GeNeYouS: Genomics Network for Young Scientists

GeNeYouS: Intelligenes: Volume 3, Number 5, June/July 2005

Still growing We currently have 501 members and 71 subscribers!
Index KeyGene company visit Genomics Momentum – Young Researchers Program Genomics Momentum – Afterparty GeNeYouS Café Are you a communicator – BIOPOP training Advanced Course Strategic Communication in Biotechnology GeNeYouS welcomes its 500th member In Progress Calendar	Intelligenes Sponsor Intelligenes is the official newsletter of GeNeYouS Intelligenes is sponsored by: and
KeyGene company visit On Wednesday June 22, 2005, ~ 20 GeNeYouS members visited KeyGene, as part of a series of excursions GeNeYouS is organizing. The visit started with a talk of Mark van Haaren about the company: its history, the techniques it is using and its future plans. After this and a short break, the visitors were split up into two groups, for a 45 min. tour throughout the company building. The first group had Mark van Haaren as a guide, the second one was led by Miranda Hornes. Part of the tour were several labs, a room with transgenic plants and a wall with all of the patents owned by KeyGene. The visit was concluded by the remaining part of Mark van Haaren's talk, and the possibility to discuss today's impressions. The bioinformaticians took a look at the server room. Overall, it was a very interesting visit! Read more at http://www.geneyous.nl/?page=excursion.html	Genomics Momentum – Young Researchers Program Genomic future in Health The Genomics Momentum, organized by the Netherlands Genomics Initiative, will this year take place on October 5, in the Netherlands Congress Centre in The Hague. The central theme will be the emerging benefits of genomics for health. In parallel and nonparallel sessions, leading experts on this field will share the latest developments with the audience. The Genomics Plaza will provide an excellent opportunity to meet fellow researchers, future employers and strike new deals. During the afternoon program, GeNeYouS will organize the Young Researchers Program. Young researchers can participate in two interesting workshop, in which they can discuss future implementation of genomics in health issues, and come up with creative, innovative solutions for the most important issues. For more information surf to http://www.genomics.nl/gm2005.
Genomics Momentum - Afterparty Young researchers meet young entrepreneurs After the Genomics Momentum, GeNeYouS organizes together with the Network for Young Entrepreneurs in Life Sciences (YelsNet) an afterparty. During an informal dinner, there is a chance to meet young entrepreneurs on the field of life sciences and exchange views and ideas.	GeNeYous café After a successful symposium, our interaction committee is already extremely busy organizing the first GeNeYous café. This is a great occasion for GeNeYouS members to meet each other on an informal basis. The first GeNeYouS café will start around September 2005. More information will follow in future newsletters.
Are you a communicator? Bologna, June 10th-12th – Five GeNeYouS members participated in BIOPOP’s first public communication and media workshops. BIOPOP, an EU-funded project to improve communication of life sciences and biotechnology between scientists and lay people, organized these workshops to train young scientists and students to discuss their work with the public during the events of BIOPOP. The other countries participating in BIOPOP – France, Germany, Italy and Poland – also had five trainees each. During the intensive 3-day training program, the workshops showed how to communicate better with people who "don't want DNA in their food", activists who claim "you are playing God!" and journalists who suddenly pop up in the BIOPOP Event Tent at the city square of Bologna (in October 2005) or Delft (in April 2006). The trainees also learned that it is important to fascinate people with simple, but illustrative experiments in the "wet lab" of the tent. Later on the five Dutch trainees will train the other 30 young scientists that are necessary for the event in Delft. This so-called "2nd phase training" will take place in January 2006. We are still looking for people who are interested in communicating with the public in the BIOPOP Event Tent in Delft. For more information on BIOPOP, see http://www.geneyous.nl/biopop.	Advanced Course Strategic Communication in Biotechnology Quality communication begins with knowing the issues During a ten-day course program in Oxford, England, several international experts from universities, companies and NGOs will provide general introductions followed by detailed discussion and exercises on: - Responding to ethical, legal and social issues - Discussing the impact and building trust - Media relations The course programme will take place September 11–21 2005 and has been designed to provide the theory and skills necessary for effective interactive communication in biotechnology. General theme of the course is the motto that "quality communication begins with knowing the issues". Please note that the registration deadline is 1 July 2005, so please hurry for registration to this page or contact Marije Blomjous, m.blomjous@tnw.tudelft.nl, +31 (0)15-2786654.
GeNeYouS welcomes its 500th member GeNeYouS is well on its way to become a serious player in the world of life sciences. This month the network has welcomed Ph.D. student Nga-Chi Lau as its 500th member. To celebrate this milestone, board members Ilona Kars, David Lutje Hulsik and Terry Vrijenhoek traveled to Utrecht, where they offered Nga-Chi a fruity GeNeYouS cake. The fresh GeNeYouS was happily surprised, as would her colleagues be later that afternoon. "Today everybody at the department will know what GeNeYouS is," Nga-Chi said as she put the cake in the fridge to save it for the tea-break. With the meter at 500 members, GeNeYouS is the largest organisation for young life scientists in the Netherlands. GeNeYouS is not planning to stop growing. On the contrary, new members seem to come in larger quantities than two years ago, when the network was founded. In 2005 GeNeYouS has grown from little over 300 members to the current 500. And the activities planned for the second half of this year will get the attention of many more young scientists. "We've already had several workshops and symposia," says Terry Vrijenhoek –Communication Officer, "which attracted new members each time." Together with the larger projects – BIOPOP and Eurolife2006 – these activities give GeNeYouS members enough opportunities to pick up skills they didn't think they would ever need, like managing, communicating and organising. The cake was delicious, Nga-Chi declared afterwards, as she thanked the board for its efforts. GeNeYouS hopes to welcome its 1000th member soon, and prepares for an even bigger surprise.	In Progress GeNeYouS Café. Email: interaction@geneyous.nl Career Opportunities in Bioinformatics. Email: education committee BIOPOP Public Communication. Email: terry@geneyous.nl Eurolife congres for young scientists. Email: eurolife@geneyous.nl
Calendar July Dies Natalis October 5 Genomics Momentum – Young Researchers' Program 27 General Assembly