An overviewfromBill Dawson,the Chair

The flagshipAcademyconference was ahuge success,building on itsprevious strengths on its return to theEast Midlands Conference Centre inNottingham. The balance betweenacademia and industry was maintainedand many young pharmaceuticalscientists had their first opportunity topresent either poster or podiumpresentations which is a major strengthof PharmSci.

We had an excellent set of plenaryspeakers. Professor David Jones, ProVice-chancellor at Queens University,Belfast was the Conference ScienceChair and got the conference off to anexcellent start. Dr Catherine Tuleu,Reader in Pharmaceutics at UCL Schoolof Pharmacy was the APS Award winnerand discussed the key scienceunderpinning paediatric formulations.The Award is sponsored by AstraZeneca.The APS is delighted to recognise youngscientists and the Emerging ScientistAward, sponsored by GSK was won byDr Wafa Al-Jamal who described herwork on novel cancer medicineformulations. APS is pleased to partnerwith the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

who each year makes the RPS ScienceAward. This year it was won by DrBhavik Patel, Reader in the School ofPharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences atthe University of Brighton. Bhavikdiscussed his mechanistic approaches toformulation of oral medicines. He was aprevious winner of the EmergingScientist Award at PharmSci 2013.Finally, the prestigious APS ConferenceLecture was delivered by Professor ChrisPorter from Monash University inMelbourne Australia, a tour de force onthe mechanisms underpinningabsorption from the GI tract.

As usual, the conference ran with 4parallel sessions, mostly reflecting thework of our Focus Groups, which had

PharmSci 2015 Science Chair, David JonesIt has been my great pleasure, and indeed honour, to be the Chairman of this year’s APS conference. The excellentprogramme, involving both national and international contributors, was beautifully complemented by the wonderfulenergy and enthusiasm of all delegates. The scope of scientific disciplines was wide and encompassed many key themesof the pharmaceutical sciences including, drugs from natural sources, solid state pharmaceutics, formulation science,pharmaceutical analysis, pharmaceutical microbiology, nanosciences and material sciences, to name but a few. Theexcellent choice of venue and organisation allowed all delegates to move seamlessly from one room to another to attend the sessions of theirchoice.The standard of science on display at the conference was high, with many of the sessions being full to capacity, such was the interest in boththe scientific disciplines and speakers. The conference welcomed three key speakers. Firstly, the key note speaker of the conference wasProfessor Chris Porter, Chair of Pharmaceutics at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University. A scientist of thehighest quality, Chris described his research on the formulation and assessment of the performance of strategies to enhance the bioavailabilityof BCS Class 2 drugs. The challenges of this research were clearly articulated and allowed the audience to readily grasp this topic whilst stillappreciating its scientific complexities. Secondly, this year’s APS award winner was Dr Catherine Tuleu, Reader in Pharmaceutics at UCL Schoolof Pharmacy who described some of the challenges with paediatric medicines. Finally this year’s RPS award winner was Dr Bhavik Patel, Readerin the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Brighton who described his research on the application ofelectrochemical detection techniques to develop new diagnostic methods for diseases and also its application in understanding the molecularbasis of drug action.All delegates will have left this year’s APS conference with a renewed enthusiasm for the pharmaceutical and related sciences and anappreciation that the state of pharmaceutical sciences research is in good health. I do hope that all delegates are able to attend next year’sAPS conference in Glasgow.

The 6th APS InternationalPharmSci Conference

- A Huge Success!

NewsletterAutumn 2015

a European drug company asking howhe could recruit pharmaceuticalscience students!

I have two highlights from theconference, maybe three if you don’tdiscount that I didn’t have to make myown lunch! First, the opportunity I wasgiven to sit in on the skin workshopwhich was chaired by the leader of theSkin Focus Group. This was invaluableas it drew my attention to some areasof research that I have been strugglingto find any literature on for myundergraduate research project. I wasable to network with professionals whoare the top of their fields and I havebeen enlightened by their interest andadvice to support my project.

