Boosting the Impact of EFMC Young Scientists Network Through the Creation of Working Groups.

The establishment of the Young Scientists Network (YSN) by the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC) served as a proactive response to the evolving landscape of the scientific community. The YSN aims to assist early-career medicinal chemists and chemical biologists by responding to emerging themes, such as the influence of social media, shifts in gender balance within the scientific population, and evolving educational opportunities. The YSN also ensures that the upcoming generation of scientists actively contributes to shape the EFMC's strategic direction while addressing their specific needs. Initially conceived as a general concept, YSN has evolved into a proactive and dynamic team which demonstrates a tangible impact. To boost the impact of the YSN and involve additional motivated young scientists, we have adopted a novel organization, and structured the team in seven working groups (WGs). Herein, we will discuss the tasks of the different WGs as well as the activities planned for the near future. We believe this structure will strengthen the pivotal role YSN has already played in serving medicinal chemists and chemical biologists in Europe. The YSN now has the structure and motivation to pave the way to attract young scientists across Europe and to give them the stage within EFMC.

Editorial viewpoints of scientific publishing for early-career research scientists.

While the structure and composition of the scientific manuscript is well known within scientific communities, insider knowledge such as the tricks of the trade and editorial viewpoints of scientific publishing are often less known to early-career research scientists. This article focuses on the key aspects of scientific publishing, including tips for success geared towards senior postdocs and junior faculty. It also highlights important considerations for getting manuscripts published in an efficient and successful manner.

Why should early-career scientists publish in society journals.

In this editorial, written by early-career scientists, we advocate for the invaluable role of society journals in our scientific community. By choosing to support these journals as authors, peer reviewers, and as editors, we can reinforce our academic growth and benefit from their re-investment back into the scientific ecosystem. Considering the numerous clear merits of this system for future generations of microbiologists and more broadly, society, we argue that early-career researchers should publish our high-quality research in society journals to shape the future of science and scientific publishing landscape.

Engaging Early-Career Scientists in Global Policy-Making.

Pressing global challenges, such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, or antibiotic resistance, require coordinated international responses guided by evidence-informed decisions. For this purpose, it is critical that scientists engage in providing insights during the decision-making process. However, the mechanisms for the engagement of scientists in policy-making are complex and vary internationally, which often poses significant challenges to their involvement. Herein, we address some of the mechanisms and barriers for scientists to engage in policy-making with a global perspective by early-career scientists. We highlight the importance of scientific academies, societies, universities, and early-career networks as stakeholders and how they can adapt their structures to actively contribute to shaping global policies, with representative examples from chemistry-related disciplines. We showcase the importance of raising awareness, providing resources and training, and leading discussions about connecting emerging scientists with global decision-makers to address societal challenges through policies.

Ten tips for teaching research integrity to early career students: A perspective over 20 years.

Early Career Researchers (ECRs) are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of good scientific practices to ensure their work is trustworthy; but also of the effect that research culture has on those practices. Here I suggest ten tips on how best teach young researchers by incorporating their perspectives and needs. These are based on the lessons learned through our 20-year experience with a blended compulsory course for PhD students in a public university in Barcelona.

Implementation of a Family Support Grant to Subsidize Caregiving Needs and Support Attendance at American Society for Nutrition's Annual Professional Scientific Conference.

