In July, Mark Bellingham stepped into the role of Administrative Assistant. He will be supporting SCAF and its members by providing administrative support across all our events and activities. Mark is enthusiastic about getting settled into the role: “I’m looking forward to becoming a valued member of the team and excited about the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to our team’s goals!” 

You can find him on Slack under the handle @Mark.  

We were also joined by Nicole Ambrose (St Roch’s Secondary School) and Michael Enwegbara (Kirkintilloch High School) who received a Nuffield Research Placement Scholarship and joined SCAF last month. Nicole and Michael spent their two-week placement exploring literature to identify the place of interdisciplinary working as well as cross-institutional and cross-sectoral links in food and nutrition research.  

SCAF and the Quantum Technologies ARC met recently to discuss future collaborations and opportunities. Also funded by the Scottish Funding Council, the Quantum Alliance seeks to connect societal challenges to quantum-enabled solutions and build the skill base needed to realise the benefits of quantum technologies to society. The collaborative meeting covered ideas from cross-over speed networking to workshops on imposter syndrome and Night Science (the creative scientific process) alongside delving into problems vs solutions on topics that concern both teams. If anyone is interested in developing these ideas, please reach out. 

July was also busy with preparations for upcoming events. In the month ahead, we’re hosting our Annual Event, “Expanding horizons in food and collaborating across disciplines and sectors”hearing from David Thompson, CEO of the Food and Drink Federation Scotland, about how those early in their careers can make sure their work counts, and hosting a half-day online sandpit to bring together researchers who would like to develop a collaborative research proposal for the SCAF Pump Priming Award Round 2. This has involved a great deal of planning and collaboration and we're looking forward to welcoming speakers, attendees and prospective members!


First published: 8 August 2024

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