17 June 2024

We were delighted to host our inaugural Global South Workshop, organised by Kênia Bícego (São Paulo State University, Brazil) and Andrea Fuller (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) and held at Kruger National Park, South Africa in March 2024. Our Global South Workshop is part of our ongoing commitment to diversifying our Workshop programme so that we can support a wider selection of research communities around the world.

As Workshop organiser Andrea stated: “The biggest challenge for Global South researchers is financial, starting with the weak currencies in most Global South countries and much smaller research funds to work with, further compounded by higher costs of doing research, e.g. high travel costs to conferences, visa costs, import duties on research equipment, lack of easy access to sophisticated equipment. There is no better way to increase the delegate diversity and obtain new ideas than through including the Global South, where the voices of early-career researchers, in particular, are often not heard, as a result of barriers to participation.”

Fellow organiser Kênia adds “The challenge for world science is to reduce the gap between the research produced in the Global North in relation to the Global South. To change this reality requires an effort by everyone, not only by those in the Global South. This is an important reason for The Company of Biologists to hold Workshops in the Global South.”

Our inaugural Workshop focused on the topic of ‘‘How Global South research can shape the future of comparative physiology’’. Senior and early-career researchers came together to discuss a range of research themes, including body temperature regulation, metabolism and cardiorespiratory physiology in vertebrates, mammalian thermal physiology and wildlife conservation physiology. As well as a full programme of discussion and information sessions, the Workshop featured the usual social and networking opportunities, including our first-ever game drive!

The Workshop received great feedback from delegates. Luisa Diela-Viegas travelled to the Workshop from Federal University of Bahia, Brazil: “I very much enjoyed the opportunity to meet other incredible scientists working within a broad spectrum of comparative physiology. Several research ideas arose during the event, besides the establishment of promising collaborations. I think it’s important that The Company of Biologists has the Global South Workshop programme because Global South researchers are usually underrepresented in international workshops and conferences, due to a lack of funding for basic research and lack of opportunities to establish oneself in the field.”

Mungo Ngalameno from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania commented: “I built networks with other early-career researchers and mentors and we are in discussions to see how we can initiate new collaborations. This will have positive impact on my research and future career.”

Anusha Shankar from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Hyderabad, India was struck by the innovation present at the Workshop: “It was truly inspiring to see that The Company of Biologists, an organisation with power and influence and based in the Global North, is funding such a Workshop. It seems like people from the Global South face very similar bureaucratic, political and economic hurdles, but with different socio-cultural and perhaps geographic challenges. It was eye-opening to see how people innovate and make progress in science in the face of those challenges – sometimes convergently and sometimes in entirely different novel ways.”

Ashleigh Donaldson, a postdoc at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, appreciated the unique networking opportunities at the Workshop: “I made a lot of very valuable connections, both with other early-career researchers who are eager to collaborate, as well as with senior researchers who have offered invaluable advice. Many of the other attendees work in very different areas to myself, and the option is now there to extend my research into complementary areas with the help of those more knowledgeable than myself. These opportunities may not always come up at other workshops and conferences where interactions with Global North researchers are more common.”

Andrea Fuller noted that the equal footing that early-career researchers enjoy at our Workshops made a particular impression: “The early-career researchers were amazed that all their costs were covered and that they were treated like VIPs, even being allocated their own rooms at the Workshop. I think that gave them the confidence to make their voices heard and to realise that they are the future of comparative physiology research. I hope the Workshop will assist the attendees in developing their own research laboratories and careers, through increased networking and collaboration.”

Kenia Bicego valued the opportunity of having the small number of delegates, from a range of career stages (early-career, senior researchers and editors) spend most of their time together, during presentations, discussions and mealtimes to facilitate talking directly amongst each other. “Early-career researchers had opportunities to express themselves, which is not usual in other meetings. Diversifying environments and groups of people for discussion is essential to find real solutions for real problems based on scientific knowledge.”

Craig Franklin, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Experimental Biology, was delighted to attend our first Global South Workshop. “This important initiative provides an excellent opportunity for early-career researchers in the Global South to meet others in their position and to network with senior researchers, in a hope that it will stimulate new collaborations. It was exciting to meet and interact with the future of comparative physiology!”

Applications are now open for proposals for our 2026 programme. In addition to the dedicated Global South Workshop*, we will also be taking applications for our usual programme of UK-based Workshops. Organising a Workshop with The Company of Biologists allows you to focus on the science, while we take care of all the logistical arrangements. The Workshops are also entirely funded by us, so you won’t need to secure additional funds or sponsors.

To find out more about organising a Workshop with us, watch our video from previous organisers and visit our website. Application deadline is 19 July 2024.

*For a list of Global South countries, please refer to this website. Note that we also include Mexico as eligible.