Advance Your Career and Celebrate 50 Years of SfN at Neuroscience 2019

Nearly 30,000 neuroscientists and clinician-scientists from across the globe are expected to gather in Chicago for Neuroscience 2019. From October 19 to 23, attendees can participate in the largest neuroscience networking event in the world while being exposed to an unmatched breadth of brain science through posters, panels, symposia, and workshops.

“Before I came here, I had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated from my PhD,” said Alex Soto of Boise State University, reflecting on the professional development opportunities at the 2018 SfN annual meeting. “After coming to all of these professional development events that they've been having, it has helped me decide that I want to go into industry and help people and work as a team, and work with other scientists.”

The SfN annual meeting is the premiere venue to learn from and connect with colleagues in your own field.

“As a young student neuroscientist who's interested in addiction research, at Society for Neuroscience I've been able to meet people who do policy work, do molecular biology, do electrophysiology, behavior,” said Kathryn Reichard, a student at the University of Washington and Neuroscience 2018 attendee. At the meeting, Reichard was “able to network, work on a future career in policy, and also help improve the science that I'm doing in my graduate program today.”

In addition to a host of socials, networking events, and professional development workshops, Neuroscience 2019 will also feature panel sessions — including the popular Dual Perspectives and Storytelling sessions — that celebrate SfN’s 50th anniversary by investigating the past, present, and future of many questions in neuroscience. Long-time members and budding neuroscientists can join their colleagues in celebrating the history and future of the field by searching for these anniversary-themed events on the Neuroscience Meeting Planner and in the meeting mobile app.

Advance Your Career and Connect With Colleagues

At the 31 SfN-Sponsored Socials, researchers at all career levels socialize and network with others who share common interests in neuroscience. They cover a wide range of topics, including research in chemical senses, brain and retina organoid research, and neuroscience and writing. Some feature speakers, while others are purely social.

This year's Professional Development Workshops are valuable opportunities for neuroscientists at all stages to receive practical advice on starting and navigating their career. In addition, they are an opportunity to discuss ways to make institutions more inclusive, positive spaces in which researchers can thrive. During “Imposter Syndrome: Confronting the Career Development Monster Hiding Under the Bed”, for example, participants will learn how to develop and implement strategies for reducing intellectual and professional self-doubt, while “How to Thrive as a Woman in Neuroscience” features a diverse panel of female neuroscientists discussing major obstacles including bias, marginalization within organizations, and balancing work and family.

At SfN Pre-Conference Sessions, attendees can connect with accomplished scientists to discuss scientific concepts and emerging topics on the cutting edge of neuroscience. Short Courses will cover quantifying behavior as a lens into the brain; neural prosthetics and brain machine interfaces; and cultivating professionalism and excellence in the research landscape. This year will also feature 13 Meet-the-Expert sessions, including two Meet-the-Clinician-Experts. Seats are limited — arrive on time to ensure a seat at the table.

The Brain Awareness Campaign Event: “Illuminating the Path With Science Outreach” is an opportunity for attendees to share their outreach achievements with Brain Awareness Week organizers from around the world and recognize award winners of the Brain Awareness Video Contest, the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, and the National Science Olympiad for their outstanding work in educating the public.

The Diversity, International Fellows, and Trainee Professional Development Awards poster sessions will be held jointly Saturday, October 19, 6:30–8:30 p.m. to allow attendees from a diverse range of backgrounds, fields of interest, and countries to interact and network with one another.

More than 100 national and international institutions will be represented October 19–22 at SfN’s Graduate School Fair, providing an opportunity for institutional representatives to connect with thousands of early career neuroscientists from around the world, and for prospective students to learn which program is right for them. At the meeting, the on-site NeuroJobs Career Center will offer a venue for job seekers at all career stages to meet and interview with employers in academia, government, industry, and more.

At Career Development Topics: A Networking Event, experienced neuroscientists will answer questions related to work-life balance, securing grants, setting up a lab, choosing a postdoctoral position, and careers outside of academia, among other topics. Nearly 30 tables will be offered at this informal, roundtable event.

Read about these events and more on www.sfn.org.

Networking and Planning Made Easy

Navigating Neuroscience 2019’s wealth of scientific, networking, and career development events is easy with SfN’s Neuroscience Meeting Planner (NMP). The NMP allows attendees to build their own itinerary and sort through sessions by topic through a range of search tools and filters. It also has a recommendations filter based on the attendee’s custom itinerary.

In addition, make sure to download the Neuroscience 2019 Mobile App in the iOS^TM and Google Play^TM stores to navigate the meeting and network with other attendees. The app can be used offline to search sessions, authors, exhibitors, shuttle bus schedules, maps, and other annual meeting information.

Sync the app with your NMP to keep your itinerary on-the-go and access other features like the NeuroJobs Career Center and enhanced maps of the event, and use it to instantly network with other attendees by creating a digital business card that can be shared via the app with QR codes. Attendees can also search for others who have logged in and connect with researchers with by scanning attendee badges using the app’s QR code reader.

New Photography and Recording Policy

This year, SfN is giving exhibitors and presenters the choice of allowing attendees to record or photograph their booths and presentations. Presenters and exhibitors will have the option of displaying icons either confirming photography and recordings are allowed or reaffirming that they are not. Those who allow photos and recording are responsible for displaying the icon on their booth or presentation, either by incorporating it into the poster or booth itself or pinning a printed copy of the icon — provided on-site by SfN — to their materials at the meeting. Individuals giving oral presentations may also allow attendees to photograph or record lectures in full or in part by including an icon on individual slides.

Photos and recordings are protected under the Creative Commons Attribution + Noncommercial + ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, meaning they can be shared and built upon, but must be attributed to the original author. In cases where no icon is present, photography and recordings are not permitted by the author.