ON trainingNews Welcome to the December edition of the One Nucleus trainingNews and our last of 2020. And just like that, 2020 is coming to a close... Inside this edition you will find dates of upcoming events, current vacancies, recent member appointments and a reflection of the Life Science industry itself. From everyone here at One Nucleus we would like to wish you and your family a relaxing break over the festive period and a Happy New Year. To get involved or have a chance to be featured in the next newsletter please contact training@onenucleus.com and for hot off the press updates, follow our @OneNucleus Twitter and LinkedIn accounts!
Upcoming Courses & Events 2021
18 January From Biodata to Digital Medicine: Developing Data-Driven Innovations (Virtual) register 19 January Life Science Marketing Group: Employees Are the Best Brand Champions register 27 - 28 January Online Introduction to Drug Discovery register 11 - 12 February Biological Safety Management and Practice (IOSH Approved) training course register March 2021 ON Careers Conference - Building Life Science Adventures save the date 22 - 25 March BIO-Europe Spring 2021 register 25 - 26 May Anglonordic Life Science Conference 2021 register
Training Courses We have worked hard to adapt most of our training courses to be delivered digitally and in-house, tailored to your companies specific needs! For more information view our full training course portfolio here or contact training@onenucleus.com.
Our Training Courses: • • • • • • •
Online Introduction to Drug Discovery register Presentation Skills for Scientists enquire The Safe Use and Management of Lab Gases enquire Lab Health and Safety enquire Biological Masterclass enquire Online Introduction to Managing Life Science Projects enquire Biological Safety: Management and Practice (IOSH Approved) register
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Careers & Opportunities Recent Member Appointments Domainex welcomes Mick Knaggs to their team as principle scientist in Domainex’s computational chemistry department read more tranScrip announce the appointment of Jo Cox as a Senior Partner read more
Vacancies Biocair - Marketing Coordinator - 1 Yr Fixed Term Contract see more This role involves supporting the Marketing Manager with planning, executing and tracking marketing campaigns, helping to implement new marketing strategy globally. You will play an influential role in delivering the wider commercial strategy, contributing to the successful growth of Biocair in new markets and services. Evonetix - Technical Lead - Enzyme Gene Synthesis see more Evonetix are looking for an experienced Technical Lead to join the Biology team and take responsibility for the enzymatic gene synthesis project. Their novel approach to gene synthesis and assembly is set to revolutionise what is possible with a desktop gene synthesiser. Their platform is compatible with both chemical and enzymatic DNA synthesis. RSSL - Senior Sales Manager - Pharmaceutical Industry see more Are you an internally recognized expert in analytical sciences and an effective leader of cross-functional teams? Can you work with cross-functional stakeholders, plan and technically lead complex analytical programs, interpret findings and define actionable next steps? In this role you will need to review, approve, and effectively communicate significant technical/scientific results and regularly interact with key senior stakeholders, whilst leading a commercially focused team to ensure sustainable growth. LBIC - Head of Business Development see more The London Bioscience Innovation Centre is looking to appoint a Head of Business Development. This is an exciting opportunity to lead a range of activities including the development of a stronger collaborative ecosystem that ensures the translation of intellctual property into new therapies, products and services for improving human and animal health. Bit.bio - Senior Scientist - Stem Cell and Neurodevelopmental Biology see more This award winning spin-out from the University of Cambridge is looking for talented and curious people who want to make an impact on the future science and therapeutics. You will need an excellent understanding of the molecular principles underlying the specification of glial lineages, especially astrocytes, and experience with the generation of these cell types from iPSCs. To view more vacancies like this, visit onenucleus.com/jobs Dont forget that if you are a member of One Nucleus you can list your current vacancies on our website.
