Monash University Microbiology Postgraduate Society (MUMPS) 7th Microbiology Student Symposium, Written by Anthony Muleta

On Friday October 27th, the Monash University Microbiology Postgraduate Society (MUMPS) hosted the 7th Microbiology Student Symposium! Twenty students from different stages of their PhDs, Masters, and Honours degrees, from 12 research groups across the Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Hudson Institute, gave presentations and answered questions from the department, celebrating and showcasing the research efforts of the postgraduate students at Monash University. In total, 104 guests attended the event, with 27 being ASM members.

The day included keynote presentations from Professor Enzo Palombo (Swinburne University), discussing the value of plants as a source of antimicrobials, and Professor Kim-Anh Lê Cao (University of Melbourne), discussing methods for analysing multivariate microbiome data. A Microbiology graduate careers panel discussion featuring Dr Miku Kuba, Dr Rachael Lappan, and Dr Taylah Bennett was chaired by the ASM’s own Professor Hayley Newton, discussing career pathways post-PhD, how to handle the many challenges of studying a PhD, and how to get the most of your degree. Our sincerest thanks go to the invited speakers and panellists for sharing their time and wisdom with us.

With support from the ASM, the day culminated in awards and prizes for the top presentations of the day, as judged by postdoctoral researchers. The highest score for the day went to the overall winner Melanie Tripp, a PhD student in Associate Professor Gregory Moseley’s lab, presenting her work investigating immune evasion of Hendra virus genotypes. All of the students gave outstanding and professional presentations, and overall the day was a huge success! All attendees enjoyed hearing about the students’ research and were eager to participate throughout the day.

Anthony Muleta

PhD Candidate and MUMPS Academic Coordinator