2025/04/01 by Saanjbati Adhikari · 1 voice · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Research #Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease
paper · pdf · doi:10.1242/dev.204708
openalex publication_date 2025/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Scientific advancement relies on opportunities for scientists to meet, share and discuss data and ideas, and build new collaborations, networks and communities. With this motivation in mind, The Company of Biologists' Workshops strive to provide an apt environment to inspire biology and support biologists. In this Perspective, I trace the evolution of the Company's Workshop series from its inception under the guidance of leading experts, to how it has successfully catalysed cross-disciplinary collaborations, supported early-career researchers and contributed to biological research over the last 15 years, while underscoring a philosophy based on sustainability and accessibility that lies at the heart of this series.The Company of Biologists launched its Workshop series in 2010, with the goal of unifying researchers from diverse biological disciplines and fostering new ways of scientific thinking. A few years earlier, in 2005, the popular Madrid-based Juan-March meetings ended (Bosch, 2005). Soon after, another significant meeting series, the Ciba-Novartis Foundation symposia, was also discontinued (Abbott, 2008). The loss of these two major biomedical forums presented an opportunity for new initiatives. Around the same time, The Company of Biologists' Board of Directors, a team of experienced senior scientists from a range of life science and clinical research backgrounds (Bray et al., 2025), was considering innovative ways to amplify its support to the research community as a not-for-profit publisher. Simon Maddrell, renowned biologist and the Company's treasurer at the time, reached out to the newly appointed Director, Kate Storey, a developmental biologist at the University of Dundee, UK, challenging her to come up with inventive ideas for allocating the Company's charitable funds. Storey recalls discussing with James Briscoe (then a fellow Director, currently Editor-in-Chief of Development and a Principal Group Leader at The Francis Crick Institute, UK) the idea of launching a series of international Workshops to support cutting-edge biological research. ‘We were walking near my house in Dundee, overlooking the river Tay. We bashed ideas between us and came up with a proposal for the Workshop series to present to John Gurdon, Chair of the Company at the time’, said Storey. The duo envisioned these events to be prestigious and productive in supporting cutting-edge research in biology, while emphasising cross-disciplinary interactions. Nearly 2 years of careful planning led to the first three Workshops during 2010. ‘We aimed to highlight that scientific workshops should catalyse interactions between communities of researchers who usually don't engage with each other’, explained Briscoe.The inaugural Workshop ‘Neural Stem Cells in Development and Disease’ was jointly organised by Kate Storey and Silvia Marino (Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK) in February 2010. A cohort of 30 scientists were brought together in Wiston House – a 16th century manor house set on the picturesque south coast of England, UK (Fig. 1). In an interview with Development, both the organisers described how the friendly setting of the venue, with armchair-filled rooms, stirred free-flowing discussions throughout the day. Marino remarked that her personal highlight was participants choosing to chat in the dining room well after midnight (Storey and Marino, 2010).Since that first meeting, we have hosted over 50 Workshops. Topics and academic organisers are selected through a competitive application process overseen by a committee comprising members of the Company's Board of Directors. Applicants propose a theme for the Workshop, outlining the main topics to cover, along with motivations, anticipated outcomes of the meeting and a list of potential invited speakers. Proposals are then selected based on the novelty and cross-disciplinary potential of the topics. Steve Royle (University of Warwick, UK), a Director and Chair of the Workshops Committee, said, ‘When it comes to selecting Workshop topics, one of our main criteria is to keep these meetings fresh and to avoid repeating ourselves’. The selection committee ensures that suggested speakers are representative in terms of gender, ethnic diversity, geographical location, career and scientific backgrounds. Importantly, the Workshops are supported by a professional events team. As Frank O'Donnell, Events Organiser at the Company, explained, ‘We run the logistical aspects of these meetings, enabling the academic organisers to focus on the creative input and the scientific programmes. Together, we try to create the best possible environment for sharing research ideas and fostering scientific collaborations’.At every Workshop, most attendees are group leaders, invited by the academic organisers. However, we are also committed to championing researchers in the early stages of their careers by bringing them together with some of the leaders