Attendance at professional society meetings facilitates networking, collaboration, and success in academic/scientific fields. Insufficient funds, support, or resources for caregiving can inhibit attendance for parents/caretakers, who may become professionally disadvantaged by not attending professional society conferences. The American Society for Nutrition (ASN) offered a family support grant for caregiving needs during the annual conference (maximum: $750); however, the perceived impact of caregiving funds on attendance outcomes is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the need of family support for attendance to the ASN annual conference among applicants and to assess recipients' experience and usage of funds. Applicants completed a pre-conference survey assessing requested funds, out-of-pocket caregiving expenses to attend the meeting, the influence of receiving the grant on attendance, and additional factors. Recipients completed a post-conference survey assessing use of the funds and impact of the grant on attending/participating. Grant applications (n = 110) were majority women, aged 26-45 y, married, at the trainee or assistant professor level, from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, and with parenting noted as the primary responsibility. Thirty-seven percent of applicants were currently lactating or expressing milk. The average amount requested was $650 US dollars, and >60% of respondents indicated plans to use funds to bring a family member/friend to the conference. Seventy-seven percent of respondents indicated that receiving the grant would influence their attendance. The post-conference survey (n = 25) indicated that recipients felt that receiving the grant was helpful in attending the conference (92%), specifically attending scientific sessions (96%) and poster sessions (80%). Recipients indicated the grant helped them network with attendees (88%), visit the exhibitor hall (72%), and participate in career development activities (64%). The ASN family support grant aided attendance and supported recipients' participation in conference activities, particularly early-career women who are parents, with the goal of supporting diversity and inclusivity in scientific/academic fields. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03432585.

A PowerPack of SuperScientists: An innovative concept by African scientists to address gender bias and inequity in science.

Underrepresentation of women in scientific leadership is a global problem. To understand and counter narratives that limit gender equity in African science, we conducted a public engagement campaign. Scientists representing six sub-Saharan African countries and multiple career stages used superhero imagery to create a diverse and unified team advocating for gender equity in science. In contrast to many traditional scientific environments and global campaigns, this "PowerPack of SuperScientists" was led by early-career Black female scientists whose perspectives are often under-represented in discussions about gender equity in science. The superhero imagery served as a powerful and fun antidote to imposter syndrome and helped to subvert traditional power structures based on age, race and sex. In an interactive social media campaign, the PowerPack developed insights into three themes: a) cultural stereotypes that limit women's scientific careers, b) the perception of a "conflict" between family and career responsibilities for women scientists, and c) solutions that can be adopted by key stakeholders to promote gender equity in African science. The PowerPack proposed solutions that could be undertaken by women working individually or collectively and interventions that require allyship from men, commitment from scientific institutions, and wider societal change. Further work is required to fully engage African scientists from even more diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds and institutions in these solutions and to enhance commitment by different stakeholders to achieving gender equity in science. Our experience suggests that creative tools should be used to subvert power dynamics and bring fresh perspectives and urgency to this topic.

Development, implementation and impact of a new preprint solicitation process at Proceedings B.

Preprints are manuscripts posted on a public server that do not yet have formal certification of peer review from a scholarly journal. The increasingly prominent online repositories for these preprints provide a means of rapidly making scientific results accessible to all with an Internet connection. We here describe the catalysis and subsequent development of a successful new process to solicit preprints for consideration for publication in Proceedings B. We present preliminary comparisons between the focal topics and geographic origin of submitting authors of papers submitted in the traditional (non-solicited) route versus solicited preprints. This analysis suggests that the solicitation process seems to be achieving one of the primary goals of the preprint solicitation endeavour: broadening the scope of the papers featured in Proceedings B. We also use an informal survey of the early-career scientists that are or have been involved with the Preprint Editorial Team to find that these scientists view their participation positively with respect to career development and knowledge in their field. The inclusion of early-career researchers from across the world in the preprint solicitation process could also translate into social justice benefits by providing a career-building opportunity and a window into the publishing process for young scientists.

The Role of Early-Career Chemists in European Policy-Making.

Global societal challenges emphasize the importance of collaboration between scientists and policy-makers, while the participation of a diverse group of professionals, including early-career scientists, is critical towards a sustainable future. The European Young Chemists' Network (EYCN) has been actively working with the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) to create a platform for early-career chemists in policy advice. This article comments on the possible roles of scientists in policy-making and provides an overview of relevant initiatives and platforms at the European level that could facilitate involvement. Opportunities for participation in policy advice from the perspective of early-career chemists are discussed and examples of impact are provided, hoping to stimulate further discussions and engagement in policy-making.

