HRB NEPTuNE’s Virtual Study Day

Due to the unusual circumstances that have presented themselves to us since our last Study Day in February 2020, the NEPTuNE team held their first virtual Study Day on Monday, May 25^th 2020 via Zoom.

Our five PhD scholars, our five Principal Investigators, and PPIs, Mandy Daly and Paul Ryan joined the virtual conference. The scholars took the opportunity to present in depth project updates at this session which covered research and achievements to date (including data and results), an update on collaborations, and an outline of what they were currently working on. Crucially, they also presented a  detailed a risk assessment of project deliverables due to impact of COVID19 and, where necessary, provided, a revised timeline where such was necessary.

Contingency measures were discussed for those projects that were negatively impacted by the COVID19 crisis to ensure that those projects could progress their research. These measures included looking at virtual interviewing resources that have been made available by BANFFU.

While we missed meeting in person, the Study Day was a success. Our next Study Day is in October 2020. In the event that the current crisis prevents us from meeting in person, we are comfortable and confident that our virtual forum can provide the necessary support and training to scholars.