By Prof. Bernard Corfe

In July the HNERC and Newcastle University will host the Nutrition Society annual congress. This is the largest gathering of nutrition and allied sciences in the UK annually. It marks a departure from the society’s historic conference format (which aimed at its own members) and now seeks to draw the wider community of scientists and practitioners together at a single event. It is a considerable honour to be invited to plan and to host this event, and I have worked closely with HNERC alumnus Amelia Lake as co-organisers. In this very late stage of preparation (I write this a matter of weeks before the congress) most of the arrangements have been locked in, the programme is decided, exhibitors primed and ready and the last delegates are registering. We can’t wait to get going.

The organisation of such a large event is complex and needs a large team around it to deliver. Amelia and I worked closely to develop the core programme of Nutrition Society symposia that anchor the event. We have consciously tried to shape a programme that has something for everyone, from laboratory-based nutritional biochemists through to community-based public health researchers. We built on the distinctive and complementary network capital of each other to deliver the programme. In turn the society’s staff led on marketing the event to sponsors of the symposia and of our plenary lecture and of course managed the registration and promotion of the event. Our PhDs and ECRs have stepped up as volunteer local helpers to ensure everything runs smoothly. It has been a challenge, yet also a deeply rewarding and affirming experience as a result of the supremely collegiate attitudes of everyone involved.

As if that wasn’t enough, we have further cause for celebration, I am to report that Ashley Adamson (HNERC, Newcastle) will deliver the RANK prize lecture.

A more general reflection on symposia, conferences and congresses is that, as scientists, we seek to realise truths, not merely to solve problems. Truth seeking and evidence generation is an enlightened approach, with human good and human knowledge as its goal. Truth and knowledge are achieved through discourse, and ideally through in person discourse and reasoned debate.  That is what congress delivers.

Having described a little of the thinking and approach to congress, I’m also reflecting here on why do this at all. At all career stages, it is a rewarding pursuit and can have many positive impacts on your cv and standing:

• Leading a conference is a great chance to invite the key thought leaders in your discipline together to and to hear them speak in your own version of a perfect meeting
• It will in turn make you visible as a discipline leader in your own right, raising your personal profile with peers and other leaders
• Not only this, but it is an excellent way to raise the profile of your centre, research group or research cluster profile with peers and other leaders
• If your are canny you can use a workshop report or a meeting report to develop outputs (papers) to consolidate further your standing (a couple of recent examples from HNERC are listed below).
• Leading or coordinating a meeting is a great wat to develop management and leadership skills and will give you concrete evidence of this for your cv.
• Many societies have funding schemes for small meetings (a great way to make your first steps) including RANK Prize foundation, Nutrition Society, Physiological Society, Biochemical Society.
• My suggestion is to start small (not with a congress!), and to focus in your area of interest. Consider a workshop or roundtable with concrete outputs to help focus the event and minds of your delegates.

Some recent meeting outputs from members of our centre:

Oliver M Shannon, Rebecca Townsend, Fiona C Malcomson, Jamie Matu, Alex Griffiths, Amy Jennings, Nicola Ward, Keren Papier, Nicola Best, Chloe French, Pauline Scheelbeek, Curie Kim, Bertha Ochieng, Fareeha Jay, Kaydee Shepherd, Bernard Corfe, Andrea Fairley, Claire T McEvoy, Anne‐Marie Minihane, Yi Jia Sim, Emma Stevenson, Sarah Gregory (2024) Adherence to the Eatwell Guide and population and planetary health: A Rank Prize Forum report Nutrition Bulletin 49: 108-119

Kieran Smith, Anthony W Watson, Marta Lonnie, Wouter M Peeters, Dennis Oonincx, Niki Tsoutsoura, Genis Simon-Miquel, Kamil Szepe, Noriane Cochetel, Alice G Pearson, Oliver C Witard, Andrew M Salter, Malcom Bennett, Bernard M Corfe (2024) Meeting the global protein supply requirements of a growing and ageing population Eur J Nutr 63: 1425-1433