docs)
Expenses
(Coffee & Pastries have been funded by sponsors VWR and Greiner bio-one Ltd)
Date
Reason
5-2-2014
7-3-2014
4-4-2013
2-5-14
5-6-14
Sarah Blackford travel expenses for Coffee & Careers
Coffee & Careers (tea, coffee and cookies)
Coffee & Careers (tea, coffee and cookies)
Coffee & Careers (tea, coffee and cookies)
Coffee & Careers (tea, coffee and cookies)
Total
Cost
£80.14
*£40
*£40
*£40
*£40
£240.14
*Estimates based on 20 people @ £1.35 per person tea/coffee, £0.65p per person cookie.
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