– The symposium was a nice experience. We had many questions for the speakers and there were ongoing discussions during the breaks and poster presentation, says LINXS postdoctoral researcher Sebastian Köhler, who was part of organising the event.
The day was structured around presentations by speakers from different areas within soft matter, ranging from atmospheric aerosols over different lipid-protein systems to sample environments for soft matter experiments. This was followed by a poster session and a discussion about what kind of events LINXS could organise in the future that people would find useful.
Data analysis - a big knowledge gap
One topic, in particular, was highlighted by PhD student and postdocs, as an area where they would like more support: analysis of data acquired during experiments. The people in attendance would like to see LINXS organise activities and workshops related to different ways of analysing data.
– It is clear that there are many questions surrounding data analysis, and what to do with the data once you have performed an experiment, says Sebastian Köhler.
Other topics that were identified as interesting to pursue for future Young Researchers’ Initiatives were focused courses on different scattering methods, everything from beginners’ courses in small angle scattering or reflectometry, to more in-depth courses on for example how to treat imperfect data and troubleshooting. A version of the already existing LINXS SAS clinics that focuses on specific topics, like e.g. an afternoon with experts in analysis of protein data would be interesting for many people.
– People want to learn, and LINXS can be a good place to facilitate different stages of knowledge and practice in relation to the various techniques, says Sebastian Köhler.
