The BNA's annual LGR Forum brings together minds from across the UK

5th Oct 2022

A great time was had at the recent British Neuroscience Association's (BNA) Local Group Network Annual Forum - an opportunity to share ideas and opportunities for strengthening and growing this invaluable network.

Held at the University of Leicester last month, BNA Local Group Representatives (LGRs) and Local Group Student Representatives (LGSRs) were finally able to meet in person again for their first annual forum in two and a half years. Over thirty LGRs and LGSRs made it to Leicester for the one-day meeting.

The BNA's LGR Co-ordinator, Dr Volko Straub, commented, "It was great to see so many friendly faces and be able to catch up in person after all the online meetings, and it was better still to share knowledge and ideas with each other for how we can strengthen the Local Groups Network, the BNA, and neuroscience as a whole."

The day was split into 3 sessions, led by Dani Wijesinghe (the BNA's Community & Inclusion Officer) and Chris Adams (LGR for Keele). The topics of the day included post-lockdown teaching in higher education, and a new reorientation of the Local Groups' network towards deeper engagement of BNA members - each session giving rise to a host of interesting conversations about how we can best serve our neuroscience community.

The discussion chaired by Chris focused on current approaches to the delivery of neuroscience teaching, and how teaching has been affected long-term by the recent COVID-related restrictions. It was kick-started by three short presentations by Tom Matheson (Leicester), Duncan Banks (Open University) and Marta Woloszynowska-Fraser (Keele) providing a view from 3 different institutions, which led to a lively discussion on best practice for teaching, from the perspectives of both lecturers and students.

The final session of the day, which focused on how LGRs and LGSRs can engage new BNA members in their Local Groups, also revealed the hidden acting talents of the BNA Executive team – let’s hope none of them considers a career change!

A very big thank you to Volko for organising the whole day, to Dani and Chris for running the sessions during the day, and to everyone who attended for their insights, ideas, questions and support. We can’t wait to meet again!

The BNA Local Group network

The Local Group network, which covers the UK (see map), acts as a two-way conduit for information between members and the BNA Council and Committee.

All Local Groups exist under coordinated autonomy and are headed by a Local Group Representative (LGR) and Local Group Student Representatives (LGSRs), who represent the interests of the Local Group's members and in turn report to the BNA LGR Co-ordinator. LGRs provide a point of contact for members of a Local Group to access a number of member benefits within the BNA. For example, any applications for Local Group funding are made throught the LGRs.

To find out more about the BNA Local Group Representative network, applying for LG funding, nominating a neuroscientist for a BNA Award, and advertising your neuroscience news to the BNA community, contact your Local Group Representative. All LGRs' contact details and links to relevant websites can be found here. To find out about becoming a BNA Local Group Rep (LGR), please email: office@bna.org.uk