The inaugural Warwick Postdoctoral Science Symposium was held on the 3rd April 2018, organised by Tom Wilks, Mick Staniforth, Blessing Anonye, Chiara Arno, Maria Pérez-Madrigal, Benoit Couturaud, Rebecca Williams and Lena Al Khudairy.

The motivation for holding the WPSS was based on the recognition that, as a postdoc, it can sometimes be difficult to devise your own unique research ideas (ultimately essential for a successful career in academia). This can be because there are fewer opportunities for postdocs to meet colleagues from other departments and learn about their research than there are for academic staff. The first WPSS aimed to address this by bringing together postdocs from across the Science Faculty to foster new cross-departmental collaborations and raise awareness of the diverse range of research going on at the university.

We have had 2 WPSSs with fantastic keynote speakers, Professor Sir J. Fraser Stoddart in 2018 and Professor Russell Foster in 2019. The days consisted of contributed talks, and various opportunities for networking as well as the poster session.

Following the success of the previous inaugural events we are pleased to be holding the WPSS again in 2020.