in the field. At the inaugural Workshop, eight places were offered to early-career researchers (ECRs) through a competitive application process. These researchers (PhD students, postdocs and early-career PIs) were selected ‘on the basis of those most likely to benefit’. ‘We were looking for postdocs and students with relevant research experience, and also for clinical PhD students’, Storey told Development (Storey and Marino, 2010). Today, in addition to inviting 20 established PIs, every Workshop includes ten funded positions for ECRs, who are chosen from applications to participate and present their work alongside some of the leaders in the field. Attending these Workshops can be a formative experience for ECRs; James Gahan, who attended a Workshop in 2018 as a postdoc and has just started his own lab at the University of Galway, Ireland, commented, ‘I built many connections there that continue to influence my career’ (https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.202260). To maximise diversity among speakers, usually, only a single participant – invited speaker or selected ECR – from any individual lab can attend a Workshop.Each Workshop is hosted in a retreat-like setting intended to create, as one attendee put it, the ‘perfect playground for science’ (https://thenode.biologists.com/meeting-report-chromatin-based-regulation-of-development-an-excellent-workshop-by-the-company-of-biologists/events/). We have used several UK venues for these events, including Wiston House on the South Downs, and – our current favourite – Buxted Park in East Sussex. In alignment with the framework proposed by the founders of the series, we deliberately host these events in attractive but remote locations to encourage attendees to commit to the full event, to stay on-site and to foster a relaxed collaborative environment. ‘Organising an intimate Workshop in a retreat-like setting is to ensure interactions between researchers who didn't know each other previously’, said James Briscoe. Eileen Furlong (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany), who has attended several of our Workshops, concurred with Briscoe's sentiments, saying ‘The retreat-like setting, combined with the secluded atmosphere, ensures that the attendees spend a significant amount of time together. I believe that these meetings are an amazing opportunity for PhD students and postdocs’.While the specifics of the programme may vary from event to event (see Box 1 for some of the more unusual formats we've explored over the years), each Workshop usually comprises scientific talks from all attendees – invited speakers and ECRs. Over the course of 3 days, every participant, irrespective of their career stage, is allotted the same time to speak, creating a non-hierarchical structure. Plenty of time is set aside for discussion – at the end of each talk, in dedicated discussion sessions intended to explore common themes and key challenges in a particular field, and in breaks between sessions. Outside the conference room, attendees usually spend a lot of time together during meals, evening drinks and group walks that allow them to get to know each other better. There is generally a formal seating plan at dinner, which is changed every evening to give delegates the opportunity to interact with new neighbours. The overall friendly atmosphere, along with carefully curated timetables, provides ECRs with ample time to engage with their senior colleagues. Often, a subset of attendees, including ECRs, volunteers to collaboratively produce review-type pieces highlighting the general themes covered in a Workshop, which are then published in relevant Company journals.After each Workshop, we gather constructive feedback from participants through questionnaires to continuously improve these events. In the past 15 years, our Workshop series has evolved significantly, growing in reach and impact (see Fig. 2 for an overview of the scientific scope of our Workshops). From 2010 to 2018, we organised three Workshops per year. Given the overwhelmingly positive feedback we get from the community and the large number of excellent proposals received each year, we have more recently expanded the programme to six Workshops in the UK each year.Additionally, we recently initiated our Global South Workshops programme, with the aim of hosting at least one Workshop every year in a Global South nation. Biological research from the Global South is under-represented worldwide (Nakamura et al., 2023), and it is often bureaucratically challenging for individuals of certain nationalities to obtain a short-term visa to visit the UK and other popular conference locations. We launched the Global South initiative to try and overcome this geographical challenge and provide an equitable international stage for researchers from Global South countries. This endeavour – spearheaded by Steve Royle and Frank O'Donnell – would also enable ECRs in the Global South to meet and network with peers and experts in their home countries. In March 2024, our inaugural Global South Workshop ‘How Global South Research Can Shape the Future of Comparative Physiology’ was organised in South Africa by Kênia Cardoso Bícego (São Paulo State University, Brazil) and