Does Practice Enhance Adaptability? The Role of Personality Trait, Supervisor Behavior, and Career Development Training.

Drawing upon career construction theory, we examined the mediating effect of deliberate practice (DP) on career adaptability (CA) and the effects of learning goal orientation (LGO) and supervisor incompetence accusations (SIA) as well as career development training (CDT) on DP. Using data collected from 204 Chinese PhD students in three waves over a period of 2 months, we found that individuals who were inclined to learn new skills and obtain new knowledge were more likely to deliberately practice professional activities in their fields. When a PhD student's professional competence was questioned by his or her supervisor, the student was more prone to negative emotions and would reduce his or her effort in the development of expertise. CDT - contrary to expectations - negatively predicted DP of professional activities. One possible reason is that the participants in this study have strong autonomy so that those who really struggling are participating in training and seeking help and those who with strong professional abilities are not accessing training programs. Moreover, results showed that DP of professional activities significantly promoted PhD students to adapt to their academic circumstances. Implications for career-related practice within the academic domain are provided.

Synthetic Biology Category Wins the 350th Anniversary Merck Innovation Cup.

Over the past 350 years, Merck has developed science and technology especially in health care, life sciences, and performance materials. To celebrate so many productive years, Merck conducted a special expanded anniversary edition of the Innovation Cup in combination with the scientific conference Curious2018 - Future Insight in Darmstadt, Germany.

FameLab USA: Improving Science Communication Skills for Early Career Scientists.

FameLab International is a science communication competition for early career scientists pioneered by the Cheltenham Science Festival in the United Kingdom in 2005. At its heart is training in the best practices and techniques of good communication. NASA's Astrobiology Program and its partners implemented FameLab USA, one of over 30 implementations around the globe, from 2012 to 2016. FameLab USA's focus was on providing high-quality training for participants and equipping and empowering early career scientists to become skilled, confident communicators of science. The impacts of FameLab USA on participants have been studied, and results from these analyses are presented here. Significant gains in skills for all participants were documented, especially their ability to make better connections with audiences and use thematic structural elements to organize a presentation. Participants reported gaining confidence in their ability to communicate and expanding their self-identity to include "science communicator" in addition to "scientist." They also reported that the FameLab experience increased the likelihood that they would look for communications opportunities and meet challenges presented by their institutional environment to engaging in communication. The overall conclusion is that improving and expanding communication skills and attitudes have changed how participants value communicating about their work and how competent they feel in doing so, which leads to their communicating more often.

Metabolomics in epidemiologic research: challenges and opportunities for early-career epidemiologists.

BACKGROUND: The application of metabolomics to epidemiologic studies is increasing. AIM OF REVIEW: Here, we describe the challenges and opportunities facing early-career epidemiologists aiming to apply metabolomics to their research. KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW: Many challenges inherent to metabolomics may provide early-career epidemiologists with the opportunity to play a pivotal role in answering critical methodological questions and moving the field forward. Although generating large-scale high-quality metabolomics data can be challenging, data can be accessed through public databases, collaboration with senior researchers or participation within interest groups. Such efforts may also assist with obtaining funding, provide knowledge on training resources, and help early-career epidemiologists to publish in the field of metabolomics.

"Now I feel like a true parasitologist" -Concept-based training for early career scientists.

One of the allures of parasitology is its breadth of aspects spanning everything from molecules to ecosystems. Very few institutions have the capability to cover this breadth in educating parasitologists. As the national professional body, the Australian Society for Parasitology has developed a training course that aims to fill this gap. The course offers a comprehensive overview over the field, highlights the current research foci and introduces key methods. The program equips participants with an appreciation of parasites and with strategies to deal with the complexity of parasitological systems. The course provides an innovative model for training parasitological key concepts with a focus on professional development for early career researchers.