About Richard Maclennan: ‘I’m Richard, a trainee life science/biotechnology patent attorney based in Manchester and at Alderley Park. I have a background in molecular medicine with a PhD in molecular toxicology. Before training to become a patent attorney I worked as a senior research scientist on a flagship EU Horizon 2020 research project researching new alternative testing strategies to replace animal models in chemical toxicity testing. When I’m not working or revising for exams I like to cycle out of Manchester into the Peak District or go climbing around the UK and Europe.’
A highlight of the networking year for a life science trainee patent attorney based in Manchester is the Bionow awards dinner usually held in December. “Networking” may not be that fun for many trainee patent attorneys (or qualified attorneys for that matter) but think of it as an opportunity to get out of the office and meet people. You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll talk about but there’s usually some common ground somewhere and at least one interesting conversation at every event. As a relatively recent entrant to the profession networking can be a bit daunting but the more events that you attend the better you get at it. Almost from the first week in the profession at Appleyard Lees I was involved in networking and attending events. Just like drafting a patent application networking is a skill and practice makes perfect. Having spent a year or so gaining confidence in networking in person the global pandemic hit and everything changed. Networking was no longer in person but instead via online virtual events. The Bionow awards dinner was no exception. Delayed from its usual pre-Christmas slot to February and moved from a hotel and a sit-down dinner to my computer screen and a snack. Although the black-tie dress code had gone I still ironed a shirt for the first time in a long time and brought a suit jacket out of retirement.
Maybe it is the last 12 months we have spent talking to everyone via Teams, Skype, Zoom and Google Hangouts… etc. but adapting to virtual networking didn’t take too long. Obviously there was no swapping of business cards so remembering every person you spoke to and each company was more of a challenge. However, you had the internet at your disposal so looking up a person/company as soon as you’d finished speaking to them was possible. It was common to receive a LinkedIn connection request as soon as you’d finished speaking so others were doing the same professional version of social media stalking!
Appleyard Lees sponsored the “Bionow Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Award” announced on the night of the awards and I was involved in reviewing the large number of entrants before the awards dinner to help pick a shortlist and winner. Although the pandemic and its various social distancing, lockdowns and negative effects has been hard for many it was heartening to see in the entries how well the scientific community of the North West and North in general had responded to the challenges 2020 threw at them.
Although there were many positives of the virtual event it could never match the in-person version of the awards ceremony itself. Fingers crossed networking and the Bionow annual awards return to their pre-pandemic in-person version as the vaccination effort (of which the North West scientific community is playing a large part) takes effect.