Training Topics
The Sector Needs World Class Diverse Teams, But Who is Responsible? Jasmin Bannister, One Nucleus Having only worked in this exceptional Life Sciences industry for just 3 months I wanted to share some of my observations so far. I have been absolutely blown away by what I have learnt already; I totally underestimated the breadth of the sector and just how many opportunities there are to build careers. Being able to work alongside such inspirational people who are passionate about making a difference is refreshing. The Life Science industry is not limited to lab-based work, there are so many other career opportunities such as Marketing, Business Development, Medical Writing, Regulatory Affairs, and the list goes on. It is time to break the misconception that anyone who works within the industry is a white male wearing a lab coat, start talent identification and development earlier and collaborate more with one another. Over the past few months One Nucleus has been hosting a mix of pre-recorded and live sessions to form the Genesis Digital 2020 conference, all of which can be accessed by those who attended via the app or as on demand content if you contact info@onenucleus.com. Below is a summary of two very interesting discussions by two esteemed panels that deserve the spotlight. Around the World in Labour Pool Development Panel: Anne Bailey, Form the Future (panel chair) Gwyn Tudor, MediWales Jacqueline Hall, AstraZeneca Nicola Gane, Cytiva Ashley Cagle, Wake County Economic Development Key Point Summary: The panel shared their thoughts around vocational training, particularly apprenticeship programmes. While it is widely known that these schemes are successful in creating well-rounded and loyal employees, when asked “would you take on an apprentice?� most companies said no. By investing into an apprentice, whose career stage and development is so key, you will create a mutual gratitude as such which will increase retention rates. During Covid-19 the Life Sciences have never had so much exposure and we need to be keeping this profile up; this is particularly important since organisations in the sector are not just competing against themselves, but are now competing for talent against other industries such as, banking, tech, consultancy etc. It was felt there is not enough interaction and collaboration between industry and with academia. There should be more support and resources available to students from a younger age and they need to be encouraged to follow what they are interested in. Equally, there needs to be more awareness and support from the education providers of the
support available. There seems to be a real lack of focus on the development of soft skills and an expectation among some employers for students to walk out of university with this wealth of experience. Employers need to be open to the prospect of developing and moulding their staff and avoid the feeling of lack of resources and time. Do providers fully grasp the breadth of opportunity available in order to fully guide their students? The panel were left with questions such as who is responsible for supporting these students and do the students realise what support and information is available. UCLB - Attracting Digital Skills to Life Sciences Innovation Workshop Panel: Geraint Thomas, University College London (panel chair) Jackie Hunter CBE, Benevolent AI Rowan Gardner, PrecisonLife Beth Jones, University of Manchester Krzysztof Potempa, Braincures
Key Point Summary: A key point that was raised early in the discussion is that people are attracted to science because they see it as doing something good and the industry simply does not capitalise on this enough. With the topic being Attracting Digital Skills to Life Sciences, the panel asked the question why this gap exists between students, career shifters and employers? The industry feels as though it is the universities’ responsibility to be guiding the students their way. The universities feeling they need more detail on what industry wants. Not knowing better, universities will continue to guide students down a path they see as a safe bet, and in turn this encourages a value-based culture among students. So instead of taking a risk and seeking alternative paths and opportunities students will play safe by either staying in academia or pursuing the safe option of a position within their known industry sector. Communication between these three groups is seriously lacking which is detrimental to attracting future talent into the sector and encouraging talented students to think outside the box. Young people need to be encouraged to take a risk and is there enough funding to reassure them to do this? If so, are they aware of the funding and support available? A challenge that students are coming across is that too many job descriptions are specifying that they must have laboratory experience to be suitable for the role. The industry is crying out for these digital skills, but instead of training them up to know sufficient specifics about the lab and project they are turning them down – is this a habit that has evolved over the years yet not adapted to the changing needs of research labs? Students will also need to be reassured that switching industry sectors is acceptable and, importantly, achievable, so it is worth taking a chance. It is also one thing being successful at onboarding but the importance of retaining talent has never been greater.
Additional Thoughts: The main issue raised in the final discussion of Genesis 2020 was around the increasing importance of diversity but the challenge we currently face is diversifying a talent pipeline that isn’t diverse. In terms of exposure, Claire Thompson made an interesting point during the Agility Life Sciences Innovation Workshop that, particularly in the media, by stripping away the scientific jargon and making it simpler for the wider society to understand us, it will attract more people into the sector. To support making this change by increasing collaboration and attracting more talent in the industry, next year One Nucleus will be hosting its very own digital careers conference – Building Life Science Adventures. Watch this space as we avoid the standard job fair approach and make those all-important steps forward to bridging the gaps between students, universities, and the industry. To find out more about the sponsorship opportunities available or for any other enquiries, please contact training@onenucleus.com for more info. See you in January 2021!