My final highlight was as theconference drew to a close. As I washaving a conversation with a lady who Ilater discovered used to be thechairman of the Royal PharmaceuticalSociety (as you do), I was approachedby a formulator that I had spoken to on

the APS stand the day before. Iremember asking on the off chance ifhis company took summer placementstudents which he said he would lookinto. I wasn’t expecting to hearanything back, but to my surprise I wasintroduced to his department managerwho I had a quick discussion with aboutwhat I was doing and what his companydid. I was given a business card and toldto keep in touch if I was interested in asummer placement. I later began adiscussion with him on LinkedIn - whichI had created an account for as a resultof some advice I was given at IndustrialInsights. What more can you ask for?!

It all seemed a bit of a fairy tale the dayafter the conference, but you begin torealise that life as a student is not aboutwriting applications and pulling all-nighters in the library, but aboutcommunication with like-mindedpeople. Sharing ideas, following yourpassion.

I know that is easy to say and it can takeyears to find what you’re reallyinterested in, but if there’s one thing totake from this, it’s about educatingyourself about what’s out there andmaking contacts. The generalperception of industry is that it is animpossible door to open and that putsmany people off. But at the end of theday, it is a network of people all with apassion about what they do. If youseize opportunities and share yourinterests, you unlock a utopia.

The APS can provide you with theseopportunities to make those valuableconnections and help you decide ifindustry is right for you. It’s reallyhelped kick start my career, I can’t urgeyou enough to get involved and jointoday!

Robert Oakley,University of Nottingham

2016 will see the 7th APS International PharmSci Conference moving to the newly-opened Technology& Innovation Centre at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

The conference will follow in Scotland’s rich heritage in the Sciences, Mathematics and Technologywhich have left a proud trail of famous scientists to inspire and encourage others to follow in theirfootsteps.

Professor Yvonne Perrie, who is a Professor in Pharmaceutics/Drug Delivery, Head of Pharmacy at Aston University, is theConference science chair. Yvonne is an eminent fellow of the APS, and fellow of the RPS and Society of Biology. Her researchon formulation attributes that govern the mechanism of action of particulate systems for drug delivery, vaccine adjuvanticityand diagnostics, provides the foundation for practical solutions and realistic options to enhance patient care on a globalscale.

The theme of the conference in 2016 is

Pharmaceutical Sciences: Improving World HealthThe UK’s competitive edge in the pharmaceutical sciences lies in its high quality pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilitiesand its expertise in the development of innovative medicinal products and delivery systems. If the UK is to continue to produce world-leadingmedicines that tackle global health issues we need to further invest in our capabilities. The Conference will provide a forum to help achieve thisaim.

You can become part of this conference now, by reserving thedate, suggesting a topic, offering a poster presentation, reservingan exhibition space and many other opportunities. Please emailinfo@apsgb.org.

Cont’d over

networking opportunity and I learntabout some exciting areas of science thehost company was hoping to explore inthe future.

These insights gave me enoughknowledge to make a decision that Iwanted to pursue further opportunitiesin the field and I knew what I had to doto make myself into the best candidatepossible. My interest in research led meto contacting some academics at myUniversity and I enquired into a summerresearch project. It turned out that oneof the academics needed a hand withsome research and I was offered an 8week project. I wanted to present aposter on my work at the APS PharmSciconference as I knew there would besome brilliant networking opportunitieswith others from the research field I wasinvestigating. Unfortunately, my workwould contribute towards mysupervisor applying for a patent so myplans misfired.

All was not lost though.

As the APS is a non- profit organisationthat seeks to enrich knowledge of thepharmaceutical sciences through itsstructured conferences, Focus Groupsand platform for informal networking; Ithought to myself that this must take alot of organising. So I offered tovolunteer at the PharmSci conference.

I received a quick response and before Iknew it I was finding out even moreabout the APS in order to educatevisitors about the events and hot topicsit hosts at APS stand at the conference.

The conference put the icing on the cake.

