College of Medical and Dental Sciences
Postdoctoral/Early Researcher Career Development and Training
(PERCAT)
PERCAT is a scheme established in 2009 to facilitate the career development of Postdoctoral/Early
career researchers across the College of Medical and Dental Sciences. It is overseen by a committee
which comprises an academic lead and Postdoc representative from each school, as well as
representatives from POD, HR and the Research and Knowledge Transfer office. Professor Roy
Bicknell has been head of PERCAT since September 2011.
You can access information on all aspects of PERCAT, including upcoming events, courses and
information on fellowships and funding via the PERCAT website (www.birmingham.ac.uk/percat)
Current activities
Masterclasses
Monthly programme of lunchtime workshops that covers topics important for career progression. The
presentations are given by internal and external speakers with expertise in the field. Topics in 2012/13
included Planning Your Career, Developing Skills, CV writing, Teaching Opportunities, Academic
Citizenship, Alternative Careers outside of Academia (Joan Cummins, BBC) and Science in Society (Alice
Roberts). The masterclasses will continue in 2013/14 with a new set of topics.
Scriptoria Writing Workshop
This two-day workshop, addresses various aspects of scientific writing, from grant proposals to publications.
Three sessions are held each year. The course has proved extremely popular with delegates so sign up
early via the PERCAT website to make sure you are not disappointed.
Postdoc Seminar Series
We are in the process of recruiting for a new PERCAT Seminar co-ordinator. We are planning to revamp
the monthly seminars to occur three times a year Christmas, Easter and summer. Further details will follow.
Teaching Workshop
Running annually in June, this workshop outlines teaching opportunities over the coming academic year.
Course and module leaders from the medical and dental degrees and the MRes program outline the
teaching opportunities on their course. These include small group teaching, leading journal clubs and lab
demonstration.
Mentoring
Discussing your career plans with a personal mentor is very strongly advised. A list of people who have an
interest in mentoring is provided on the PERCAT website. The list includes senior academics and
experienced administrative staff from within the College as well as external persons with experience of
potentially helpful career paths.
Training and Development
People and Organisational Development (POD) run a range of courses appropriate to postdocs, including
the PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching, courses on project management, team leadership, data
protection, presentation skills and diversity. These courses run several times annually. There is also a
series of online modules covering research practice, career planning, publishing, managing your PI and
networking that you can access.
Research Development Fund
This fund was introduced primarily to support early career researchers. Grants of up to £5000 are awarded
to support the generation of preliminary data for fellowship applications, travel for training and collaboration
and the expansion of data to achieve publication. This provides excellent grant-writing practice and the
opportunity to manage your own budget.
Research & Knowledge Transfer Seminar Series
The Research and Knowledge Transfer Office (R&KT Office) runs a series of seminars aimed at helping
researchers across the College with grant applications and management. See website for details
Away Day/Gala
Each year, funding permitted we hope to run either an Away Day or Research Gala.
In July 2013 the first Gala was held in the new Bramall Music Building.
As the temperatures soared, up to 100 Postdocs/Early Career Researchers
left the confines of the lab bench or office to head further onto campus to the
prestigious new Bramall Music Building for the highlight of this year’s
PERCAT calendar, the PERCAT Research Gala.
Following on from feedback from the Away Day in Stratford last year, the
cross-College Postdoc reps, along with the support of Roy and Lesley spent
several months organising the event. Over 50 abstracts were received and
the reps chose talks from each school. The presentations covered a wide-range of research from The use
of routine data in primary care to detect undiagnosed COPD to Identity and function of a novel
immune-regulatory peptide, PEPITEM. The audience were asked to vote for the best talk and David
Millar’s presentation on Re-directing the anti-viral T cell response gained the most votes. Abstracts were
presented at the poster session, with presenters doing a great job, under greenhouse conditions in the
Dome Room. The judging panel (senior staff members from across the College) found it extremely difficult
to find an overall winner and after much debate and deliberation decided to award 3 joint prizes to Colette
O’Shaughnessy, Chris Weston and Evaggelia Liaskou. The highlight of the Gala was a fascinating talk from
Professor Paul McMaster, FRCS (president of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) (UK) on Medical Research
and the Real World. He also presented the prizes to the four winners. The event concluded with some
much needed refreshments. Further details along with a full abstract booklet are available via the website.
Remember, the sole aim of PERCAT is to SUPPORT YOU in your career development but it can only
maximise its potential if YOU inform us of the support that you need, even suggest events that you
would like to see offered. We therefore encourage you to contact your college rep with any ideas or
feedback. Their contact details are provided below and are available on the PERCAT website.
Contacts
Head of PERCAT
Administrator
Postdoc Rep, I & I
Postdoc Rep, Cancer
Postdoc Reps, HaPS
Postdoc Reps, CEM
Postdoc Rep, Dentistry
Postdoc Seminar Series
Professor Roy Bicknell
Lesley Bodenham
Louisa Jeffery
Rebecca Jones
Odette Chagoury
Farina Kobab
Vicki Smith
Clara Yates
Helen Wright
Vacant
Follow us on twitter @unibirm_PERCAT
r.bicknell@bham.ac.uk
l.h.bodenham@bham.ac.uk
l.e.jeffery@bham.ac.uk
r.jones.2@bam.ac.uk
o.l.chagoury@bham.ac.uk
fxk660@bham.ac.uk
v.e.smith@bham.ac.uk
c.m.yates@bham.ac.uk
h.j.wright@bham.ac.uk