Young Scientists’ Forum
19 February 2021 update: The 20th FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum (YSF), postponed from 2020 and originally planned for Lovran Croatia, is now taking place as an online event in conjunction with the virtual 45th FEBS Congress. See the Congress website's YSF section for more details. Selection of participants was completed in 2020.
The FEBS YSF
For many years, FEBS has funded a Young Scientists' Forum immediately preceding its annual Congress to promote interactions between pre- and post-doctoral scientists of the FEBS Constituent Societies. Usually around 100 young scientists are selected to take part in the event, where they can present their research work to an international audience, make contact with others like themselves before attending the much larger Congress, and exchange ideas in an informal atmosphere. FEBS financially supports the selected participants to take part in not only the YSF but also the ensuing Congress, so they can benefit from the different experiences that the YSF and a large bioscience conference can offer. The YSF also gives young scientists in the host country the opportunity to be responsible for local organization of the event, which, while building on a proven format, keeps the event youthful and fresh.
The organization of the YSF is overseen by the FEBS 'Working Group on the Careers of Young Scientists', which also arranges for a small number of senior scientists to give background talks on key subjects, as well as round-table discussions that deal with career issues. The latter involve invited speakers from several organizations, such as EMBO and ELSO, which have programmes aimed to promote and support young scientists' careers, as well as industry representatives. During such discussions the students have raised several questions, particularly related to scientific publishing, management, and career pathways in academia, as well as science politics.
Reports on the FEBS YSF are presented to FEBS Council and in the FEBS Annual Report. A brief report and photos also appear in FEBS News following each event. To contact the Working Group Chair, Prof. Irene Díaz-Moreno, please use the Contact Us section of the website.
A short history
The Working Group on the Careers of Young Scientists was established in 2001, inspired by an initiative performed for many years by the French Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The first Forum was organized in 2001 in Oeiras, Portugal as a satellite meeting of the 27th FEBS Congress. Due to the success of this format, a YSF has been held alongside the annual FEBS Congress every year since.
Working Group Chairs: 2001–2004, Prof. Marja Makarow; 2005–2007, Prof. Claudina Rodrigues-Pousada; 2008–2010, Prof. Daniela Corda; 2011–2017, Prof. Claudina Rodrigues-Pousada; 2018– , Prof. Irene Díaz-Moreno.