The team at the APS were a reallyfriendly group and within moments ofentering the building I was greeted withsmiles and plenty of support for theactivities planned for me. I quickly fellinto the swing of things. Before I knew itI was discussing the benefits the APSoffers its members and takingrecordings of peoples’ careers to givestudents an insight into the types ofscience opportunities available. I waseven consulted by an ambassador from

good attendances and active debate.Posters were a highlight and we aregrateful to GSK for sponsoring prizes torecognise the best on each of the threedays of the meeting. Others will coverthe specifics of these sessions but Iwould like to highlight the SMEShowcase and Bright Ideas sessions. Forthe first time we partnered with BioCityto put on two sessions, with plenariesby BioCity executives and presentationsby almost 20 companies. It seemed togo well and many presenters said theyhad enjoyed this excellent networkingopportunity. The Bright Ideas sessionwas partnered with StevenageBioscience Catalyst (SBC) who havebeen a regular contributor to PharmSciover the years. This session gave youngpeople the opportunity to describe theirinnovative ideas and the winner issupported to see if their idea can bereduced to practice. It was very much inthe spirit of Open Innovation which iscentral to the work of SBC.

The conference would be less thancomplete without a very goodExhibition and it seemed to me that theexhibitors enjoyed the buzz andinteractions with the participants. Wehave tried to increase the time availablefor the Exhibition which hopefully wasappreciated by all.

There were two key highlights at theBlack Tie Dinner at Trent Bridge Cricketground on Tuesday evening although it

could be considered three with an APSwelcome to Trent Bridge blazing outfrom the scoreboard in our colours andthanking out sponsors. We are verylucky to have a number of sponsorssome of whom support the educationalaims of the conference and others whosupport APS in its wider objectives.

We honoured Trevor Jones withrecognition as an Eminent Fellow of theAcademy. He is both pharmacist andpharmaceutical scientist who has beena huge advocate for our profession inboth academia and the industry for thewhole of his career. It was difficult tofind enough descriptive phrases tocapture his many contributions but I willhighlight his enthusiasm and hiscommitment to mentoring all who enterhis ambit. The Queen honoured himwith a CBE and did so before theAcademy so we needed to catch up….The second highlight was a presentationfrom James Christie, ABPI ProjectDirector for the ManufacturingMedicines Innovation Project set upwith strong government support toensure that the ecosystem to developand manufacture medicines ismaintained in a strong state here in theUK. It is absolutely key that APS is partof such initiatives and it was great tohave James with us.

Finally it was a pleasure to welcomeLinda Hakes as Chair of the APS. She is apharmacist who specialised inpharmaceutical sciences and has had acareer in industry with links to academia

and education throughout. I am sureyou will support her as strongly as youhave helped me and the Board developAPS over the last 3 years.

What can the Academyof Pharmaceutical

Sciences do for you?A student perspective of his journey with

the APS to attending the conference

I first found out about the Academy ofPharmaceutical Sciences from an emailfrom one of the academics in my Schoolhighlighting an “Industrial Insights”opportunity. A career in industryfactored into a large part of my decisionto study pharmacy at University so Ijumped at the idea. The speakers at theIndustrial Insights conferencebroadened my understanding of theroles within the industrial sector and Iwas given the unique chance to tour thepharmaceutical plant where theconference was hosted. The experiencegave me a more holistic view into howthe medicines I work with had beencreated. The numerous processes andteamwork that went into each drugastounded me.

Having had a taste of the journey fromconcept to product, I acted upon theguidance I had been given at the CVworkshop and searched for furtherenrichment. I stumbled across a“Pharma Focus” day. The day mirroredmany aspects of Industrial Insights witha greater emphasis on experiencingsome of the departments within acompany. Yet again, it was a fantastic

This year’s APS International Pharma Sci Conference again featured the Bright Ideascompetition which comes with a £500 award. This is aimed at encouraging scientistsearly in their careers who have a bright idea and want to develop this to its nextstage. The conference was sponsored this year by Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst(SBC) a joint venture between the Department for Business Innovation and Skills,GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust and Innovate UK. Sponsorship by SBC wasparticularly appropriate as their focus is to help innovative companies in thepharma and biotech sectors. Beverley Vaughan from SBC chaired the event.

