Dear Fellows,

We are a committee of emerging researchers across the world who have formed a Trainee Initiative with the backing of the IUBMB, and our aim is to bring together scientists from across the globe through networking and events covering educational, technical, and professional development. Our leadership committee represents all geographical regions by including members from all four regional IUBMB member societies: FAOBMB (Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists), FASBMB (Federation of African Societies of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies, and PABMB (Pan American Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology).

Currently, we have four members representing the African continent. I myself am from South Africa, Oswald Djihinto from Benin, Tatenda Murigo from Zimbabwe and Elodie Ekoka from Cameroon. Together we make up the African team on the IUBMB Trainee Initiative Leadership Committee.

This Trainee Initiative is aimed at emerging researchers all around the world involved in all fields of biological and related basic sciences, and anyone else who may be interested. We aim to provide opportunities for skills development, training resources, networking and a supportive team to help in future professional and scientific journeys. Accessibility, diversity and inclusion are most important to us and we hope to provide a platform for all skill levels to navigate the wonderful world of biomolecular research.

We will be arranging free monthly online events for interested researchers and we would like to encourage as many postgrads and post-doctoral fellows as possible to attend these events. Our very first event will be held on 30th March 2022. Attached is a flyer advertising this event and includes the talk abstracts and a sign-up/registration link for the webinar. It will be a Zoom webinar featuring Dr David Baker and Dr Brian Koepnick, and will look at protein structure prediction and design, and how Rosetta and Foldit can be used to investigate COVID-19. (Please take note that the flyer advertises Pacific Standard time (PST) and Central European Time (CET) as this is a global event – hopefully there won't be any confusion).

Anyone interested can sign up to attend, for free! Just follow the link on the flyer or scan the QR code to register.

We also encourage those interested to follow our Twitter and Instagram accounts (@iubmb_trainee), and if anyone wishes to find out more about the IUBMB Trainee Initiative and the committee members, they can take a look at our webpage: https://iubmb.org/about/committees/iubmb-trainee-initiative/

Lastly, our Student Ambassador to the IUBMB, Bri Bibel, has a wonderful YouTube channel with lots of great videos. Here is a link to one she posted about our upcoming first webinar event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=721z-NRqrP8