At the beginning of March, seven new brilliant young scientists joined the BNA Scholars Programme [1]. The Programme was launched [2] at the beginning of January 2021, and grows in its success year on year as talented young scientists [3] continue to join the Programme and valued Supporters [4] continue to provide diverse career development opportunities as well as critical funding.
The Programme [5] was developed in consultation with BNA members and other world-leading organisations interested in improving equity, diversity and inclusion in neuroscience, aiming to support the careers of young scientists from currently under-represented ethnic groups and build a supportive community within the discipline and the BNA. In its third year it continues to be expanded in response to feedback from existing cohorts, and now offers students a mentoring scheme, a range of bespoke career development and networking opportunities from academia and industry, attendance at national and international conferences, and membership to both the BNA and FENS [6].
This year’s application window yet again received a spectacular array of submissions from across neuroscience, of an exceptional standard across the board.
We offer our heartfelt congratulations to all the selected applicants, and greatly look forward to working with this new cohort of BNA Scholars:
BNA Scholars 2023 cohort (from top-left to bottom-right):
- Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots, PhD student, University of Edinburgh (Twitter [7] | LinkedIn) [8]
- Dipa Begum, PhD student, University College London (Twitter [9] | LinkedIn) [10]
- Faissal Sharif, PhD student, University of Oxford (Twitter [11] | LinkedIn) [12]
- Jess Down, final year undergraduate student, Open University
- Kavishini Apasamy, PhD student, Royal Holloway, University of London (Twitter) [13]
- Laura Odemwingie, PhD student, King’s College London (Twitter [14] | LinkedIn) [15]
- Morgan Mitchell, PhD student, University of Oxford (Twitter [16] | LinkedIn) [17]
You can read more about each of the BNA Scholars and their neuroscience careers so far here [3].
As always, the BNA is grateful for the ongoing commitment from our Founding Supporters [18] as well as supporters who have joined us since then, with whom the BNA has been able to continue to offer this unique scheme: Alzheimer’s Research UK [19] (ARUK), Beckley Psytech [20], Bristol Neuroscience [21] (University of Bristol), COMPASS Pathways [22], DeepMind [23], Dementia Researcher [24], Gatsby Foundation [25], Guarantors of Brain [26], HelloBio [27], the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London [28], International Brain Research Organization [29] (IBRO), the School of Neuroscience at King’s College London [30], London Metropolitan University [31], MSD [32], the UK Dementia Research Institute [33] (UK DRI), and Wellcome [34]. We are incredibly thankful for their collected dedication to the BNA Scholars Programme and its associated EDI activities.
Visit the Programme’s hub on the BNA website [35] to find out more about the BNA Scholars and this exciting Programme.