Insigneo Early Career Researcher (ECR) Group

Career Development Seminar - 2025

Talks will be given by Insigneo members or alumni on their career experiences in academia, industry, government, policy and beyond, and sharing advice and promoting discussion with ECRs:

Speakers:

• Dr Mehri Behbehani: 'Hi, I’m Mehri and I want to share all the things I wish I’d known when I came out of uni. From job hunting and figuring out what to actually do with your career, to dealing with the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Let’s be honest - we’re the generation that’s probably going to be working into our late 60s (if not 70s 😅), which is a looong time. So we might as well choose something we actually enjoy and can show up for every day. I grew up in Germany, did my PhD in Sheffield, and now, seven years into my career (with two kids and a life near Oxford), I’ve learned a few things the hard way - and I’ll share them with you.'

• Dr Elisabeth Kugler is a strategic marketing leader and biomedical scientist with over a decade of experience at the intersection of life sciences, innovation, and commercial strategy. She is the Founder and Director of Zeeks, an award-winning science communication and digital marketing agency supporting global pharma, biotech, and R&D organisations. With a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Sheffield as well as academic experience at UCL and the University of Lincoln, she combines deep scientific and commercial expertise with proven leadership in delivering international campaigns, product launches, and stakeholder engagement across more than 10 countries. 

Zine workshop

During this networking workshop we will learn how to create a template for a zine, use arts and crafts supplies to prepare an educational pamphlet of our own research and get the creating energy flowing while hanging out with fellow ECRs :)

Zines are small, handmade and non-commercial booklets created for various purposes such as self-expression, low budget art popularisation, or information and education. ‘Zine’ (pronounced ‘zeen’) comes from the word ‘fanzine’ – fan magazine. In the educational and scientific context, zines could be a suitable medium for scientific outreach events, an addition to your poster presentation or just a fun activity for a networking event. Such an exercise can also be a great way of research communication, reflecting on how to share your complex scientific work in an accessible way. 

We would like to present the Zines created by our ECRs during the Insigneo Showcase and similar events in the future. Please see below the exemplary Zines made during our first workshop.

If you have any queries, please contact m.matella@sheffield.ac.uk or sarah.black@sheffield.ac.uk 

Grant & Fellowship Writing Group

Please send an email to Damien Lacroix (d.lacroix@sheffield.ac.uk) to express your interest in participating.