2024 was an eventful and memorable year for the Royal Society of Biology. We take this opportunity to look back on some of the highlights.

Membership and Events

Our members and Fellows are at the heart of what we do at RSB, so it was fantastic to see many of our Fellows recognised in the New Year Honours and King’s Birthday Honours list this year. Our membership has grown considerably over the past year, reaching almost 22,000 individual members and over 80 Member Organisations (MOs). A significant milestone was welcoming The Francis Crick Institute as a Supporting MO. This expansion helps grow our collaborative voice as an umbrella organisation representing the bioscience community and is encouraging to see an increase in numbers despite the cost of living crisis. We also awarded 10 travel grants and had over 70 nominations come through for the 2024 Top Student Award.

The Events team also successfully delivered several events and conferences including: Voice of the Future on behalf of the Parliamentary Steering Group, the RSB’s online AGM with Charter Lecture given by Professor Dame Melanie Welham FRSB, the CGS CGG Edinburgh event, and Accreditation Conference and Awards. Client academic conference delivery increased this year with the Joint UK/Dutch CGS & CGG Meeting 2024 in March, the 61^st Annual LASA Conference in November, and the Genetics Society Autumn Meeting also in November. There was also a series of webinars for BSGM and its constituent groups throughout the year. The Bioscience Careers Day, held online, and the in-person Accreditation Awards Ceremony are annual events that continue to be well run, of interest, and engage their set audiences.

The Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS), a special interest group of the RSB, continues to be of value to bioscience academics across the UK. This year they launched a new strategy in March at an event in Parliament, featuring an inspiring talk by Dr Kat Arney.

Communications, Outreach, and Public Affairs

We celebrated our 13^th Biology Week in October, reaching and engaging hundreds of schools across the UK and around the world with the biosciences. Highlights of the week included awarding many prizes to our various competition winners, a member-exclusive talk given by George McGavin, and a trip to Kew Gardens.

We also co-hosted the Signs of Spring citizen science survey in our first year of working on the project with Field Studies Council, looking at key spring indicators during the first few months of the year and tracking the effects of the climate crisis on their emergence. The survey is continuing again this year.

In a landmark collaboration, we partnered with media production company Content With Purpose (CWP) to launch a pioneering digital series designed to spotlight the indispensable role of biology in tackling global challenges.

We continue to be actively involved in parliamentary affairs, supporting events such as STEM for Britain, and Science and the Parliament.

Biology Week Awards ceremony: competition winner awardees with RSB CEO Dr Mark Downs (left) and RSB President Professor Sir Ian Boyd (right)

Publications

The final issue of The Biologist for 2024 was a special issue exploring the impact of AI on all areas of the life sciences. The issue examined how to fairly and sustainably create the biological data AI needs; how artificial neural networks compare to the brain's network of neurons; how to ensure AI adds value to higher education; and how to regulate the rapidly moving worlds of biotech and AI as they converge. We talked to AI pioneer Patrick Hsu about how biological foundations models are helping to design new gene editing complexes and even new life forms. Plus, there's even more on the future of sequencing and technology to reduce the use of animals in research.

The Society has also partnered with Hachette for a children’s book series in conjunction with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Institute of Physics (IOP). The series is aimed at children 8+, focusing on the wonders of science, and will launch in April.

Education Policy

On the Education Policy side, 2024 kicked off with Biology Education Research Group’s popular annual day of talks at Association for Science Education (ASE)’s annual conference. The RSB’s Education Policy team established a new Teaching Policy Advisory Group and is in the process of setting up a Teaching Policy Network, seeking to engage more teachers, schools, and Schools and Colleges Affiliation Scheme (SCAS) members with policy advice and development.

The team has been actively involved in curriculum and qualification reform in England, Scotland, and Wales including meetings with Ministers in Wales. We published an expanded suite of Evolving 5-19 Biology documents developed by our Curriculum Committee on overlooked areas of the curriculum: practical activities, ecology, transferable skills, and sustainability, and Welsh language translations of Evolving 5-19 Biology. The RSB has worked closely with Science Education Policy Alliance partners to produce recommendations on Developing a Primary Science Curriculum, and teamed up with Chat Biology to host social media discussions with teachers.

ASE, RSB, IOP and RSC colleagues at the Senedd in Wales

Training and Professional Registers

This year the professional development team launched the new Biorisk Professional Register Scheme. This scheme allows those involved in management, control, or containment of biorisk to develop and evidence their professional skills and provides a benchmark of professional competence for duty-holders.

The Qualified Person (QP) symposium, hosted by RSC in collaboration with RSB and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), was a sold-out event, providing QPs a chance to network, learn about AI in the context of pharmaceutical quality, and get key updates in the field.

We celebrated the outstanding achievements of apprentices through our annual Apprentice of the Year Award. The award received a large number of high quality applications, and winners were recognised for quality of work and commitment to their own and other’s personal development.

Practical training on cell culture and aseptic techniques provided an opportunity for learners to perfect their laboratory skills. Online training included AI and machine learning, laboratory health and safety, ecology, and leadership.

Accreditation

We hosted our annual Accreditation Awards Ceremony in April where over 50 bioscience programmes at more than 20 higher education institutions were formally awarded degree accreditation by the RSB, meaning that 69% of eligible UK institutions now hold accreditation for their programmes. The accreditation team reached two important milestones this year: accrediting our first institute in South America, and awarding accreditation to an apprenticeship programme for the first time.

Science Policy

Our Science Policy team once again provided invaluable guidance and recommendations to Parliament, including our work on biosecurity, in addition to our analysis on the use of animals in research.

Our broad Plant Health work with Defra is a positive highlight for working across the organisation with Events, Registers, Plant Health Undergraduate Studentships (PHUGS), and Communications.

Looking ahead

In 2025, we look forward to the launch of our new strategy, website, and rebrand, our AGM on 21 May 2025, and we will also say a fond farewell to our CEO Mark Downs who will retire later this year.