STARS Award winning Student Societies organise UCC's first Life Sciences Careers Fair

27 Apr 2022

Congratulations to the UCC Medical Research and Technology Society and the UCC Translational Medicine Society who together successfully hosted UCC’s first Life Sciences Careers Fair.

The Life Sciences Careers Fair which was held in the Devere Hall UCC on Friday April 8^th 2022, successfully fulfilled its aims to connect students from the College of Medicine and Health and College of Science Engineering and Food Science with leading pharmaceutical, medical technology companies, UCC’s research institutions and UCC academic departments, to discuss graduate opportunities.

The organisers welcomed representatives from pharmaceutical, medical technology companies Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Boston Scientific, Atlantia Clinical Trials and ThermoFisher Scientific. Research centres in attendance included The Tyndall National Institute, The Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research (INFANT), ASSERT Centre UCC, APC Microbiome Ireland, Health Information Systems Research Centre (HISRC). Academics from UCC departments offering postgraduate research opportunities were also in attendance including the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, and the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

There was a very positive response from both students and invited industry and research representatives. In excess of three hundred students from science and health-related disciplines visited the fair. Students embraced the opportunity to chat directly to industry and research personnel and to explore the options available to them in industry and academic career pathways.

Photos: (Top left) Dr Ivan Sugrue and Dr Daragh Hill APC Microbiome Ireland, chatting with students at the Microbiology stand at the Life Sciences Careers Fair. (Top right) Ms Patricia Flynn, Dr Cian McCafferty and Dr Sarah-Jane Leigh at the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience stand. (Lower left) third year Medical and Health Science students visiting the Life Sciences Careers Fair. (Lower right) Dr Róisín Kelly-Laubscher and Dr Cathal McCarthy chatting with event organisers at the UCC Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics stand.

The Life Sciences Careers Fair organising committee comprised of the Medical Research and Technology Society Chairperson Mark Leahy, the Translational Medicine Society Chairperson Seán O’Flaherty and Education Officer Brian Curtain, all third-year students of the BSc Medical and Health Science degree programme.

Chatting about organising the Life Sciences Careers Fair; Mark, Seán and Brian described how ‘their idea for the event was to bring their fellow students together with a range of organisations which would give exposure to students of both industry and academic career options'.

The organisers were confident that the Life Sciences Careers Fair had successfully facilitated networking opportunities between industry professionals, academics, and students. They also commented ‘how the event had showcased the endless and exciting career opportunities that the dynamic disciplines of medicine, digital health and medical technology have to offer, especially to the Medical and Health Sciences graduates’. The organisers also commented on the BSc Medical and Health Sciences degree programme staff whose ‘enthusiasm and support of the event was indicative of their commitment to this innovative degree programme'.

Professor Aideen Sullivan, Academic Director of the BSc in Medical and Health Sciences, said

“I am very proud and constantly impressed by the motivation and enthusiasm of our students in the Society of Translational Medicine and the Medical Research and Technology Society. The theme of translational medicine is core to the Medical and Health Sciences degree and it is very rewarding to see our students work so hard to promote awareness and knowledge of biomedical research, and to organise dynamic events such as this important Careers Fair. I am confident that, upon graduation, they will progress to exciting careers in many areas of the Life Sciences, and I look forward to hearing about their future successes.”

The UCC BSc Medical and Health Sciences programme which had its first intake of students in 2018 has a strong focus on research and is taught by research-active academics in a wide range of disciplines spanning the biological and medical sciences. Since its inception it has succeeded in delivering up-to-date current knowledge in the field of biomedical, clinical, and public health sciences and encourages students to foster their analytical study skills and critical thinking, enabling them to research, develop and implement the innovative healthcare of the future. The first class of BSc Medical and Health Sciences will graduate in June 2022.

The Life Sciences Careers Fair organising societies have previously been recognised at UCC’s annual STARS Awards, where the Translational Medicine Society and the Medical Research and Technology Society were awarded ‘Best New Society’ for the academic years 2020/21 and 2021/22 respectively. The two active student societies were delighted to collaborate on the Life Sciences Careers Fair to showcase graduate opportunities to students.

The UCC Society of Translational Medicine focuses on encouraging students to create change in the world of human health through translational medicine, with a principal objective of sparking interest and supporting the next generation of students in bridging the gap between medical science and clinical needs. To achieve this objective, the Society of Translational Medicine operates various initiatives including Reading Research Workshops, Translational Medicine (TM) Talks on topics ranging from meditation to the gut microbiome, and their annual flagship Translational Medicine Conference. There is also a weekly ‘Narrowing the Void’ podcast which was recently shortlisted in the National Student Media Awards in the ‘Best Podcast’ category.

UCC's Medical Research and Technology Society was created in 2019 with the aim of cultivating a network of students passionate about involving themselves with the research and technological opportunities available in the medical field. The Medical Research and Technology Society is the bridge between medicine and technology, and the gateway to research, advancing healthcare and AI. To date, the society has upwards of 300 active members and has worked to introduce UCC's first student medical journal, conferences including ‘The Student Research Conference’ and the ‘Science of Happiness Conference’ along with regular talks from industry experts in AI, Telemedicine, MedTech devices, and Business Idea Development.

The Life Sciences Careers Fair organisers would like to thank the attending companies and research institutions, and academic departments for their cooperation and support through the development of the event. The organisers would also like to thank Dr Cian McCafferty, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, and Dr Róisín Kelly-Laubscher and Dr Cathal McCarthy, UCC Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics for their support organising the event.

UCC’s first Life Sciences Careers Fair would not have been possible without the continued and generous support of the British Pharmacological Society.

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News item and photographs B. Riedewald