An APECS career development workshop was held at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) for PhD students studying at BAS and the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI). The workshop programme used the traditional APECS format of talks interspersed with panel discussions and networking opportunities. For BAS students the workshop complemented other networking and team building events held on the same week, which included a science symposium and an outdoor activities day.
After a brief welcoming reception, the day started with a talk on the activities of APECS and UKPN from Allen Pope (SPRI and APECS). This gave new students an introduction to these ever-expanding networks for early career polar scientists; the growth of both organisations is testimony to the success of previous events, of which Allen gave an interesting account. For those students present who are further along in their studies, Allen's talk provided an opportunity to reflect on previous successful meetings, and reminisce over fun times. Allen encouraged the new students to get involved, and I think he can be assured of a few new recruits!
Liz Morris (SPRI), Pete Convey (BAS) and Paul Rodhouse (BAS) then took to the floor for a panel discussion on International Projects and Collaborations. A great deal of the discussion centred around how best to spend time during a PhD study to maximise opportunities of building collaborations, and go on forge a successful career in academia.
Heather Martin from BAS's media office then gave an interesting talk on communicating with the media. Heather stressed the importance of making science accessible to a broad audience, and encouraged the budding young researchers to contact the media and PR department if they wanted help promoting their science. Heather also provided an interesting account of the high-profile activities BAS are currently involved with, including collaboration with the BBC on the Frozen Planet series, and the upcoming Lake Ellsworth project. It's certainly an exciting time to be involved in polar science!
Over lunch, participants were given the opportunity to listen to a pre-recorded APECS career development webinar 'alternative careers in polar research', the broad array of webinars now available on the APECS website was also showcased. Following lunch, Pete Convey gave a talk on writing papers and publishing academic material.
The final part of the day focussed on science policy. Julian Allwood (Cambridge University) gave a talk covering some of the challenges faced as the country tries to move towards renewable energy sources. Interesting work is being carried out at Cambridge University, and in Parliament by David Mackay, Professor Allwood's colleague who is now also a government advisor. David Cope from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) then gave an overview of the work carried out by POST, how scientists influence policy, and gave some advice to those wishing to work within this area.
Nick Owens (BAS) then rounded off the day with a few words on the importance of polar science, and told us a little of his journey from PhD student to the director of BAS. Thanks to all the speakers and participants for making the event so interesting, to APECS for all their ongoing efforts in helping young researchers to expand their skill sets, and to BAS for hosting the day.
