Recently I returned from an incredible weekend at Silmo:Paris where I was invited to give a plenary talk relating to the grant money I won last year. Ultimately, this was such a positive experience that I wanted to share a little bit about it in order to encourage vision scientists to apply for this grant in the future!
First, let’s rewind back to September 2017 when I first heard the incredible news that I was the successful applicant for the Silmo Academy Bursary of €10,000 for 2017. (Please click the link below for a summary of my research). Not only was this a huge opportunity for me professionally and for my research in general, but Silmo wanted to fly me out to Paris to accept the award in person(!). Whilst in Paris I got to watch the previous winner of the award give a fabulous talk about how he used the grant and how useful it was, and I was informed that I would be invited back the following year to give an equivalent talk. Needless to say that after having such a great time, I was very excited to start my research and be allowed the opportunity to return and talk about what I’d done!
If we fast-forward now to September 2018, I attended Silmo D’Or Gala on the Saturday (such a beautiful event, and well done to all the award winners!) and then prepared to give my talk last thing on the Sunday at the Silmo Academy Bursary Symposium. I was fortunate enough to have a truly wonderful audience who not only listened with a keen attentiveness but also asked some great questions at the end. All in all it was one of my most enjoyable presentations to date!
Immediately following my talk the winner of this year’s Silmo Academy Bursary was announced and I’m very pleased to say that it went to an excellent researcher that I know from Anglia Ruskin (Dr Jan Skerswetat) for his research project investigating binocular rivalry and interocular grouping in Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
This means that if you’re at Silmo:Paris 2019 you’ll have the opportunity to hear Jan speak about the work that he does over the coming year; certainly not to be missed.
If you have a research idea and you’re interested in applying for this €10,000 grant, please check back here soon for a link sending you to the Silmo web page full of guidance of how to apply for future rounds. I can say that I recommend it 100%!
Applications for 2019 now closed *~*~
Thanks again to Silmo for the opportunity, for supporting my research, and for hosting such a wonderful event. À bientôt!
Sam Strong's Vision Science Pages 