Anna Tiley
PhD Student
University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

I recently started a 3 month placement with the Society of Biology as part of my PhD, and spent the first few days helping run the UK PlantSci 2014 conference. This was a very enjoyable experience which gave me an invaluable insight into a leading scientific organisation.

This year’s annual UK PlantSci conference was held at the University of York on the 31st March and 1st April. The event was run by the UK Plant Sciences Federation (UKPSF) and included over 30 speakers and 160 attendees representing different areas of plant science. 

My personal highlights from the conference included the keynote lecture by Professor Tim Benton on the importance of plant science for future food security, a talk by Professor Cathie Martin on the red anthocyanin pigmentation in blood oranges, and an animated lecture by Dr Liz Rylott on the use of genetically modified plants to help mop up pollutants.

Early career scientists were also given the opportunity to present their work to the audience in the ‘Future generations’ session, and posters were displayed in the main conference hall.

The most exciting part of the conference was the lively panel discussion about ‘The future of UK plant science’ held on the first day. The panel, chaired by Professor Sandy Knapp from the Natural History Museum in London, included guests from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the John Innes Centre, the University of Exeter and Syngenta.

The discussion covered a variety of issues raised in a recent UKPSF report, UK Plant Science: Current status and future challenges, and involved wide audience participation from both early career and experienced scientists alike.

One of the main topics covered was the importance of encouraging greater interest in plant science from an early age. A major discussion point was whether plant science is adequately represented in UK school curricula. Younger audience members also raised concerns about the feasibility of taking part in plant science internships. It was agreed that these provide a useful insight for young scientists but there is not always the necessary funding or sufficient opportunities available. As a result, many intelligent and enthusiastic students are lost because they simply cannot afford to take on unpaid internships.

Another important point raised was whether funding for UK science should be allocated to projects having clear benefits, such as those linked to food security, or ‘blue skies’ research which generates knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself. Could only funding projects with clear, predictable benefits prevent research into novel areas? How do we know that these novel areas won’t be useful in the future?

The panel discussion was very much enjoyed and gave an insight into some of the current concerns for UK plant science which will need to be tackled. This was certainly a very interesting conference, the importance of which is extremely clear. I have no doubt that attendance will increase each year, particularly as plant sciences become ever more important in helping to meet the challenges of the future.

For tweets from the meeting follow the twitter hashtag #plantsci2014 .

Anna Tiley is a second year PhD student at the University of Bristol currently studying on the South West Doctoral Training Partnership.