News

Focused Meetings 2016

The Society has already hosted two Focused Meetings this year and has a further three taking place in September. These include:

The Dynamic Fungus
5–7 September – Mercure Exeter Rougemont Hotel, Exeter, UK

Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of Avian Viruses
27–29 September – Charles Darwin House, London, UK

Irish Division: Exploring the Microbe–Immune System Interface
1–2 September – Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork, Ireland

For more information on these events, visit the Focused Meetings section of this issue.

Annual Conference 2017

Next year’s Annual Conference will bring us to the historic city of Edinburgh, UK. The date is confirmed as 3–6 April and the event will take place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). More information on planning your trip can be found on the Annual Conference 2017 section of this issue.

Deaths

It is with sadness that the Society announces the death of Mr Michael Carlile, who joined the Society in 1956.

New online correction tool for Society journals

Authors publishing in the Microbiology Society’s journals can now benefit from an online correction tool available via our new production partner, Exeter Premedia. Authors will be able to view their typeset PDF online, then add corrections directly to the article on the cloud-based production platform. Once they have finished, authors can rebuild the PDF to view their changes in the final PDF before approving the proof. This will remove the need for an operator to input the author corrections, so we hope that this will reduce the potential for errors to be introduced and speed up the production process.

To find out more about the Microbiology Society’s journals and to submit your next article to one of them, visit www.microbiologyresearch.org

Parliamentary events link scientists and policy-makers

In May, the Society attended Science and the Assembly 2016 at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff. The event, which aims to strengthen ties between the Assembly and the Welsh STEM community, was themed ‘Planetary and Space Science’. Speakers included scientists, representatives from the Royal Astronomical Society and the UK Space Agency, and the Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, Professor Julie Williams CBE. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from and network with Assembly Members.

At Parliamentary Links Day in June, scientists and policy-makers came together at the UK Houses of Parliament for a very topical discussion about what was next for science after the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. Society members and staff also attended a luncheon in the House of Lords, where they were joined by Jim Dowd MP. The Society also highlighted its science policy work at an afternoon networking session with Members of Parliament and Peers.

Upcoming grants deadlines

Date	Grant	Notes
1 September 2015	Travel Grants	For conferences and courses from 1 October onwards*
15 September 2015	Microbiology in Schools Fund	For School Members to receive funding for microbiology teaching initiatives taking place on or after 1 November
1 October 2015	Research Visit Grants International Development Fund Education and Outreach Grants	For visits and events from 1 December onwards

ROLLING APPLICATION

Local Microbiology Event Sponsorship
All members can apply for funds to support microbiology-related events, e.g. sponsored talks.

*Please note, you do not need to have received confirmation of abstract acceptance to apply for these grants as conditional offers will be made. In this case, evidence of acceptance is required to claim your grant.

Annual General Meeting and Showcase of the Society's Achievements

The Microbiology Society Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held as part of a wider Showcase of the Society’s Achievements event on 8 September 2016. This will include the Young Microbiologist of the Year final, a presentation from our Microbiology Outreach Prize winner and a Special Lecture.

The notice of the AGM and all associated papers are now available to members under the AGM and Celebration of the Society’s Work page.

Contributions and feedback

The Society welcomes contributions and feedback from members. Please contact [email protected] with ideas.

BENJAMIN THOMPSON

Head of Communications
b.thompson@microbiologysociety,org