Spring Clock Club 2024 Glasgow

The next UK Clock Club will be hosted by the University of Glasgow, with a fabulous keynote speaker lined up, and satellite training events from BioClocks UK on offer.  

PROGRAMME now available to download at the pdf link 

Key details and dates

Clock Club main event: 11am to 6pm on Monday 29th April 2024

Location: Yudowitz Lecture Theatre, Wolfson Medical Building, Gilmore Campus, University of Glasgow G12 8QQ 

Keynote speaker: Prof. Kristin Tessmar-Raible 'Decoding time information from sun and moon for the regulation of physiology and behaviour'

Registration deadline: 5pm 11th April 2024

The abstract deadline closed on March 1st. If you have any queries about an abstract you have submitted or anything else about this event please contact the host, Professor Tyler Stevenson by email at tyler.stevenson@glasgow.ac.uk

Joint hybrid session with UCSD Center for Circadian Biology

On April 29th, we are planning a hybrid session for Clock Club attendees that will begin at 4pm and continue until 8pm

BioClocks UK Satellite Training Sessions

In addition to attending Clock Club, participants can choose to attend one of the following sessions. Places are offered on a first come, first served basis.  

• BioClocks UK Policy Workshop (in person from 9am to 12pm on Tuesday 30th April)
• BioClocks UK Patient/Public Participation workshop (now postponed to a later online session; you will be contacted saprately about this if you already signed up)

BioClocks UK Policy workshop

In person, 9-12 noon, Tuesday April 30th

University of Glasgow

Free to attend but numbers are limited, and you will need to stay on in Glasgow for this workshop on the morning after clock club

Our RSE funding is allowing us to offer some participants a partial travel/hotel award up to £90, if you’re a student or postdoc, prioritising the longest journeys.

Interactive workshop, with (provisional titles):

Dr. Dave Blackbell, Co-Director of the Scottish Research and Policy Exchange (SPRE) - How does research reach policy, and where can I start?

Prof. Sara Montagnese, University of Surrey - Circadian timing, getting from a Result to clinical Relevance.

Prof. Andrew Millar, University of Edinburgh - Policy needs your science Skills, more than your science Knowledge.

Prof. Russell Foster, University of Oxford - Pitching the Body Clock to peers and policymakers.

Issues of biological timing have visibly arrived on the policy agenda, with initiatives in the EU and USA to abandon Daylight Saving Time, and a new, population-wide Sleep Checkup being introduced in Japan, amongst others. These high-profile initiatives are just the frothiest peaks on a broad swell of interest in rhythms, across societies: from the local to the global, wherever science informs guidelines, regulations, standards etc, you're on the policy interface. Join us in Glasgow to hear how chronobiology research connects with policy, and the many, many ways to engage. We expect many participants might just be considering whether or how to engage, so our experienced facilitator Dr. Dave Blackbell will introduce the landscape. As well as hearing from chronobiologists with experience in different parts of the policy interface, we will discuss examples brought in by our participants, with time to consider how they could engage with policy. Finally, we might consider what makes a policy strategy, and how BioClocks UK might develop such a strategy with the UK chronobiology community.

BioClocks UK Patient/Public Participation workshop

Session postponed to a later date and will now be held online - details to follow

Hosted by Professor Malcolm von Schantz, Northumbria University; MRC Circadian and Mental Health Network lead for patient participation.

Interactive workshop, with (provisional titles):

Dr. Iain Campbell, AMBIENT-BD project - Guiding research protocols from Lived Experience.

Dr. Amy Ferguson, MRC Network Coordinator - Agreeing the research agenda in a Priority-Setting Partnership.

Maja Mitchell-Grigorjeva, Delivery and Development Manager, Bipolar Scotland.

[We expect another speaker, likely from one of our major funders.]

Explaining your circadian research is easier, because whatever your audience, we all have experience of our sleep-wake cycles. Often, people aren't just interested to listen, they also have experience to share that is relevant to research. That discussion is PPIE - Patient/Public Involvement and Engagement in research. This workshop will hear how biological rhythms projects are engaging in PPIE, straight from the researchers: what the benefits are for all sides, and some challenges.

Funders such as Wellcome are increasingly expecting PPIE input to the design of research projects. UKRI's public engagement strategy of 2022 also includes PPIE.  As part of Citizen Science, the principles here apply across many research areas.

We expect most workshop participants may be interested in general, or considering early steps in this area. If you're a researcher on a clock-related project who is already engaged, please join us! As well as hearing from the researchers who are engaged now, we will discuss examples brought in by our participants, with time to consider how they could engage with PPIE.