Welcoming, honest and supportive with exciting research | #BSNBradford2025 highlights by Celine Camon
Celine Camon, PhD student at University of Otago, New Zealand, and the 2025 Julia Buckingham Award shares her highlights from our 2025 Annual Meeting in Bradford, UK.
I really enjoyed this year’s BSN annual meeting in Bradford! The meeting kicked off with the Early Career Researcher (ECR) event on the challenges faced in the early stages of an academic career and was followed by a programme of exciting research. Here are a few of my highlights and key takeaways from the meeting:
Building a brand for yourself as a scientist
The ECR event taught so much about the importance of building a brand for yourself as a scientist and putting yourself out there. We always hear so much about the importance of networking but getting very accessible advice on how to build a professional profile of yourself online was incredibly useful. I really loved the advice that you are not “just” a trainee in someone else’s lab; you are a whole person with independent ideas, and you should present yourself as such! Another great piece of advice was to always use the same headshot so people can always recognise you.
Top tips: Always use the same headshot and present yourself as the whole person you are with all your amazing ideas!
Honesty around grant and job applications in academia
What I also really admired about the ECR session was the honesty surrounding unsuccessful grant applications and the many times people had interviewed for academic positions before being successful. As junior scientists we are told so often about the importance of resilience, determination and grit required to succeed in academia. To hear personal examples from scientists only a few years further along this road than myself, with real honesty of how many times they had to reapply for opportunities really put timelines into perspective and helped me seriously think about the next few years. I’ve never experienced such clear and transparent honesty, and I really appreciated that.
Exciting, world-leading rigorous science
As always, the symposia at BSN were broad ranging and excellent. As someone who focuses on sex hormones in menopause, I always love learning about other aspects of neuroendocrinology that I wouldn’t be exposed to day to day, from stress axes to sleep to avian behaviour! The rigorous science from within the BSN is world-leading, so to hear first-hand of the exciting research being conducted within our field is amazing.
My favourate part: meeting so many other ECRS within our community!
Everyone is always friendly, welcoming and genuinely interested in becoming friends. I love the supportive environment within BSN and it always shines through at the annual meetings. The senior scientists within BSN are also very supportive of ECRs, including (but not limited to!) Professor Denise Belsham, who gave a very inspiring lecture.
My advice for scientists thinking of attending the BSN ECR event coming in 2016?
Absolutely do it! The ECR community is so supportive and welcoming, you are sure to not only hear about some fantastic science but also meet incredible peers who will continue to support you for many years to come.
Thank you BSN, I can’t wait until next year!
BSN ECR Representative Miguel Ruiz Cruz awards Celine Camon the 2025 Julia Buckingham Award
