By 
Senior Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh
Tel: +44 (0)131 650 5363, Louise.Horsfall@ed.ac.uk,
http://horsfall.bio.ed.ac.uk, Twitter: @lehorsfall
I attended the Scottish Crucible in 2015, three years after I first joined the University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer in Biotechnology. The Crucible provided me with an extensive network of researchers who all excel in their fields of study, and I still draw on this today. The diversity of disciplines represented at the events led to some weird and wonderful conversations, and taught me that there are overlaps in people’s research interests no matter how different their subjects first appear. The training provided gave me the confidence and skills to take part in a number of radio interviews, public debates and feature articles. I believe the networks, skills and resulting confidence have directly contributed to my success since taking part in the Scottish Crucible programme, examples include:
- Awarded an EPSRC Fellowship: Biologically Upcycling Metals, £1.3M
- Became an Associate Director of the highly interdisciplinary Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions, University of Edinburgh
- Recipient of the University of Edinburgh’s Chancellor’s Rising Star Award 2015, and the School of Biological Sciences 2015 Recognising Excellence Award for Public Engagement
- Participated in debates, hosted by the Royal Society of Biology and the Biochemical Society, at the Glasgow Science Festival event and at the Royal Institution
- Participated in live interviews on Future Technologies for the BBC Radio 4 Today Show and BBC Radio Ulster Talkback.
- Elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland
- Began an art-science project with Burton Nitta entitled ‘Landscape Within’, supported by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award, which has been exhibited at the V&A
