The Oxford Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP), the program through which my DPhil is funded, hosts an annual Symposium to highlight research being conducted by DTP students and offer insights into the career paths of external speakers.

This year, I was on the committee organising the Symposium and was involved in selecting student presenters, as well as deciding on and inviting external speakers. It was a great experience!

Here are my key takeaways from the Symposium:

• The MRC DTP funds a wide range of DPhil research projects from understanding biological processes, such as telomere shortening, and diseases, such as metabolism in ALS, to optimising CAR-T cell therapy and developing single-dose delayed-release vaccine technology. I really enjoyed learning about this diversity of research, which not only opens the door for future research questions but also lays the foundations for treatments and medicines.
  
• In addition to student talks and posters, we had a fantastic 3-minute thesis competition. It was very interesting to see the variety of approaches participants took in speaking about their research, some incorporating humour or storytelling and others more direct and results-oriented. This format allowed participants to showcase not only their research, but also their personalities.
  
• Our keynote was delivered by Sir Charles Godfray who gave an excellent talk about science and policy. He highlighted the different roles scientists can play in policy – arbiters, advocates and honest brokers – and nuances of them. Sir Godfray conveyed the importance of clearly communicating research, but without overstating results, and being mindful of one’s own biases and aims. There is an important role for scientists in influencing policy, as has been demonstrated in the pandemic and many more examples!
  
• The afternoon sessions highlighted the careers of a range of external, invited speakers – some of which were Oxford MRC DTP alumni. This was kicked off by Claire Chesworth from the Oxford Careers Service, who underscored how many valuable skills a PhD teaches us. However, she pointed out two areas PhD students can expand upon are teamwork and understanding commercialisation. Collaborations and extracurriculars can offer great opportunities to develop in these areas!
  
• This was expanded further in our panel discussion on careers in biotech. The panelists highlighted differences between research in academia and industry (primarily pace/speed). They also pointed though that how research is conducted in academia & industry is converging and that moving between the two is becoming more common.
  
• Rounding off the day, Tom Beattie gave us a nice overview of his role as a Programme Manager for Doctoral Training at the MRC and Fiona Suttle explained the importance of science communication. Fiona gave nice examples of how to get involved in science communication – from writing for a science magazine or blog to giving a public talk or presenting at a science festival. There’s a way for everyone to get involved!

I had a great time both organising and attending the MRC DTP Symposium! It was wonderful to learn more about the exciting research being conducted by other DTP students, as well as hear interesting career insights from the invited speakers.

Many thanks to my Symposium co-organisers and everyone who makes the MRC DTP run!