By 
Senior Lecturer, Science Technology and Innovation Studies
School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh
Tel: +44 (0)131 650 6393 miguel.GSancho@ed.ac.uk
I attended the Crucible in 2014 as a Chancellor’s Fellow starting my tenure-track at the University of Edinburgh. The programme was very valuable to get to know the Scottish University system – I had just arrived from Spain at the time – and met a bunch of very interesting colleagues from all the disciplines. This informal, interactive atmosphere is crucial for the Crucible. Being able to network with a group of like-minded young academics is invaluable, and this works not only at the professional level: I made very good friends at the Crucible and, in many cases, we are still in touch.
After concluding the programme, I was awarded two research grants and became a Principal Investigator:
- The first one was awarded by the BBSRC and explored the history of Dolly the sheep. It finished in Dec 2016 and employed a postdoctoral researcher who is now based in one of the best history of science departments in Britain at the University of Manchester: http://www.stis.ed.ac.uk/research/projects/completed_projects/historicising_dolly
- The second grant was awarded by the European Research Council and looks at the history of yeast, human and pig genomics. It is still ongoing (started in Oct 2016) and employs two postdoctoral Research Fellows: http://www.stis.ed.ac.uk/transgene
In sum, the Crucible has been incredibly inspirational to get my ideas flying!