Entrants gave a short presentation on their idea and how the award would helpmove this forward. The participants in the session then voted on the ideas. Thewinners this year were John Allan and Kushal Rugjee, two PhD students from DrRobert Ryan’s group at the Division of Molecular Microbiology in the College ofLife Science at the University of Dundee. Their idea was a novel way to chemicallytarget bacterial cell-to-cell signalling systems thereby disrupting formation ofbiofilms and making co-administered antibiotics more effective. Given the currentemphasis on anti-microbial resistance this idea has great relevance. In addition tothe award money John and Kushal will be provided with a mentor from the APS tohelp progress their idea.

In addition to the Bright Idea competition there were also presentations from Dr JoeBoyle from the University of Cambridge and Dr Ewelina Hoffman from theUniversity of Hertfordshire on their innovative research and both of which hadbenefited from the support and facilities offered by the SBC.

Posters and exhibitionThis year’s conference had over 220poster entries with submissions from36 UK universities (Nottingham,Aston, Bath, Huddersfield and Queen’sBelfast Universities being very wellrepresented), 38 different companies(AZ and Pfizer each presenting 9posters) and entries including authorsfrom 26 countries making theconference truly International. EmmaSmith supervised by Dave Berry atDurham University and co-sponsoredby the  APS Material Science FocusGroup presented a poster onComparing the physical properties ofracemic and single enantiomer formsof pharmaceutical co-crystals andtheir glasses which is part of the 6weeks summer placement schemeorganised by the APS with their focusgroups.

Posters were displayed over all three days and each day GSK sponsored prizes forthe posters which were judged to have shown particularly good science andpresented it with clarity and impact.

The Exhibition hall was full at this year’s conference with 32 exhibitors ranging fromsmall and not so small CROs, specialist equipment suppliers, excipient companies,pharmaceutical sciences organisations to big pharma (AZ and GSK). The hall alsoincluded catering and poster displays ensuring that there was a buzz throughout theday.

Cont’d over

Cont’d over

networking opportunity and I learntabout some exciting areas of science thehost company was hoping to explore inthe future.

These insights gave me enoughknowledge to make a decision that Iwanted to pursue further opportunitiesin the field and I knew what I had to doto make myself into the best candidatepossible. My interest in research led meto contacting some academics at myUniversity and I enquired into a summerresearch project. It turned out that oneof the academics needed a hand withsome research and I was offered an 8week project. I wanted to present aposter on my work at the APS PharmSciconference as I knew there would besome brilliant networking opportunitieswith others from the research field I wasinvestigating. Unfortunately, my workwould contribute towards mysupervisor applying for a patent so myplans misfired.

All was not lost though.

As the APS is a non- profit organisationthat seeks to enrich knowledge of thepharmaceutical sciences through itsstructured conferences, Focus Groupsand platform for informal networking; Ithought to myself that this must take alot of organising. So I offered tovolunteer at the PharmSci conference.

I received a quick response and before Iknew it I was finding out even moreabout the APS in order to educatevisitors about the events and hot topicsit hosts at APS stand at the conference.

The conference put the icing on the cake.

The team at the APS were a reallyfriendly group and within moments ofentering the building I was greeted withsmiles and plenty of support for theactivities planned for me. I quickly fellinto the swing of things. Before I knew itI was discussing the benefits the APSoffers its members and takingrecordings of peoples’ careers to givestudents an insight into the types ofscience opportunities available. I waseven consulted by an ambassador from

good attendances and active debate.Posters were a highlight and we aregrateful to GSK for sponsoring prizes torecognise the best on each of the threedays of the meeting. Others will coverthe specifics of these sessions but Iwould like to highlight the SMEShowcase and Bright Ideas sessions. Forthe first time we partnered with BioCityto put on two sessions, with plenariesby BioCity executives and presentationsby almost 20 companies. It seemed togo well and many presenters said theyhad enjoyed this excellent networkingopportunity. The Bright Ideas sessionwas partnered with StevenageBioscience Catalyst (SBC) who havebeen a regular contributor to PharmSciover the years. This session gave youngpeople the opportunity to describe theirinnovative ideas and the winner issupported to see if their idea can bereduced to practice. It was very much inthe spirit of Open Innovation which iscentral to the work of SBC.

