RESILIENCE outreach case study: Cell Culture & Analysis MBI (Hands-On)
Hear from Eleanor Mathias, a research assistant at UCL. Looking for a new role in science, Eleanor registered for the RESLIENCE led course at UCL to develop her skills in cell culture and analysis.
I registered for the Cell Culture & Analysis MBI (Hands-On) course with RESILIENCE in January 2025. At that time, my main motivation was to get training in an area where I saw an opportunity to develop a sought-after skill, as I was beginning to look for a new role in science. Throughout the week, I gained valuable insight into the technical skills being taught; however, I was pleased to also have time to connect with researchers involved in running RESILIENCE events.
In particular, I spoke with Dr Bernice Wright at length about the other types of outreach RESILIENCE is involved with, and the engagement with T-level and A-level students. I was interested to learn about this, having been involved in outreach with high school students and undergraduates, both as an undergraduate student myself and in my research positions. I always found that this was a rewarding way of combining my love for science and science communication.
Coming out of my experience as a RESILIENCE delegate, I felt as though I was being encouraged to join a network of researchers instead of simply completing a training course as a CV boost. This connection - both during the course and afterwards - led to my participation in an outreach programme with RESILIENCE at UCL East for their STEM Careers Events, where I had the opportunity to write and deliver a lecture on small molecule drug design and discovery. As part of the events, other researchers involved with UCL and RESILIENCE delivered short talks on their careers, one of whom was Dr Beatrice Melinek. Dr Melinek had recently completed a post doc at the UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering and was illustrating how this and her experience in industry were combining as she set up a company for a novel idea in DNA synthesis technology: Newcleic.
Across the event, we had opportunities to discuss my experience as a chemist and Newcleic’s chemistry requirements, alongside the broader alignment in our approach to science outreach: that we believe everyone should have access to good science! Dr Melinek was impressed by the 'clarity of my explanation, clear depth of chemistry knowledge and enthusiasm' as I presented to the students and reached out afterwards to discuss an exciting potential opportunity. This was in March, and at that point Newcleic was still applying for its initial funding, so we kept in touch via a series of meetings and updates as that process unfolded.
Focus on medicines manufacturing, cell and gene therapy applications, novel biotechnology, and industry scale up
Meanwhile, I continued to support RESILIENCE with Dr Wright, becoming more familiar with some of the science and technology at the heart of the RESILIENCE network as we prepared for the Cheltenham Science Festival in June. The focus on medicines manufacturing, cell and gene therapy applications, novel biotechnology, and industry scale up was beyond the scope of my chemistry degree and gave me insight into areas of science that I knew little about.
At the Cheltenham Science Festival, I once again had the opportunity to grow my professional network and to discuss a potential role at Newcleic with Dr Melinek. On a personal level, I particularly appreciated the challenge of considering the best way to explain science with the utmost clarity and relevancy to students of all ages. Their questions (and those from their parents) informed the degree to which I had been able to communicate a topic, and it was exciting to hear questions which reflected their broader emerging interests in science. During my job hunt, I found this reminder of what it is that I love about science to be just as valuable as the professional connections I made with RESILIENCE researchers who gave practical advice.
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