Core aim text
"By 2025, we will provide the immunology community with support to establish more connections and enhance collaboration, both within the field, and with other related scientific disciplines and between sectors."
Survey numbers for Connected Community - high level
68.5%...
...of respondents answered 4 or 5 when asked:
'how clear is this core aim and description, where 5 = very clear?'
100%...
...of respondents answered 4 or 5 when asked:
'how important is this core aim, where 5 = very important?'
Survey feedback for text
Click each title to view the written feedback.
Survey question: what does this core aim mean to you?
Survey question: how could the text of the core aim be improved?
Workshop results
What should or could be changed about the core area?
The groups were asked to work together and add their comments to a google form.
The feedback is below, grouped into similar areas.
It should be shortened and simplified. We don't think specific sectors should be mentioned. 'We will provide enhanced support and cohesion across the immunology community'.
By scientific disciplines do we really mean "research" or "medical"?
Should we consider "the public" as a sector, especially in context of PPI rather than more traditional public engagement?
Sector is too general - More focus, more concrete
Field, discipline, sector similar meaning
Other related disciplines is too vague
Fairly clear as stands, not sure need more granularity on the aim.
Connection and collaboration are a repetition
Clearer, more specific, shorter
Is it possible to mention different sectors - clinical, industry, academia - and bringing these together - otherwise people might not know what 'sector' is. Also important how we interact with wider learned society community.
Should include members at all stages of their career. Could be simplified to just say '...to enhance collaboration.' This statement needs an aim or purpose eg '...to build partnerships and to integrate immunology into other disciplines and sectors.'
Need to represent all career stages within immunology.
Need to define who is the immunology community
By 2030 will continue to support our community, connect and expand its reach
Needs to be clearer that BSI will enable connections that wouldn't be enabled otherwise. What is meant by the word "connections"? What is the BSI going to deliver because of this? Is this too much 'business speak'? Goal of BSI to make a better connected and working together immunology community.
Support - enabling (like this word) conversations and providing seed funding. BSI can provide the environment for connections to take place. Need to give a sense of how broad connections can be.
British primarily but can enable international connections with the UK immunology community.
More specific towards the back end of the paragraph - sectors?
We align on the statement until the word collaboration, after that as a table we felt more specificity was needed. It is not clear what we mean with sectors or field. Without drastically making the statement longer, we feel we can bring in more specificity.
Workshop results: vote on evolving the text
The group was asked to vote on the importance of potential changes. The results are as follow:
Connected Community commitments
We will do this by:
• Expanding our activities and support to further enable our members to network and engage with each other across the immunology community
• Increasing the number and diversity of interdisciplinary connections with industry as well as between immunology and other relevant research and clinical fields
• Initiating and supporting national and topic-specific research consortia efforts relevant to immunology
Survey feedback for individual commitments
Click each title to view the feedback on each commitment.
Expanding our activities and support to further enable our members to network and engage with each other across the immunology community
Increasing the number and diversity of interdisciplinary connections with industry as well as between immunology and other relevant research and clinical fields
Initiating and supporting national and topic-specific research consortia efforts relevant to immunology
Workshop 'balloon' exercise
Attendees were asked to add comments as follows:
For the balloon - positive impacts or results so far from this commitment
For the basket - anything they would add or take away.
The images below show the completed balloon sheets.
Discussion notes
Notes from the subsequent group discussion
The commitments togther.
Survey results:
31.6%...
...of respondents would add an additional commitment.
Suggestions summary:
- Can the BSI provide a window into UK immunology, to enable international collaboration?
- Facilitate student post-doc short-term placements in industry or policy?
- Supported activities that expose BSI members to industry, whether that be through learning symposia, days/placements in industrial settings.
- Engagement of Emeritus members.
10.5%...
...of respondents believe one or more of the commitments is not vital.
Suggestions include:
- Topic-specific consortia are not key - probably the least important in terms of 'connecting' our community and membership
- Initiating and supporting national and topic-specific research consortia efforts relevant to immunolog - important, but not feasible?
Order of importance
The respondents voted for the following order of importance, in terms of the commitments' impact on the core area of Connected Community:
- Increasing the number and diversity of interdisciplinary connections with industry as well as between immunology and other relevant research and clinical fields.
- Expanding our activities and support to further enable our members to network and engage with each other across the immunology community.
- Initiating and supporting national and topic-specific research consortia efforts relevant to immunology.
- Can the BSI provide a window into UK immunology, to enable international collaboration?
Workshop results for commitments together
Groups were asked, "TAKING THE COMMITMENTS TOGETHER, WHAT SHOULD BE ADDED, TAKEN AWAY, MOVED ELSEWHERE OR REJIGGED?"