The conference would be less thancomplete without a very goodExhibition and it seemed to me that theexhibitors enjoyed the buzz andinteractions with the participants. Wehave tried to increase the time availablefor the Exhibition which hopefully wasappreciated by all.

There were two key highlights at theBlack Tie Dinner at Trent Bridge Cricketground on Tuesday evening although it

could be considered three with an APSwelcome to Trent Bridge blazing outfrom the scoreboard in our colours andthanking out sponsors. We are verylucky to have a number of sponsorssome of whom support the educationalaims of the conference and others whosupport APS in its wider objectives.

We honoured Trevor Jones withrecognition as an Eminent Fellow of theAcademy. He is both pharmacist andpharmaceutical scientist who has beena huge advocate for our profession inboth academia and the industry for thewhole of his career. It was difficult tofind enough descriptive phrases tocapture his many contributions but I willhighlight his enthusiasm and hiscommitment to mentoring all who enterhis ambit. The Queen honoured himwith a CBE and did so before theAcademy so we needed to catch up….The second highlight was a presentationfrom James Christie, ABPI ProjectDirector for the ManufacturingMedicines Innovation Project set upwith strong government support toensure that the ecosystem to developand manufacture medicines ismaintained in a strong state here in theUK. It is absolutely key that APS is partof such initiatives and it was great tohave James with us.

Finally it was a pleasure to welcomeLinda Hakes as Chair of the APS. She is apharmacist who specialised inpharmaceutical sciences and has had acareer in industry with links to academia

and education throughout. I am sureyou will support her as strongly as youhave helped me and the Board developAPS over the last 3 years.

What can the Academyof Pharmaceutical

Sciences do for you?A student perspective of his journey with

the APS to attending the conference

I first found out about the Academy ofPharmaceutical Sciences from an emailfrom one of the academics in my Schoolhighlighting an “Industrial Insights”opportunity. A career in industryfactored into a large part of my decisionto study pharmacy at University so Ijumped at the idea. The speakers at theIndustrial Insights conferencebroadened my understanding of theroles within the industrial sector and Iwas given the unique chance to tour thepharmaceutical plant where theconference was hosted. The experiencegave me a more holistic view into howthe medicines I work with had beencreated. The numerous processes andteamwork that went into each drugastounded me.

Having had a taste of the journey fromconcept to product, I acted upon theguidance I had been given at the CVworkshop and searched for furtherenrichment. I stumbled across a“Pharma Focus” day. The day mirroredmany aspects of Industrial Insights witha greater emphasis on experiencingsome of the departments within acompany. Yet again, it was a fantastic

This year’s APS International Pharma Sci Conference again featured the Bright Ideascompetition which comes with a £500 award. This is aimed at encouraging scientistsearly in their careers who have a bright idea and want to develop this to its nextstage. The conference was sponsored this year by Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst(SBC) a joint venture between the Department for Business Innovation and Skills,GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust and Innovate UK. Sponsorship by SBC wasparticularly appropriate as their focus is to help innovative companies in thepharma and biotech sectors. Beverley Vaughan from SBC chaired the event.

Entrants gave a short presentation on their idea and how the award would helpmove this forward. The participants in the session then voted on the ideas. Thewinners this year were John Allan and Kushal Rugjee, two PhD students from DrRobert Ryan’s group at the Division of Molecular Microbiology in the College ofLife Science at the University of Dundee. Their idea was a novel way to chemicallytarget bacterial cell-to-cell signalling systems thereby disrupting formation ofbiofilms and making co-administered antibiotics more effective. Given the currentemphasis on anti-microbial resistance this idea has great relevance. In addition tothe award money John and Kushal will be provided with a mentor from the APS tohelp progress their idea.