Andrea Fuller (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa). To learn more about the experience, please read the related articles in Journal of Experimental Biology (Bars-Closel et al., 2024; Knight, 2025).As a Company, we work hard to minimise the environmental impact of our scientific meetings by promoting sustainable practices, while still providing the crucial in-person interactions that make our events so valuable. As a response to the growing threat of climate change, we launched The Company of Biologists' Sustainability Initiative in 2020. A dedicated Sustainable Conferencing and Communications Officer oversees the Company's commitment to implementing environment-friendly practices in our Workshops. To this end, we keep our Workshops paperless because paper production is a massive contributor to environmental pollution (https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2021/05/11/the-sustainable-impact-of-a-paperless-office/). Instead, all event details are available through a dedicated app. We also collaborate with MyEmissions, a company that labels carbon emissions of food ingredients, to calculate the carbon footprint of the meals served in our Workshops. At the first 2024 Workshop, we achieved a ‘very low carbon footprint’ score for our catering. We also consciously choose ethically certified local food suppliers for the Workshop meals to support small businesses and the local communities. At each recent Workshop, we dedicate a day to veganism by serving exclusively plant-based meals. If interested, you can find out more about our sustainable food menus here: https://www.biologists.com/stories/sustainablemenuspart2/. Box 2 explains how some of our earlier Workshops also promoted sustainable dietary practices.From a scientific perspective, the meetings intend to cover the full spectrum of the biological sciences. Over the years, some intriguing themes have emerged, suggesting that the Workshops have stayed ‘ahead of the curve’ in identifying research trends. Several of our Workshops have shed light on two broad research frontiers relevant to Development: neural development and the human brain, and chromatin structure and epigenetic modifications.Research to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying neural progenitor cell behaviour, and their dysregulation in cancer, has taken off in recent decades. The Company's inaugural Workshop brought together developmental biologists and neuro-oncologists. In addition to stimulating dialogue between the two disparate groups of scientists, this meeting explored the mechanisms involved in brain tumour development, which was indeed a hot research topic at the time (Henrique and Bally-Cuif, 2010; Storey and Marino, 2010). In the post-event questionnaire, attendees reflected that the Workshop was ‘relaxed and friendly’, ‘encouraging of scientific debates’ and ‘an ideal blend of exciting topics’.The human brain is capable of extraordinary cognitive capacity when compared with the brains of other mammalian species. Although the study of human brain evolution is crucial to identify causes and to possibly develop therapeutics for human-specific neurodegenerative conditions, it received relatively little attention until the early 2010s. However, technological advances now make it possible to ask questions about the degree to which the human neocortex can be considered unique, how it has changed in shape, cell composition and connectivity over evolutionary time, and whether these changes can be traced back in fossils and genomic records. With the aim of tackling some of these issues, Arnold Kriegstein (University of California, San Francisco, USA) hosted ‘Evolution of the Human Neocortex: How Unique Are We?’ in 2013. This meeting brought together anthropologists, palaeontologists, developmental biologists, stem cell biologists, geneticists, molecular biologists and ethologists to highlight key areas of future work in diseases related to higher cortical function (Molnár and Pollen, 2014). Such was the success of this event that a second related Workshop on development and evolution of the human neocortex was held in 2018. ‘The timing of these Workshops was very fortuitous as they marked a turning point in our comprehension of human and non-human features of cortex development. Pioneering concepts presented by both senior leaders, including Nobel Laureate Svante Paabo, and rising junior investigators, were inspiring’, shared Kriegstein. Box 1. Workshops that broke the the years, we have also hosted a of Workshops that out for their more The Workshop is one by a group of leading scientists and of Molecular UK), UK), (University UK) and (University this meeting brought together established and together with science to develop their creative A group of 15 – recent scientists, and and a – also attended this Workshops, this meeting all of science and from diverse backgrounds based on their of as and in a meeting by the Workshop started with through and of an science shared that the delegates together and pieces by several and as attendee and science that the Workshop on unusual Workshop, was organised by Editor-in-Chief of (University of UK), in and This meeting, as an formal with