Interactive workshops
Three exciting workshops will be taking place throughout the yEFIS 2nd Symposium, addressing a wide range of issues critically relevant to young researchers today. Below you will find detailed information on the programme, and our invited experts who will be on hand to guide the discussion and answer your questions.
Essential Skills for Early Career Researchers
09:10 - 10:00
This workshop will explore essential skills for ECRs crucial for navigating the challenges of balancing research and communication in our daily work life, with practical insights and strategies to support early career researchers in their professional journey.
Dr Joseph Roche
Associate Professor, Trinity College Dublin
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Joseph Roche is an Associate Professor in Science Education at Trinity College Dublin. He is the Director of Research at the School of Education and leads the Science & Society Research Group which coordinates international research projects on science communication, informal learning, citizen science, public engagement, and higher education science. He was the Principal Investigator of GlobalSCAPE — a European Commission funded research project exploring the global state of science communication. Joseph has worked at NASA and was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard. He is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and is the author of the textbook “Essential Skills for Early Career Researchers”.
Mental health and wellbeing in early careers - navigating the silent epidemic
10:10 - 11:00
This workshop will cover the evidence on the mental health of early career researchers; the psychology of "imposter syndrome"; ongoing initiatives to advance academic mental health and sustainable careers; and breakout discussions to critically reflect on these themes.
Dr Darragh McCashin
Assistant Professor, Dublin City University
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Dr Darragh McCashin is an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at Dublin City University (DCU), and is both Chair of The Observatory on Cyberbullying, Cyberhate & Online Harassment and Research Fellow at the ABC.
Darragh’s primary research interests include: digital youth mental health, clinical/forensic applications of technology, and researcher mental health. Previously, Darragh was a Marie Curie Fellow/PhD student at University College Dublin (UCD), examining technology-enabled youth mental health within the EU H2020-funded TEAM-ITN project, specifically the role of technology-assisted cognitive behavioural therapy for children using mixed methodologies. Darragh is currently a Working Group Chair on the ReMO COST Action Researcher Mental Health Observatory (CA19117), and sits on the management committee. A second strand to Darragh’s research is that of forensic/criminal psychology. With an MSc in Applied Forensic Psychology (University of York), Darragh has previously worked as an Associate Lecturer and Research Assistant in the Online-Protect research group at the University of Lincoln, investigating case formulation tools for those with convictions for internet sexual offences.
Lead from Any Level: How to Drive Inclusive and Effective Leadership Right Where You Are
12:05 - 12:55
The session will cover:
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Leadership at Any Level: Discover how to lead effectively from any position, regardless of your current role or career stage.
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Understanding Inclusive Leadership: Learn the core principles of inclusive leadership and why it is crucial in today’s diverse and dynamic research environments.
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Interactive Discussions: Engage in interactive discussions and activities to help you apply these concepts to your work and career path.
Join us to enhance your leadership skills and contribute to creating a high-performing, inclusive research community.
Sile Walsh
ELIS Advantage (Effective Leadership, Inclusive Solutions)
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Sile Walsh is an award-winning leadership specialist, international bestselling author, and consultant based in Dublin with over a decade of international experience. She has worked with over 22,000 leaders and organisations, focusing on effective and inclusive leadership. As the global diversity and inclusion co-lead for the Association of Coaching, accredited professional supervisor and a PhD candidate researching inclusive leadership, Sile brings insights from industry, practicality and critical thinking from her research to all her work. Her passion lies in creating workplaces where everyone can thrive through the support of high performance and inclusivity.
Career opportunities:
Insights into diverse paths
13:00-14:15
It's no great revelation that career progression in academia is becoming a steeper uphill battle day by day, and many early-career researchers may become discouraged or disillusioned with the ever-moving goalposts of success they have been trained to aim for. However, a PhD in the life sciences is no less valuable in crafting an ideal career path. We speak to 4 young professionals about the routes they have navigated since their PhDs, and pick their brains about how their perception of 'success' has changed (or not?) along the way.
Dr Rachel Horan
Rachel is a Medical Affairs Manager in Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (JJIM) working in the haematology area with a particular focus on Multiple Myeloma. Rachel joined JJIM in 2021 as a Medical Advisor in neuroscience. She has a background in biochemistry and immunology and completed an immunology PhD in Trinity College Dublin in 2015. Rachel’s previous experience includes lecturing immunology, working in regulatory affairs in the Irish regulatory body (the HPRA) and working in clinical development and clinical trials in pharma.
Dr Francesco Mazzotta
Francesco has a background in engineering Physics and a PhD in Physics. He co-founded and successfully sold a digital health company in medication adherence in 2022. Francesco was the company's CEO for six years before transitioning to a purely commercial role.After the acquisition in 2022, Francesco is dedicating most of his energy to supporting scientists entering entrepreneurship. He leads the Life Science and Health initiatives at the DEEP Institute at ESMT Berlin and drives the European Health stream of Creative Destruction Lab. He is also an active start-up advisor and early-stage angel investor.
Dr Laura Pallett
Laura is an associate professor and principal investigator of the Pallett lab based in the Institute of Immunity & Transplantation (UCL). The major research of her group is to understand adaptations made by lymphocytes (in particular T cells) taking up long-term residence in the human liver.
Laura is co-chair of the Divisional EDI Research Culture Committee, chair of the London Immunology Group, co-chair of the BSI-affiliated Immunometabolism Group and 1/3rd of “Carers in STEMM”. Laura’s work with Carers in STEMM has recently led to the publication of an opinion article in Nature discussing how working caregivers are struggling to juggle the balance between caring and career.
Dr Pavla Hubalkova
Pavla is a science journalist at WIRED.CZ. Originally, she thought she would become a scientist, so she studied clinical biochemistry at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague and completed her PhD in neuroscience at the Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University. During her Fulbright internship at Northwestern University in Chicago, however, she discovered that she wanted to work in science communication. Last year, she coauthored the first book on science communication in Czech. To support science communication, she is also active on social media and hosts various workshops for scientists or PR officers at universities and research institutions.
Dr Fionn Ó Maolmhuaidh
Fionn studied "genetics and cell biology" in Dublin City University, graduating in 2018. Immediately following that he undertook a PhD entitled "Cardiovascular Health - from cardiomyocyte electrostimulation to miRNA detection" with the School of Chemical sciences in Dublin City University which combined both cell biology and assay design aspects with electrochemical techniques and characterisation.
As he was completing the final stages of the thesis submission he joined Biosensia Ltd, a Kypha company, in 2022. Since then he has been promoted to Senior Product development scientist with responsibility for a laboratory team of R&D scientists and technicians for internal projects. The work focuses on the design, optimisation, and manufacturing of IVD assays.