In July 2024, I had the opportunity to attend a course by run by the University of Barcelona (UB): Phylogenomics and Population Genomics: Inference and Applications. This course ran for two weeks giving me plenty of opportunity to network with other course attendees while also being able to soak up the culture and atmosphere of Barcelona.
The course was pivotal for the advancement of my research and my own personal development as a researcher, gaining skills and networking in the field I study and am passionate about. Starting off with a flash talk about my own research titled “Population Genetic and Phylogenomic Analysis of Endangered Mergansers to Inform Ex-situ and In-situ Population Conservation Management” and ice breakers from each course attendee we were off to a flying start networking and finding common ground in our interests and sparking conversations and ideas regarding potential collaborations and futures of working together.
While the course ran, we were also exposed to a variety of fascinating external talkers ranging from academics to local industrial roles, discussing some of the different paths that our genomics research careers may take. This opportunity provided us with fascinating contacts that we can reach out to regarding help with our current projects and the troubleshooting that inevitably comes when working with the ever-changing landscape of bioinformatics.
The Conference Support Award (now the Research and Innovation Conference Fund) was a massive help in this experience, subsidising the cost of flights and some of the accommodation required. Without it I would have been unable to attend the course. Thanks to the award, I was able to to delve further into this field and immerse myself not only in the course, but also in another culture – through the network of flourishing scientists I met there, and seeing more of what Barcelona had to offer such as blues jams, jazz nights, incredible arts and sightseeing attractions.
Thanks to this experience, I have been able to improve my own analysis methods, gained a better understanding of my own work and the work of those around me. I have built connections that would have been unlikely through conferences alone and it has allowed me to bring my knowledge back and assist others in my lab group using similar methodology and provide them with the teaching materials I acquired while on the course.
