On BrainTrain & Ocean Sciences: the conference student+ experience

I love scientific conferences. Going to meetings is like taking the pulse of research: you learn about cool, interesting (often still unpublished) science, and you get to meet new people and network. Unfortunately, all too often, students and postdocs are forced to take the back seats at these events. We are not involved in the organisation, and generally only have limited opportunity to actively participate. Luckily, this is slowly changing: there’s a growing recognition by senior scientists and funding agencies that students are a vital part of meetings, that our interests may extend beyond regular scientific talks, and that it’s useful for us to take part in the organization. Two recent meetings, the BrainTrain Conference in Japan and the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) 2014 in Hawaii, highlight how students can get involved.

Science for students by students: The Eötvös College Science Summer Camp

Do you remember that terrible week of your summer holidays when you were little, and your parents didn’t know what to do with you? When they would sign you up for a… Summer Camp? Without fail they would get everything wrong: your interests, which summer camp your friends attended, and when they wanted to send you to the cool-and-trendy camp, they were normally lagging behind the actual trends by about a year (or sometimes even a decade). This is a post about a different kind of summer camp, a summer camp that kids can choose to attend and actually enjoy: the Eötvös College Science Summer Camp, which was held this summer for the second year running.