The responses are below, grouped into similar areas.
Do we need to include funders— charities, research council, venture capitalists?
Better links with funders - research councils, funders, venture capitalists etc.
Can we capture "the public" within the first point?
Commitments are in priority order, top one is most important and shouldn't be diluted.
What are the types of connections that are most important for BSI to support within the "community", e.g. connecting geographically, between disciplines, between careers stages? type of support for each would be different.
Build links within clinicians who are immunologists (from lots of different specialities) beyond just the clinical immunology sectors.
Better links to VCs, Flagship Pioneering and other novel industry/academia models, companies like Apollo Therapeutics...bringing innovation in.
Devise a way/phrase to capture the diversity of immunology at the moment, without ‘listing’ sectors.
Reflect immunology as a central hub between other facets of biology and technology ie cancer, microbiology etc through both societies, disciplines. Connecting with emerging technologies to ensure the acceleration of immunology at the same rate as these industries on steroids (data, spatial).
Joint meetings with other societies - e.g. cancer, microbiology, neuroscience, gerontology and technology
Should specify that the BSI should be collaborating with other organisations, societies, industry etc, not just enabling our members to collaborate
Entrepreneurship.
Can "community" be clearer to encompass diversity of immunology?
Expand the definition of community beyond researchers (which is the current focus) to include patients eg those on immunotherapies.
Embellish the commitments to reflect the necessary interdisciplinary interactions required in immunology!
Should include international relationships beyond the UK
Where do we go into multi disciplinary, how far internationally? Which profession will be part of our community in 5/10 years' time?
New skills and training.
Connected Community aims
- Build the reputation of our Regional and Affinity Groups as community-based expert hubs, the ‘go to’ places for researchers from all sectors of immunology and beyond to interact and engage
- Provide more diverse networking opportunities and events for members to grow support within our community, while also launching training programmes for researchers and clinicians who use immunology as part of their work
- Increase our reach and support for clinical immunology and the wider clinical sector through events, networks and other targeted initiatives
- Expand the reach of our high-quality journal content through partnerships and engagement with membership
- Champion investment in immunology and ‘team science’ through supporting and delivering existing and new immunology consortia
- Build the reputation of our Regional and Affinity Groups as community-based expert hubs, the ‘go to’ places for researchers from all sectors of immunology and beyond to interact and engage
Survey results for aims
Ranking of aims in terms of impact so far
- Provide more diverse networking opportunities and events for members to grow support within our community, while also launching training programmes for researchers and clinicians who use immunology as part of their work.
- Build the reputation of our Regional and Affinity Groups as community-based expert hubs, the ‘go to’ places for researchers from all sectors of immunology and beyond to interact and engage.
- Expand the reach of our high-quality journal content through partnerships and engagement with membership.
- Increase our reach and support for clinical immunology and the wider clinical sector through events, networks and other targeted initiatives.
- Champion investment in immunology and ‘team science’ through supporting and delivering existing and new immunology consortia.
Ranking in terms of potential impact
- Provide more diverse networking opportunities and events for members to grow support within our community, while also launching training programmes for researchers and clinicians who use immunology as part of their work.
- Build the reputation of our Regional and Affinity Groups as community-based expert hubs, the ‘go to’ places for researchers from all sectors of immunology and beyond to interact and engage.
- Expand the reach of our high-quality journal content through partnerships and engagement with membership.
- Champion investment in immunology and ‘team science’ through supporting and delivering existing and new immunology consortia.
- Increase our reach and support for clinical immunology and the wider clinical sector through events, networks and other targeted initiatives.
- Provide more diverse networking opportunities and events for members to grow support within our community, while also launching training programmes for researchers and clinicians who use immunology as part of their work.
Survey feedback for aims
Click each title to view the written feedback.
Summary of suggestions for the aims
General feedback for aims
Workshop exercise on aims
Attendees were asked to add stickers to each aim, accorinding to whether they thought the aim had a positive impact and they want to keep it (smile), they weren't sure or were neutral, or they did not like the aim or didn't feel it should be continued (frown).
Smiley faces
AIMS with majority green
"Increase our reach and support.."
"Provide more diverse networking opportunities..."
Neutral
AIMS with majority yellow
"Expand the rearch of our high quality journal content.."
(but also had 6 green)
"Champion investment in immunology and 'team science'..."
Frowns
AIMS with majority red
"Build the reputation of our regional affinity groups as..."
Workshop exercise - additional aims
Attendees were asked to think about whether additional aims should be added to this core area.
The grouped comments are below.
Workshop exercise - potential challenges
Attendees were asked to think about challenges for particular aims.
The comments are below.