In addition to the Bright Idea competition there were also presentations from Dr JoeBoyle from the University of Cambridge and Dr Ewelina Hoffman from theUniversity of Hertfordshire on their innovative research and both of which hadbenefited from the support and facilities offered by the SBC.

Posters and exhibitionThis year’s conference had over 220poster entries with submissions from36 UK universities (Nottingham,Aston, Bath, Huddersfield and Queen’sBelfast Universities being very wellrepresented), 38 different companies(AZ and Pfizer each presenting 9posters) and entries including authorsfrom 26 countries making theconference truly International. EmmaSmith supervised by Dave Berry atDurham University and co-sponsoredby the  APS Material Science FocusGroup presented a poster onComparing the physical properties ofracemic and single enantiomer formsof pharmaceutical co-crystals andtheir glasses which is part of the 6weeks summer placement schemeorganised by the APS with their focusgroups.

Posters were displayed over all three days and each day GSK sponsored prizes forthe posters which were judged to have shown particularly good science andpresented it with clarity and impact.

The Exhibition hall was full at this year’s conference with 32 exhibitors ranging fromsmall and not so small CROs, specialist equipment suppliers, excipient companies,pharmaceutical sciences organisations to big pharma (AZ and GSK). The hall alsoincluded catering and poster displays ensuring that there was a buzz throughout theday.

Cont’d over

Cont’d over

An overviewfromBill Dawson,the Chair

The flagshipAcademyconference was ahuge success,building on itsprevious strengths on its return to theEast Midlands Conference Centre inNottingham. The balance betweenacademia and industry was maintainedand many young pharmaceuticalscientists had their first opportunity topresent either poster or podiumpresentations which is a major strengthof PharmSci.

We had an excellent set of plenaryspeakers. Professor David Jones, ProVice-chancellor at Queens University,Belfast was the Conference ScienceChair and got the conference off to anexcellent start. Dr Catherine Tuleu,Reader in Pharmaceutics at UCL Schoolof Pharmacy was the APS Award winnerand discussed the key scienceunderpinning paediatric formulations.The Award is sponsored by AstraZeneca.The APS is delighted to recognise youngscientists and the Emerging ScientistAward, sponsored by GSK was won byDr Wafa Al-Jamal who described herwork on novel cancer medicineformulations. APS is pleased to partnerwith the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

who each year makes the RPS ScienceAward. This year it was won by DrBhavik Patel, Reader in the School ofPharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences atthe University of Brighton. Bhavikdiscussed his mechanistic approaches toformulation of oral medicines. He was aprevious winner of the EmergingScientist Award at PharmSci 2013.Finally, the prestigious APS ConferenceLecture was delivered by Professor ChrisPorter from Monash University inMelbourne Australia, a tour de force onthe mechanisms underpinningabsorption from the GI tract.

As usual, the conference ran with 4parallel sessions, mostly reflecting thework of our Focus Groups, which had

PharmSci 2015 Science Chair, David JonesIt has been my great pleasure, and indeed honour, to be the Chairman of this year’s APS conference. The excellentprogramme, involving both national and international contributors, was beautifully complemented by the wonderfulenergy and enthusiasm of all delegates. The scope of scientific disciplines was wide and encompassed many key themesof the pharmaceutical sciences including, drugs from natural sources, solid state pharmaceutics, formulation science,pharmaceutical analysis, pharmaceutical microbiology, nanosciences and material sciences, to name but a few. Theexcellent choice of venue and organisation allowed all delegates to move seamlessly from one room to another to attend the sessions of theirchoice.The standard of science on display at the conference was high, with many of the sessions being full to capacity, such was the interest in boththe scientific disciplines and speakers. The conference welcomed three key speakers. Firstly, the key note speaker of the conference wasProfessor Chris Porter, Chair of Pharmaceutics at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University. A scientist of thehighest quality, Chris described his research on the formulation and assessment of the performance of strategies to enhance the bioavailabilityof BCS Class 2 drugs. The challenges of this research were clearly articulated and allowed the audience to readily grasp this topic whilst stillappreciating its scientific complexities. Secondly, this year’s APS award winner was Dr Catherine Tuleu, Reader in Pharmaceutics at UCL Schoolof Pharmacy who described some of the challenges with paediatric medicines. Finally this year’s RPS award winner was Dr Bhavik Patel, Readerin the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Brighton who described his research on the application ofelectrochemical detection techniques to develop new diagnostic methods for diseases and also its application in understanding the molecularbasis of drug action.All delegates will have left this year’s APS conference with a renewed enthusiasm for the pharmaceutical and related sciences and anappreciation that the state of pharmaceutical sciences research is in good health. I do hope that all delegates are able to attend next year’sAPS conference in Glasgow.

