The first Face-to-Face (F2F) Junior Scientist Meeting (JSM) was successfully held as part of the Annual Portfolio Meeting, bringing together early-career researchers from various projects for a dynamic and interactive session focused on collaboration, creativity, and community-building.
This hybrid meeting was conducted both on-site and online via Microsoft Teams, enabling broad participation across locations. Attendees were divided into small interdisciplinary groups—both in-person and in virtual breakout rooms—to ensure a diverse mix of perspectives.
The session featured two engaging exercises:
- Event Planning for JSM Members
Each group was tasked with designing a future event tailored for the JSM community. Ideas ranged from webinars and workshops to in-person meetups, all aimed at enhancing learning, networking, and collaboration across projects. - Creative Project Challenge
Groups were challenged to imagine a science-based business or research project with unlimited resources. This playful and imaginative activity encouraged participants to think big, incorporate sustainability, and highlight teamwork and problem-solving. Each group crafted a unique project concept and name, which they then presented to the rest of the participants.
After brainstorming sessions and slide preparation, each team delivered a 5-minute pitch of their ideas, fostering an atmosphere of inspiration and mutual support.
The meeting successfully met its goals of sparking interdisciplinary connections, promoting innovative thinking, and strengthening the Junior Scientist community.
Participants expressed a strong interest in having more face-to-face meetings in the future, noting that networking and in-depth discussions were significantly easier and more effective compared to online sessions.
