Is your goal to run your own lab? For many PhD students and postdocs, the ambition is clear but knowing how to prepare while balancing research can feel uncertain.
In this second instalment of our Postdoc to PI series, Dr Sam Booker (University of Edinburgh) will take a deeper look at the foundations of academic independence. This session is about preparation - exploring the skills, perspective, and awareness you need to develop now, so that when you’re ready to apply for independent positions, you can take that step with confidence.
We’ll explore five key pillars, why they are important and tips on how start:
Join us for practical guidance, top tips and the chance to put your questions to an experienced academic.
Neuroscience Group Leader, University of Edinburgh
Dr Sam Booker completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh, earning an Honours Degree in Pharmacology in 2008. He then pursued a PhD at the University of Glasgow in the lab of Imre Vida, where he specialised in whole-cell patch clamp recordings from hippocampal interneurons.
In 2011, he relocated with the lab to Berlin for a three-year postdoctoral position at Charité Universitätsmedizin, continuing research into hippocampal and cortical interneurons using techniques including calcium imaging and GABA uncaging. From 2014 to 2021, Dr Booker held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Edinburgh in the labs of Peter Kind and David Wyllie, focusing on synaptic mechanisms in early brain development and their role in neurodevelopmental disorders.
During this time, he established advanced imaging and electrophysiological techniques. In 2021, he was awarded a SIDB ESAT Fellowship to establish his own research group, which investigates neuronal plasticity in the developing brain and the influence of inhibitory signalling, using a combination of electrophysiology and neuroanatomy in rodent and human tissue models.
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