BSN Committee looks to the future
Your Trustees have been reviewing where we are and where you, our members, want us to go, as derived from last autumn’s member survey. We are in a generally healthy position, with membership numbers and BSN meeting delegate numbers at an all time high, and JNE flourishing. There are many potential threats ahead, both in terms of changes to the publishing world that could negatively affect JNE (but aren’t doing so yet), and the huge uncertainties in the political world. The BSN will be doing its very best to use its available funds to improve neuroendocrine science and the careers of our scientists.
The BSN’s vision statement was updated to say:
The BSN is a diverse and inclusive society supporting neuroendocrinology in its widest definition. It provides a focus for promoting the subject, for networking between members, and for publishing quality research outputs in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology (JNE). It supports members at all stages of their career, and provides educational opportunities for early career researchers, using a mix of face-to-face and online activities, all of which is funded by income from JNE. The BSN welcomes participation from around the world.
Throughout the strategy discussions, the critical importance of JNE was a golden thread. JNE generates almost all the income that funds everything that the BSN does. Its continued health is crucial to the BSN’s health, and substantial effort is being put into its continuing development by the editorial team headed by Mike Lehman and Wouter de Herder. As always, members are reminded that they need to publish their research in JNE if the BSN is to continue funding the next generation of researchers.
There was substantial discussion of grants. The value of most grants has been increased for the first time in a number of years. The ECR travel grant for the BSN meeting has also been expanded to allow inclusion of accommodation and registration, as for the International Conference Grants. The Academic Support Grant, which provided one grant per year, has been terminated and plans are being developed for expansion of the Project Support Grant programme.
There were discussions about how we can make the BSN conference more appealing to non-UK members. Making it a hybrid meeting was discussed, but as a number of universities will not allow travel when this is an option, it was deemed likely to be counter-productive. We are investigating what we can do in terms of videoing more sessions. Also, as we are aware that some members have been unable to attend due to delays in getting visas, we have also set up a new system whereby you can tick a box on submission of your abstract to get a prompt acceptance (ie not waiting for the submission deadline) and a letter of invitation will also be provided. We would love to get feedback on whether this helps.
We are also reviving the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Sub-Committee and, once this is fully operational, it will take the lead on canvassing members in regions such as Africa as to what more we can do to help them.
The ECR Sub-committee is being very active. The mentoring scheme is being expanded, hopefully with options for sideways as well as vertical mentoring, and for mentees to have mentors in their general area/time zone. The ECR Sub-committee is also developing a range of techniques videos as well as putting together a Grants Toolbox.
Many other topics were also discussed, including communications and networking. We’ll include further updates as we work our way through the very long action list!
