Royal Society of Biology

09/10/2025

Congratulations to our Apprentices of the Year 2025!

This award celebrates the hard work and dedication of apprentices in their specific fields and showcases apprenticeships as a highly valuable career path.

The winners are: Tamara Martinez AMRSB, Apprentice Laboratory Technician at Nottingham Trent University and Rebecca Bojarski, Laboratory Scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

The highly commended awards went to: Rebecca Stokes, Laboratory Technician at University of York ork and Pia Boeber, Laboratory Science Apprentice at .

To find out more about the award, read the full story: www.rsb.org.uk/apprentice-of-the-year-2025

09/10/2025

An elephant never forgets… 🐘

Our third Memory Game has officially been launched for Biology Week 2025!

If you’re an educator, STEM club leader, or a parent/carer, this is the perfect fun activity to warm up your kids' brains and test their short term recall. See if they can remember the 18 everyday objects relating to the different biology careers and then explore those careers through our A to Z of the Biosciences videos - great for any aspiring biologists!

Don’t forget, this activity isn’t just for young elephants, anyone can take part and enjoy the brain teaser.

Is your memory as good as an elephant’s? 🧠

Explore the game: www.rsb.org.uk/biology-week-resources

07/10/2025

Calling all early career researchers!

Are you able to create a compelling poster that will communicate your research to a non-specialist audience? Then why not enter the STEM for BRITAIN competition?

STEM for BRITAIN is a poster competition for early career researchers across all of science, technology, engineering, and maths. Finalists will have the opportunity to present their research in the UK Parliament and win medals and prizes, with specific categories available for Biological and Biomedical Sciences ECRs. The finals of the competition will be on 17 March 2026 in the Houses of Parliament.

📆 Applications close Monday 24th November.

Find out more: stemforbritain.org.uk/

06/10/2025

Biology Week starts this Saturday 11 October - are you planning on getting involved?

Biology Week celebrates and raises the profile of the biosciences, and the important work that bioscientists are doing. From joining an event to using our resources, there are many ways that you can take part - don't forget to tag us or use the hashtag if you're posting about it!

Find out more: www.rsb.org.uk/biology-week

02/10/2025

We're excited to announce the winners of the 2025 BioArtAttack 2D competition!

The award, for 7-18 year olds, celebrates the combination of science and art to showcase the natural world. The winning images range from a poison dart frog to the anatomy of a flamingo, all displaying the creative wonders of biology.

This year’s BioArtAttack 2D winners are: Ameka Karthick (7-11) from King's College School, Cambridge, Sonika Sashikant Panchal (12-14) from Hitchin Girls’ School, Hertfordshire, and Naomi Annetts (15-18 category) from Ibstock Place School, London.

This year's winners of the Nancy Rothwell prize, a category specifically for labelled specimen drawings, are Sangyu Joel Sun (7-11) from Singapore American School, Sophia Yutong Zhu (12-14) from Singapore International School (Hong Kong), and Kelly Wong (15-18) from Harrow International School Hong Kong.

Congratulations to you all!

Read the full story for more information and quotes from the winners: www.rsb.org.uk/bioartattack-winners-2025.html

02/10/2025

We are very sad to hear of the passing of Dr Jane Goodall Hon FRSB. Dr Goodall’s work as a primatologist and conservationist was truly inspiring and, though her presence will be sorely missed, we are sure that her legacy will live on.

With great sadness, the Jane Goodall Institute confirmed this morning the passing of the organization’s founder, Dr. Jane Goodall, age 91 who died peacefully in her sleep while in Los Angeles, CA for her speaking tour in the United States.

Dr. Goodall’s life and work not only made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, but also of humankind and the environments we all share. She inspired curiosity, hope and compassion in countless people around the world, and paved the way for many others — particularly young people who gave her hope for the future.

