NoCaSS 2026: highlighting early career researchers leading plant and microbial sciences

by Hazel Surtees (John Innes Centre)

Founded in 2013, the goal of the Norwich-Cambridge Science Symposium (NoCaSS) has always been to bring together Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from Norwich and Cambridge, celebrating their pioneering research in plant and microbial sciences, and inspiring new connections between the research leaders of the future.

A variety of science and interactive sessions

This year, 150 ECRs gathered at the John Innes Centre from 13-14 August, presenting >60 research posters and scientific talks and making the most of a careers panel, an industry workshop, a keynote talk, presentation awards, and of course the free pizza.

NoCaSS 2026 was free to attend with thanks to our generous sponsors. The event featured a great variety of plant and microbial research in a friendly and supportive atmosphere.

Our scientific program covered six topics: Plant Infection, Plant Development, Genes & Genomes, Biochemistry & Metabolism, Susceptibility & Resistance, and Symbiosis & Microbial Biology. The talks were far-ranging, from the biocontrol of kiwi vines in New Zealand to the acoustic liquid handling of Yeast Two-Hybrid screening.

Focus on careers

We were delighted to welcome Dr Helen Fones from the University of Exeter as our keynote speaker. Not only did she present a fascinating talk about Zymoseptoria tritici on the leaf surface, she provided insight into her career path and was kind enough to judge the student presentations for our Keynote’s Choice award.

For the careers panel, two early career group leads – Dr Hassan Salem from the John Innes Centre and Dr Tatsuya Nobori from The Sainsbury Laboratory – joined Dr Hannah Hodgson, Scientific Laboratory Head at HotHouse Therapeutics, and Dr Reuben James, Account Manager for Fisher Scientific. An interactive poll allowed everyone in the room to take part and ask their burning questions about moving internationally for work, finding a work-life balance, and defining scientific questions.

Nucleate also brought together Prof Sophien Kamoun, a group lead at The Sainsbury Laboratory, Nicolas Kral, the founder of Phytoform, Dr Alicia Showering, the CEO of BugBiome, and Dr Harry Langford, the Head of Technology and Innovation at UK Agri-Tech Centre, to discuss their career paths, innovation in the life sciences, and outlooks on the future of biotechnology. The workshop challenged attendees to think about translating different research projects into tangible real-world impacts, testing their creative thinking and problem solving.

Talk and poster awards

Nucleate and the careers panellists were all kind enough to judge our poster presentations. The winner of Nucleate’s Poster Award was Vijayalaxmi Ambekar, who presented on chloroplast translation in response to damaged photosynthetic proteins. Poppy Leslie won the Career Panel’s Poster Award for her work on the evolution of lifestyle in the fungal genus Gaeumannomyces.

The Keynote’s Choice talk award went to Samuel Bruty, who presented on “Mendelian Mishaps” and their role in the legume rhizosphere and disease resistance. Nicolas Trenk won the Popular Vote Award for his presentation on Fusarium wilt resistance in pea.

Extra networking and positive feedback

Alongside the brilliant science, inspiring panels, and thought-provoking discussions, NoCaSS provided some more relaxed networking opportunities at an evening social in the form of a zippy pub quiz. This explored the rich history of Cambridge and Norwich and proved to be a true test of everyone’s general scientific knowledge. We hope the bonds formed in the pub quiz teams will be the foundations for future scientific collaboration!

The feedback from the event was highly positive and attendees especially enjoyed how interesting and diverse the talks were, and how much they learnt about different career journeys.

NoCaSS was grateful to receive funding through the Centre for Microbial Interaction’s flexible funding scheme. It is through the support of the CMI and our other sponsors that NoCaSS continues to be a successful, accessible symposium that celebrates ECRs in plant and microbial sciences.

The NoCaSS organising committee is made up of ECRs and led by students. Interested in organising NoCaSS 2027? Pop us a message, at: JIC.NoCaSS@jic.ac.uk.