discussions by questions in the field. a group of scientists who in the academic and the this meeting to our to development for in With an idea of science research to the development of discussions in this meeting topics as the of for challenges in development and clinical for and The feedback was positive about this with attendees that the well and free-flowing of our Workshops – most – are organised by leaders in the field. However, we have also to our groups by inviting applications from ECRs. the Workshop in the from to was the first in the series to be led by a group of evolutionary biologists, cell biologists, biologists, molecular biologists and from career stages innovative to research. The (University of (University of for The (University of UK) and John University, that this Workshop postdocs the to develop and their and while with also in to study and development of in for However, of Molecular UK) and (University of an while very early stages of brain development be in the developmental events that give to in hosted the In to the in 2018 – the first meeting of its to discuss the and challenges of in as to more and The organisers ‘The diversity of topics and attendees only but also led to for future which was a main of from a cell to its during has However, the mechanisms by which the or of their in the of are still The of one but epigenetic when is John (University of UK), of by and University, an in cell up to a Workshop on epigenetic in this meeting some of the questions the community at the epigenetic has to my at stem cell meetings, it to at this time to make this the theme of this in his proposal to The Company of and from the University of UK) said, of the of this meeting was a that we to from of to those that of the impact of the underlying of the and that came up on several at that Workshop was the to which epigenetic can This (then at now Director of The Francis Crick Institute, UK) and for USA) to propose a Workshop on the topic of epigenetic development and which was held in was one of the most and stimulating meetings of the year, I work on epigenetic in the after the Box of sustainable in our the Sustainability Initiative is a relatively recent The Company of Biologists' Workshops have our second Workshop in 2010, The – and its to a threat many the was held in which has the of in The for and Development 2010). Workshop John (University of UK) brought together scientists who are usually molecular biologists and geneticists, and and – all of a significant in the research but usually don't Together, they the light on new that the and the environment of the et al., the theme of the meeting, the meals and plant-based to encourage with a of Workshop, and and held in a local sharing about sustainable of research in and chromatin biology at a of Molecular and that most to a few with advances in newly it was time to the in molecular evolution and chromatin with the aim of fostering a new of biology that molecular and biology to chromatin and and hosted an of James and this meeting as from its intimate and diversity in terms of speakers and scientific The organisers to the of evolutionary developmental biology also the potential to have a impact in in addition to the Molecular Biology to their own Workshop, the was recently the prestigious ‘The meeting, by The Company of was the first one of its and the community this new of the Workshop programme was first set the founders intended for these events to be and new (Storey and Marino, 2010). to James idea was to try and biological disciplines and researchers together who didn't know each In a recent Kate Storey remarked that the Workshop series her Over the years, these meetings have explored a of scientific topics, brought disparate communities of scientists shed light on and other to meetings on topics, most of the ‘The about the Workshop series is that it has and the research said the we have our Workshops, and the details can be at with six Workshops that cover a broad range of topics, our second Global South Workshop, in and be hosted in in we are currently our the application for Workshop proposals – both in the UK and Global South – is now read this you have an idea for a Workshop, we encourage you to put in an or get in with us to find out how the future of this series, Steve Royle ‘I we continue a and keep through the Workshops, topics and speaker to the Royle said that one of our main is to strive and which is often from scientific As Royle also the of practices in our Workshops programme, and we are other more sustainable venues for hosting these Workshops in the several of these meetings in the of review-type articles in our the Workshop committee for these meeting to set higher crucial questions in the Royle in the they that the impact of the published after the – the meeting leading biologists and first came together to on supporting ECRs is a key Company in the we to keep the of ECRs in our Workshops, individuals on the of our Workshops programme, we have come a in 15 years and we to many more years of the international community of biologists with these extraordinary events. With the support and we are to continue The Company of Biologists' Workshops series more – one Workshop at a