Florey students bring Melbourne’s Medical Research Institutes together in Student Info Night success

A new initiative welcoming student groups from Medical Research Institutes across Melbourne to showcase their institute has shown great success. The inter-institute Student Info Night event held in August 2020 brought together student representatives from eight institutes and many keen prospective research students.

“The main goal of the student info night was to reach out to undergraduate students interested in further studies in biomedical research. We wanted to provide a platform for people to gain insight into the different research institutes, including The Florey,” said co-organiser Kevin Law, PhD candidate at The Florey.

The event attracted interest from over 350 Australian and international attendees, including undergraduate students across all year levels and current Honours and Masters researchers looking for PhD projects. It was also wholly interactive with participants able to take part in Q&A sessions and chat with current research students in virtual break-out rooms.

Fellow co-organiser Brandon Richards, a Florey Masters student shared his highlight from the event.

“The pinnacle was hearing from all the institute student reps about the variety of exciting research being conducted at the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct. From brain research to infectious disease to cancer to paediatrics, this event showcased the brilliant research minds of Melbourne,” he said.

Kevin and Brandon are both committee members of SOFI (Students of The Florey) postgraduate group, which aims to enhance the academic, social and professional lives of Florey students.

“We hope to build on the success of this night and the connections we made with the other institute student groups to bring to life further inter-institute events,” added Kevin.

This collaborative event featured student representatives from:

  • The Florey
  • The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
  • Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
  • Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
  • Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute
  • Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
  • St Vincent’s Research Institute of Medical Research
  • Centre for Eye Research Australia