Blog

27/09/2023

A day in the life of a roving researcher

The Institute’s Roving Researcher scheme, running since 2020, provides support for scientists taking long term leave. The postdoctoral position helps maintain momentum on projects by working closely with researchers on leave. Jayalini Assalaarachchi writes about her experience taking on the role. 

20/09/2023

My path to public engagement

Sasha Pratt-Taweh, Public Engagement Officer, describes her journey to her role at the Babraham Institute.

02/08/2023

Being open to openness: my personal experience with public engagement

Sarah Drummond, an experienced animal technician in our animal facility, shares her perspectives on being open around the use of animals in research and the importance of animal technicians speaking about their work. 

08/02/2023

My experience as Entrepreneur in Residence

Danuta Mossakowska reflects on her three year residency at the Institute.

13/05/2022

Our experience creating Virus Fighter during our PhDs

09/05/2022

Locked indoors? Design an escape room!

Epigenetics researcher Laura shares her experience of creating a science themed escape room.

16/03/2022

Oxygen: powering the immune response

Oxygen is an essential element that we need for life. Yet, we still don't fully understand how important oxygen is in many of our cellular processes. In this blog, Dr Sarah Ross (group leader at the Institute from 2018 to 2023) introduces us to her group's research to understand how oxygen can power up our immune system.

14/03/2022

When it comes to development, timing matters!

Teresa is one of our newest Group Leaders to join the Institute. In this post, she gives us an introduction into her research on timing during development and what is controlling our biological clocks.

10/03/2022

A day in the life of a postdoctoral researcher

For National Careers Week, we have asked some colleagues to share more about their careers. In this post, one of our talented postdocs Katie shares more about what a typical day in the life looks like for her.

08/03/2022

Ten talking points to #BreakTheBias

Cheryl has "had the absolute pleasure of being a member of the Babraham Institute’s EDI programme equality4success since 2015, leading it for the last four years. As she comes to the end of her involvement to move to another organisation, it seems timely to reflect on the talking points from the last seven years as we try to #BreakTheBias."

07/03/2022

How I got into my career in animal welfare

For National Careers Week, we have asked some colleagues to share more about their careers. In this post, a member of staff from our Biological Support Unit shares their path into a career in animal welfare.

14/02/2022

Reflections on 'Pride: The Story of the LGBTQ Equality Movement' by Matthew Todd

Former postdoc, Dr Jenny Mitchell, shares some thoughts on the book 'Pride: The Story of the LGBTQ Equality Movement' by Matthew Todd for LGBTQ+ History Month.

02/02/2022

What is single-cell sequencing and why is it important?

Single cell sequencing is rapidly becoming an essential part of the biologists’ toolkit. Used by researchers at the Babraham Institute and worldwide to discover knowledge in a range of research fields, one of our Sequencing Specialists, Amelia, explains what sequencing is, why single cell sequencing is important and how it works.

26/01/2022

Building entrepreneurial skills during your PhD

Neesha, a PhD student in the Houseley lab, shares her experience of winning the prestigious Biotech YES competition and why she would recommend others explore gaining entrepreneurship knowledge and skills during their PhDs in the future.

19/01/2022

Roving Researcher FAQs

After our blog last year which shared the experiences of our Roving Researcher and a postdoc she was supporting, many people got in touch to ask us how the role worked, what were the benefits and downsides, and other details of the programme. Here Cheryl, who designed the role and line manages the Rover, answers some of the most frequently asked questions.

12/01/2022

Why circular careers in science are great

Career paths are often depicted as a straight line. Academic ones sometimes as a pyramid. Jo shares more about her career patchwork as she find herself back at the beginning of her career - geographically at least!

26/10/2021

Reflecting on HeLa cells: 70 years on

Our e4s Bite series aims to cover EDI issues in bite size chunks and the most popular talk by far was on the history and ethics of HeLa cells. This Black History Month, Elizabeth revisits the topic for a deeper dive into the place of HeLa cells in modern research.

13/10/2021

Public Engagement prize-winners announced

A round up of this year's public engagement prize-winners and nominees.

13/10/2021

Seven pieces of advice for new PhD students

We asked our current PhD students to share some advice and tips on what they wish they had known at the beginning of their PhDs to share with new first year students.

08/01/2021

A tale of two Melanies: mitigating the impact of lab long term leave

Long term leave, like maternity leave, has major impacts on researchers' careers. At the Babraham Institute, we've trialled a roving researcher position to support scientists on leave. Melanie and Melanie share their stories from both sides of the experience here.

10/03/2020

Celebrating women at the Babraham Institute

Women contribute to the Babraham Institute in roles throughout the organisation including students, cleaners, group leaders, nursery staff, and many more. This International Women’s Day, we are celebrating their achievements with five women sharing their stories.

12/11/2019

The equality4success Alternative Gift Guide 2019

Elizabeth is back with a selection of fun stereotype-defying gifts that entertain and inform. You're sure to find something you want to get for people on your list, or maybe yourself!

11/10/2019

Why gender equality is important to me: five male perspectives

Gender equality is in everyone’s interests – including men. This International Men’s Day, five men from our equality4success team share their reasons for getting involved.

09/07/2019

Escape Room: Project development

Elizabeth Hampson explains her part in the development of the Institute’s pop-up escape room and how her PhD research in the Welch group was a key to its success.