This year’s Plants @ Cambridge Botanicon took place at St John's College on Friday 28 June. It brought together colleagues from across the plant biology network at Cambridge to consider the future of plant biology research.
The event was organised by a team of early-career researchers from Plants @ Cambridge members including the Department of Plant Sciences, Crop Science Centre, Sainsbury Laboratory and NIAB.
It was an opportunity for researchers to exchange ideas and build connections for new collaborations, and to showcase early-career research in plant biology at the University.
The day included short talks and posters from early career researchers, as well as workshops on ‘hot techniques’ such as single cell sequencing, machine learning, biosensors and CRISPR.
There were also two panel discussions on careers featuring panellists from academia, policy and industry, highlighting the wealth of career opportunities open to plant biologists.
Professor Uta Paszkowski, a fellow at St John’s College who hosted the event, was one of panellists in the careers workshops. She said “It was wonderful to host the Plants @ Cambridge annual gathering for the second time at St John’s College. I enjoyed listening to exciting research as much as ‘hot techniques’ and ‘careers’ – and discussing the role of serendipity in the latter. Looking forward to more in the coming years.”
Dr Jake Harris and Dr Leonie Luginbuehl, co-organisers of this year’s event, said "Botanicon was a fantastic event this year. It felt different from your average symposium, and we hope that everyone appreciated the early career researcher-led focus and effort. A huge thank you to the committee for bringing the vision to life.”
They added “In terms of breaking down barriers, our groups have already made some exciting new connections, and we are certain that many other tangible and intangible benefits will emerge from bringing Cambridge minds with a shared interest in plant sciences together for a day."
This was the second annual Plants @ Cambridge early career researcher event following the successful Plants @ Cambridge Festival in 2023.
Many thanks to everyone who took part on the day, and special thanks to the organising committee:
• Dr Leonie Luginbuehl, Department of Plant Sciences
• Dr Jake Harris, Department of Plant Sciences
• Professor Alex Webb, Department of Plant Sciences
• Vicki Marshall, Department of Plant Sciences
• Elin Falla, Department of Plant Sciences
• Mia Horton, Crop Science Centre
• Dr Emily Servante, Crop Science Centre
• Dr Sebastian Moreno, Sainsbury Laboratory
• Elisabeth Burmeister, Sainsbury Laboratory
• Dr Julia Lambret, NIAB
About Plants @ Cambridge
Plants @ Cambridge co-ordinates the plant science activities across the University of Cambridge to ensure better connectivity and communicate our research to the wider world.
Its members include the Department of Plant Sciences, Crop Science Centre, Sainsbury Laboratory, Herbarium, Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Department of Biochemistry and NIAB. It also encompasses the Food Security and Engineering Biology Interdisciplinary Research Centres, and the Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme.
Plants @ Cambridge activities include facilitating interdisciplinary research and interactions with external partners; building partnerships that deliver impact from research; enabling knowledge exchange; and developing strategic alliances so that research findings have impact on areas such as sustainable technologies, the growing bioeconomy, food security, conservation and biodiversity, and resilience to climate change.
Read more:
• Full programme: Botanicon 2024
• Alumni stories: Robert Bradburne who also took part in the careers workshop
Photo: Colleagues at the Botanicon. Photo by Kathy Grube. Botanicon T-shirts designed by Isobel Cole.