The ACE Early Career Network held its first symposium on 1st September in the Nucleus. We had over 70 attendees from across the University and ACE’s partner organisations, bringing together a truly diverse range of early career researchers all interested in adaptation to global change. ACE Early career symposium The symposium started with a session of interdisciplinary research talks and posters on topics such as fossil evidence of invertebrates burrowing into trees, anthropological insights into views on microbes, how chicken feed alters microbiomes, and how plant adaptations to shade could help human health. After lunch and networking, we held a career paths discussion panel. Five researchers kindly volunteered their time to share their career journeys and answer questions from our audience. We had representatives from the University of Edinburgh, RSPB, University of Aberdeen, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Some key takeaways were, career paths are not linear, it is common to not get grants or jobs the first time, and it is ok for your personal choices (and personal life) to shape your career path. We would like to give a special thanks to Zishan Fu (Sannie), Diego Sanchez Ganfornina, Nathan Medd and the rest of the ACE ECN Committee for their hard work organising this event. This article was published on 2025-10-30
