2026 Winter Symposium 

Early Career Researcher Symposium

2 December 2026, Durham University  

Free to attend 

Our 2026 ECR Symposium builds on the success of our series of ECR symposia. It is a free, in-person, one-day event based at Durham University. It brings together early career stage researchers (ECR), established academics and industrialists to share their research in a series of short talks and posters which explore the power of interdisciplinary life sciences research.

Register here: https://forms.office.com/e/cQHTFSVZjH 

 

What is an ECR? 

For the BSI ECR group we include undergraduates, Masters, PhDs, PDRAs, Fellows and academics in the first few years of their first academic role. Although the symposium is organised by ECR for ECRs, attendees are welcome to attend from across all levels, from undergraduates to senior academics. The event will provide an opportunity to share and learn about fascinating discoveries within biomathematics, biophysics, biological chemistry, chemical biology and bioengineering.  

 

Location: Durham University, Mountjoy Centre Event Space (MJC2012)  

Start Time: 9.30 am (2 December 2026) 

End Time: 5.30 pm (2 December 2026) 

What is included: All refreshments and food during the symposium times. 

What is not included: Accommodation or travel (for attendees). 

 

Registration link: BSI Early Career Stage Researchers Symposium 2026 – Fill in form 

 

 

Past Symposia 

BSI ECR Winter Symposium 2025

Our 2025 BSI Early Career Researchers’ (ECR) Winter Symposium was the BSI’s most successful symposium yet. Welcoming around 100 participants from universities, institutes and companies across the UK and beyond, the one‑day event brought together researchers working at the interface of biomathematics, biophysics, biological chemistry, chemical biology and bioengineering.  

As well as highlighting the strength of interdisciplinary collaboration in the life sciences, the event also provided a welcoming space to build new connections.

Organising Committee: Libbi Moon (ECR Chair), Anastasiya Bedya, Dorothea Barnes, Dr Will Brittain, Ermando Canga, Katherine Deck, Giammarco Di Gregorio, Matthew Grobbelaar, William Midgely and Dr Liz Morris.

Downloadable programme available here: Biophysical Sciences Institute 2025 Winter ECR Symposium Book of Abstracts

For more visit our news item on the symposium: ECR Symposium 2025 - Durham University 

 

BSI ECR Winter Symposium 2024

The Early Career Researchers' Winter Symposium 2024, hosted at Durham University, marked an exciting event for the next generation of researchers at the boundaries of the life sciences and the other physical sciences. With over 50 attendees from eight institutions and companies, the one-day event focused on presenting cutting-edge research, and showcasing interdisciplinary discoveries from across biomathematics, biophysics, biological chemistry, chemical biology and bioengineering.

 

2023 ECR Symposium 

 

Our January 2023 symposium was the BSI’s first in-person ECR symposium. It attracted around 40 participants from across the UK and Europe, including the Universities of Padua, Amsterdam, Strathclyde, York and Sheffield.  The attendees were a mixture of PhD students (32), postdoctoral researchers (19) and others including undergraduates and PIs. 

The one-day event, held in St Mary's College, provided participants with an opportunity to get together and to share their physical biology research. It featured short talks, key-note talks and posters selected from abstracts by the ECR panel. 

Organising Committee

• Nathan Gavin
• Ruth McTiernan
• Will Trewby

 

The 2020 Symposium

Our very first research symposium was held at the end of July 2020. The symposium was held virtually and attracted more than 50 participants from 45 different institutions, 13 different countries and 3 continents. To mark the occasion the 2020 ECR Symposium’s keynote talk was the Howard Prize Lecture. This was given by Professor Silvia Marchesan (University of Trieste) “Heterochiral Peptide Assembly: Entry in Wonderland through the Looking-Glass” an Alice in Wonderland themed journey through peptide chemistry. Below is a screenshot of some of the symposium's attendees.