The Unit held its annual Training & Careers Development Event on Friday 26th January. Unit members and Oxford colleagues were treated to a range of engaging and enlightening presentations, each of which was followed by a lively Q & A session.

Professor Dorothy Bishop of the University of Oxford started the Event with an insightful account of the importance and challenges of data reproducibility. Unit Research Support Manager Ben Micklem then revealed the progress made on the Unit’s new Data Sharing Platform, laying down a challenge to the audience to help shape its future. In a related follow-on talk, Unit student Alex Morley gave some timely advice on how best to manage data and code. Unit Administrator Dr Vivienne Collins completed the general session by reiterating the resources available to support good research practice. In the first of two break-out workshops held after refreshments, Professor Paul Bolam, Associate Unit Member and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Neuroscience, led a training session on effective peer reviewing. In the second workshop, Dr Megan Dowie, Programme Manager at the Medical Research Council, and Dr Matthew Brown, Science Portfolio Adviser (Neuroscience and Mental Health) at the Wellcome Trust, narrated their career trajectories and gave their personal perspectives on working in research funding agencies. This was supplemented with some valuable advice on grant and fellowship applications at their respective organisations.

Peter Magill, Chair of the Unit’s Research Training & Career Development Committee, commented “The provision of bespoke training and career support continues to be a priority for the Unit. We are most grateful to our expert speakers, and we look forward to meeting the challenges ahead.”