Booking speakers
We particularly want to encourage PhD students and Postdocs to take initiative and invite speakers.
If you would like to invite a speaker, please find more information below about the seminar, how to invite a speaker and the your role when hosting a seminar.
How?
Before inviting a speaker, please first check available dates here, which are being kept up to date. Ask the speaker for possible dates (several options are better in case one date is booked by the time the speaker responds). Once settled provide the following information: date of presentation, name, title and institution of speaker, title and abstract of the presentation, short bio of the speaker, and whether it will be an in-person or virtual presentation. Once you have this information, send it to the seminar organisers (Sylvia Schröder and Emiliano Merlo).
What, when and where?
Seminars take place every Monday 1–2 pm, except for public holidays and a summer break from mid July to August. When the speaker visits in-person, the presentation takes place in the seminar room of CRPC (with live stream via zoom). Otherwise, the presentation will be virtual (on zoom).
Who?
In our seminars, we aim to feature a diversity of topics in Neuroscience, approaches, and speakers, ranging from early-stage researchers to senior leaders in the field.
An essential part of this involves giving visibility to speakers of different genders, backgrounds, and other protected characteristics. This includes but is not limited to people of colour and/or marginalised ethnic backgrounds, members of the LGBTQ+ community, neurodivergent individuals, and people with disabilities.
Please note that speakers do not have to be lecturers or professors; you may also include advanced postdoctoral fellows. If you are uncertain of whether or not the speaker is a good match for our seminar, get in touch with the seminar organisers.
Finances
We can reimburse standard-class, public transport expenses within Europe (self-organised by the speaker) and one night of accommodation (please ask the office of the School of Life Sciences to book with reduced rates). We can also reimburse dinner expenses of up to £150, to include the speaker, host and SN research group members. To claim back expenses, please fill in the latest Visitor and Student Expense Claim Form (find it here) for the speaker and send it to Sylvia. You can use the Finance System to claim your own expenses (Sylvia can provide you with the correct subproject code).
Your role as host
You are the main contact point for the speaker, i.e., you will invite the speaker, make sure they have all necessary information, are entertained during their stay at Sussex, and get reimbursed for their costs. It is common that the invited speaker speaks to interested scientists at Sussex before and/or after their talk (this can also work for virtual talks). It is your role to organise the schedule of meetings.
On the day of the presentation, make sure to be in the CRPC seminar 15 min before the talk starts. Make sure that the speaker is prepared to run their presentation smoothly. If the speaker will use the PC in the seminar room (easier option), make sure that they bring their presentation on a USB stick (or similar), so it can be easily copied to the PC. If the speaker prefers to use their own laptop, make sure that the laptop has internet connection and that the speaker has the link to the zoom event (and has zoom installed on the laptop). At the beginning of the seminar, you will introduce the speaker to the audience at the beginning of the presentation.
To contact us with your speaker suggestions or if you have any questions, please email the seminar organisers.