About the Conference
When: 4 and 5 April 2024
Where: Thomas Paine Study Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
The 2024 Society for Natural Sciences Student Conference will take place in the beautiful city of Norwich, on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th April. This is an opportunity to meet with Natural Sciences students from across the country, and get some real-life experience in presenting your results – both poster and oral presentation opportunities will be available. We encourage finalists to present their final year research project, but students in any year can attend and present.
The Conference will take place at the University of East Anglia, starting from 15:00 on 4th April. The afternoon poster and talks session will be followed by a conference dinner and social. On 5th April, we’ll start with morning sessions and another keynote talk followed by lunch, and finishing the afternoon session around 15:30. Our keynote speakers will be Prof of Volcanology, Jenni Barclay, and Prof of Evolutionary Biology, Ben Garrod – you may have seen him on the BBC.
Who can attend?
The conference is aimed at students studying Natural Sciences undergraduate programmes from all across the country. Students in any year can attend and present, but finalists are particularly encouraged to present their final year research project.
You must be a staff or student member of the Society for Natural Sciences in order to attend. If you are not already a member, please visit our membership page: https://www.socnatsci.org/membership-of-the-society-for-natural-sciences/.
Registration
Registration costs £75 and does not cover accommodation.
Registration has now closed.
Accommodation
There’s plenty of affordable accommodation in Norwich if booked in advance. The following budget hotel chains are conveniently located for the railway station or the conference dinner:
Please make your booking directly with the hotel.
Abstracts and Presentations
Abstract submission has now closed.
Posters should be on portrait orientation, with a maximum size of A0. Oral presentations should be around 15 minutes each, with extra time available for questions.
Travel
UEA is a campus university connected by a good bus service (numbers 25 & 26) to the railway station or city centre, or accessed by private car or taxi.
The scientific sessions are being held at the Thomas Paine Study Centre (TPSC). The TPSC is within the Norwich Business School on Chancellor’s Drive. TPSC is a ten minute walk from the main car park, and is accessible via bus (numbers 25 & 26) and taxi.
Please view the Campus Map to see locations on campus. TPSC is at What3Words ///feast.puddles.taps.
Conference Programme
The programme for the conference is as follows. Details of each session can be found in the Conference Programme circulated to conference attendees.
Thursday 4 April 2024
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 13:00 onwards | Arrival and Registration (and Heads of Natural Sciences meeting) |
| 15:00–16:00 | Posters and Refreshments |
| 16:00–17:00 | Welcome and Conference Opening. Session 1. |
| 17:00–18:00 | Keynote: Prof Jenni Barclay |
| 19:00–late | Conference Dinner at St Andrew’s Brewhouse |
Friday 5 April 2024
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 09:00–10:30 | Scientific Session 2 |
| 10:30–11:00 | Posters and Coffee Break |
| 11:00–12:00 | Scientific Sessions 3 & 4 |
| 12:00–13:00 | Keynote: Prof Ben Garrod |
| 13:00–14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00–15:00 | Scientific Sessions 5 & 6 |
| 15:00–15:30 | Conference close and prizes |
Keynote Speakers
Prof. Ben Garrod – “Now we must redefine man?”
What makes you special? Why do humans dominate the planet, when our nearest living relatives are relegated to forest fringes? Is it your big brain, your dexterous thumbs, or your complex culture?
Evolutionary biologist, author and broadcaster Professor Ben Garrod (UEA) has worked across Asia and Africa for almost two decades, often living alongside great apes in their natural habitats but is still no closer to being able to safely define just what exactly makes us ‘special’ as a species. In this light-hearted yet informative talk, Ben takes us through what it means to be human and what really sets us aside from our closest primate relatives. How different are you from a gorilla, if we did evolve from chimps, then why are there still chimps, and why is your chin so very very special?
Prof Ben Garrod is an Evolutionary Biologist at the University of East Anglia, as well as an author and an award-winning radio and TV science broadcaster. He has written numerous non-fiction book series for young readers, presented ‘Wild Inside’ and ‘Super Senses’ for Radio Four, and ‘Attenborough and the mammoth graveyard’ and ‘Attenborough and the giant dinosaur’, as well as ‘Baby chimp rescue’, ‘Secrets of bones’ and ‘Hyper-evolution’ for the BBC. Ben has lived and worked across the tropics for much of the last two decades, working with chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and other primates. He teaches across a range of modules at UEA.