The 6th APS InternationalPharmSci Conference

- A Huge Success!

NewsletterAutumn 2015

a European drug company asking howhe could recruit pharmaceuticalscience students!

I have two highlights from theconference, maybe three if you don’tdiscount that I didn’t have to make myown lunch! First, the opportunity I wasgiven to sit in on the skin workshopwhich was chaired by the leader of theSkin Focus Group. This was invaluableas it drew my attention to some areasof research that I have been strugglingto find any literature on for myundergraduate research project. I wasable to network with professionals whoare the top of their fields and I havebeen enlightened by their interest andadvice to support my project.

My final highlight was as theconference drew to a close. As I washaving a conversation with a lady who Ilater discovered used to be thechairman of the Royal PharmaceuticalSociety (as you do), I was approachedby a formulator that I had spoken to on

the APS stand the day before. Iremember asking on the off chance ifhis company took summer placementstudents which he said he would lookinto. I wasn’t expecting to hearanything back, but to my surprise I wasintroduced to his department managerwho I had a quick discussion with aboutwhat I was doing and what his companydid. I was given a business card and toldto keep in touch if I was interested in asummer placement. I later began adiscussion with him on LinkedIn - whichI had created an account for as a resultof some advice I was given at IndustrialInsights. What more can you ask for?!

It all seemed a bit of a fairy tale the dayafter the conference, but you begin torealise that life as a student is not aboutwriting applications and pulling all-nighters in the library, but aboutcommunication with like-mindedpeople. Sharing ideas, following yourpassion.

I know that is easy to say and it can takeyears to find what you’re reallyinterested in, but if there’s one thing totake from this, it’s about educatingyourself about what’s out there andmaking contacts. The generalperception of industry is that it is animpossible door to open and that putsmany people off. But at the end of theday, it is a network of people all with apassion about what they do. If youseize opportunities and share yourinterests, you unlock a utopia.

The APS can provide you with theseopportunities to make those valuableconnections and help you decide ifindustry is right for you. It’s reallyhelped kick start my career, I can’t urgeyou enough to get involved and jointoday!

Robert Oakley,University of Nottingham

2016 will see the 7th APS International PharmSci Conference moving to the newly-opened Technology& Innovation Centre at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

The conference will follow in Scotland’s rich heritage in the Sciences, Mathematics and Technologywhich have left a proud trail of famous scientists to inspire and encourage others to follow in theirfootsteps.

Professor Yvonne Perrie, who is a Professor in Pharmaceutics/Drug Delivery, Head of Pharmacy at Aston University, is theConference science chair. Yvonne is an eminent fellow of the APS, and fellow of the RPS and Society of Biology. Her researchon formulation attributes that govern the mechanism of action of particulate systems for drug delivery, vaccine adjuvanticityand diagnostics, provides the foundation for practical solutions and realistic options to enhance patient care on a globalscale.

The theme of the conference in 2016 is

Pharmaceutical Sciences: Improving World HealthThe UK’s competitive edge in the pharmaceutical sciences lies in its high quality pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilitiesand its expertise in the development of innovative medicinal products and delivery systems. If the UK is to continue to produce world-leadingmedicines that tackle global health issues we need to further invest in our capabilities. The Conference will provide a forum to help achieve thisaim.

You can become part of this conference now, by reserving thedate, suggesting a topic, offering a poster presentation, reservingan exhibition space and many other opportunities. Please emailinfo@apsgb.org.

Cont’d over