A part of the not-for-profit organisation, European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) supports its Early Careers Members as well as budding Scientists in schools, academies, and universities across the continent. The Early Career Professionals Group (ECP) help nurture new Scientists and ECP’s achieve their full career potential and bring fresh ideas and energy to every ELRIG event held.
At the heart of the ECP Group are several industry experts including award winning Scientific Recruiter & Entrepreneur Emma Howarth, Managing Director of Langton Howarth Ltd. Emma was the first non-scientist to be asked onto the ELRIG General Committee. The international scientific recruitment sector expert is proud of her involvement and the work achieved by ELRIG’s ECP Group to date.
“Langton Howarth and ELRIG have grown up together and helped create a crucial awareness of careers in science. This has allowed Early Career Professionals and prospecting individuals with scientific interests to harness those dreams and meet with industry experts to grow their own knowledge and network. It gives them the opportunity to know about and explore alternate Scientific career moves they may not have thought of before.”
Emma is also the first member of the ECP Group to have not graduated from university and promotes Apprenticeships as many of ELRIG’s Vendor Community and Industry partners also embrace.
“I feel it is a part of my social responsibility at Langton Howarth to give back to the scientific community. I really enjoy speaking to the next generation of future scientific industry superstars. ELRIG has joined up with the British Pharmacological Society this month and as a Group we are running CV clinics and workshops. ELRIG events are ones I always look forward to.”
ECP Workgroup Chair & Board Director, Dr Del Trezise is delighted at the progress that the organisation had made over the last three years.
“’I am immensely proud of what ELRIG has achieved in growing the participation of Early Career Professionals (ECPs) in our events and helping develop ECPs for successful careers in our sector.
Our ECP focussed workshops, panel discussions, speed networking activities, CV clinics and Impact Awards have been extremely well received and are now an integral part of our meetings.
Over 25% of our meeting delegates are ECPs, they bring fresh ideas and energy as well as fantastic science. I am really excited to see the impact of this engagement in further developing our content, and more broadly on the future of life science.”
A success story of the ELRIG ECP is winner of the ELRIG 2021 Impact Award, Kirsty Smitten BSC (Hons). The Sheffield University PhD Student won the prestigious prize after her successful research of synthesised and developed two novel antimicrobial compounds that exploited a new chemical space that is radically different from any available antibiotic or structure in development.
Dr Mark Soave, Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the Cell Signalling Research Group at the University of Nottingham, was another ECP board member that was delighted at the work done over the last three years.
“I’ve been involved with the workgroup for a year and a half and have really enjoyed my time with this dynamic group.
It has been terrific working closely with the other members of the team. As all of us come from different professional backgrounds, the group has a wealth of experiences to draw upon. I hope that all ECP members of ELRIG can gain knowledge and experience from the events and activities we have organised in the past and will continue to hold in the future.” A notable upcoming event for ELRIG is the annual Drug Discovery meeting at the ACC Exhibition Centre in Liverpool on the 19th & 20th October 2021. This is still Europe’s largest meeting for life sciences industry professionals and will return in the autumn of 2021, to celebrate the innovation and efforts of the Life Sciences industry and the scientific successes that we have shared, and many of our ELRIG Members contributed to, throughout the period of the pandemic. Visit elrig.org to register for Drug Discovery 2021 and sign up for more exciting ECP events that are being run throughout the Conference. All ELRIG events are free to attend and share in scientific success.