Funding to Run Your Own Physics of Life Workshop

Got an idea for a workshop that would bring physicists and life scientists together around a problem you care about? The Physics of Life Network (PoLNET) will fund it, promote it and help you run it, and its call for workshop proposals is open now.

The Physics of Life Network, funded through EPSRC, exists to build collaborations across the physical and life sciences. Its workshop scheme puts money and organisational support behind researchers who want to get the right people in a room together. You choose the research topic, the venue, the format, and the programme and speakers. The network’s team handles much of the logistics so you can concentrate on the science.

For dementia researchers this is a real opening. Questions about protein aggregation, condensates, imaging, neural circuits and tissue mechanics all benefit from physics thinking, and an event like the Rosetrees interdisciplinary workshop on neurodegeneration shows how much can come out of putting different disciplines in the same room.

What you get

• Funding: up to £6,200 for a two-day workshop or up to £3,100 for a one-day workshop. Co-sponsorship with other partners is welcome, and the network can advise on budgeting
• Logistical and organisational support: the network manager helps with venue liaison, speaker travel, registration, advertising and workshop materials
• Promotion through the PoLNET network and its communication channels
• Guidance and support throughout planning and delivery

Past workshops have typically drawn between 30 and 100 delegates, on topics ranging from biofilaments to biophysics and evolution. Collaborations that come out of a workshop can go on to apply for further sandpit support.

Who can apply

UK-based researchers working across the life, physical or clinical sciences can apply, and strong applications from postdocs and early career researchers are welcome. You need to be a member of the network, which is free and simply means signing up to its newsletter.

Organising a workshop is a great way to build your profile and your network at the same time, and our piece on what interdisciplinary collaborations can learn from the science of team science is worth a read before you start planning.

What they are looking for

Applications are reviewed by the PoLNET steering group, which looks for:

• high-quality ideas that fit the network’s aims
• clear evidence of collaboration between physics and biology
• anticipated outputs
• the potential to build lasting collaborative relationships

Workshops should aim for roughly equal numbers of physicists and biologists, and use interactive formats such as short flash presentations, poster sessions and breakout groups rather than a day of back-to-back lectures. Organisers write a short report (around 1,000 words) within a month of the event and a brief update eight months later.

How to apply

Download the application form from the Physics of Life workshops page, complete it and email it back. There is no fixed closing date, and the network aims to give a decision within a month of submission.

Questions about the scheme or organisational support go to Karis Baker, PoLNET Network Manager, at karis.baker@york.ac.uk.

Apply Now