Submitted by Irena Rao on Thu, 22/05/2025 - 16:46
On Wednesday 20th May 2025 the Early Cancer Institute (ECI) organised an Away Day for all its staff and students. Taking place in the Crausaz Wordsworth Building at Robinson College, the purpose of the day was to bring everyone together, connect with colleagues from other groups, learn more about the research across the Institute and socialise outside of the office and labs.
The day began with a speed-meeting session where we discovered some interesting facts about each other. There were updates from the ECI Clinicians and Postdoc Societies, news from the ECI Book Club and an update on the building refurbishment project.
Before lunch, attendees had the choice of a tour of the college grounds with the Head Gardener, a relaxing art workshop or some fun tennis games. All activities were appreciated and we were fortunate to enjoy some glorious Spring sunshine.
In the afternoon we were delighted to have Dr Chris Smith from the Naked Scientists give a talk about public engagement, which featured just some of the many ways he has brought science to life. His top tips about science communication were invaluable for the following team-building activity which saw people placed into random teams, given a topic related to our 12 research groups and tasked with making a short public engagement video to explain it in an engaging and accessible way, in just over an hour!
We were thrilled to have such an esteemed judging panel consisting of Dr Chris Smith, Richard Wescott - Director of Communications at Cambridge University Health Partners, Dr Elizabeth Chipchase - Public and Patient Representative and Dr Jess Massie who kindly donated the prizes. All 12 films were shown on the big screen and the panel were astonished with what the teams managed to accomplish in such a short time! Congratulations to the winning Team 8, and to the runners-up Team 1!