In 1960 Dr. Goodall established the longest running wild chimpanzee study in Gombe National Park, Tanzania which continues to this day. She pioneered and sustained the Jane Goodall Institute’s community-centered conservation initiatives across the chimpanzee range for over four decades. Her legacy includes the creation of JGI’s international environmental and humanitarian youth program Roots & Shoots, which is actively driving change in 75 countries and counting around the world.

The Jane Goodall Institute is incredibly grateful to all our supporters, partners, and friends, especially during this difficult time. To add a personal remembrance of Dr. Goodall and continue her legacy for future generations, please visit JaneGoodall.org/RememberingJane

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Photo credit: Marko Zlousic

01/10/2025

A warm welcome to the over 1,000 newly elected members of RSB – we’re delighted that you have joined our community!

Don’t forget that, as a member, you now have access to benefits including member-exclusive events (like the upcoming forensic anthropology lecture by Professor Lady Sue Black Hon FRSB), discounted training courses, and RSB Perks.

Explore my.rsb.org.uk to find out more!

30/09/2025

📣 Calling all biologists - we need your help!

There's less than two weeks until Biology Week starts which means there's not long left to get your post ready!

Our campaign aims to inspire future biologists by highlighting the diverse roles available in the biosciences.

To take part you'll either need to film an engaging ‘day in the life’ video showing the kinds of activities that you get up to in your role, or share an image of yourself on social media with a caption about what your role entails. Then post it during Biology Week (October 11-19) on your social media channel of choice, use the hashtag and tag us!

So whether you're an anatomist, bioengineer, conservationist, developmental biologist, events officer, fungal ecophysiologist, geneticist, histologist, ichthyologist, journalist, kelp researcher, lab assistant, molecular modeller, neuroscientist, osteobiologist, plant scientist, QP, radiologist, student researcher, teacher, underwater explorer, virologist, woolly mammoth researcher, yeast scientist, zoologist, or something else - get involved!

29/09/2025

Our recently commissioned Teacher Tapp survey (Aug 2025) of primary and secondary teachers in England shows that:
· 72% of primary teachers completed safeguarding professional development (PD), 68% SEND PD, but only 20% undertook science-specific training.
· 38% of secondary science teachers did no science PD last year; 37% undertook physics PD, 30% chemistry PD, and 27% biology PD.

At the RSB, we’ll be using these insights to inform our policy and professional development priorities. We will aim to support policies to:
· Build an unbroken chain of expert science teachers through subject-specific Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
· Support mid-career teachers to boost retention.
· Ensure equitable, inclusive science education for all students.

What do YOU think schools and policy makers can do to make CPD more accessible and impactful? Join the STEM Learning Community platform to view the full survey insights and have your say via our recently launched Teaching Policy Network!

https://www.stem.org.uk/stem-community

Teacher Tapp is a daily survey app that asks over 11,000 teachers questions each day and reweights the results to make them representative.

29/09/2025

This is a great competition for young people to take part in!

We are very excited to see the entries are coming in... make sure we have yours by the 18th October, the end of Royal Society of Biology . Help us to celebrate animal behaviour. 🦩🐸🕷️ 🐌🐠🦚

26/09/2025

Congratulations to our Plant Health Undergraduate Studentship (PHUGS) students for completing their summer research and showcasing their projects at our annual symposium today!

Our students were awarded funding through a highly competitive application process to carry out cutting-edge research relating to Defra’s plant health priorities at selected host institutions. Thank you to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Association of Applied Biologists, The Colegrave Seabrook Foundation, and the SCI® Where Science Meets Business Horticulture Group for funding the 2025 PHUGS studentships!

Read some PHUGS student testimonials below!

Learn more about the PHUGS scheme: www.rsb.org.uk/plant-health-ug-studentships

25/09/2025

The Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award is now open for nominations!

The award aims to identify the UK’s leading bioscience higher education (HE) teachers, recognising the invaluable role they play in educating and inspiring the next generation of biologists. If you know a bioscience lecturer who deserves recognition for their passion and ideas, encourage them to submit an application!

Find out more: www.rsb.org.uk/he-bioscience-teacher-award