The FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE Conference is a joint initiative of FEBS, IUBMB, and several leading European biomedical research institutes (the ENABLE partners), building on a successful project originally funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (2017–2020). These interdisciplinary, international, three-day events are organized by and for young researchers in the molecular life sciences and attract up to 300 participants from around the world. Each conference features a scientific symposium, a career day, and outreach activities. ENABLE (the European Academy for Biomedical Science) was launched in 2017 through the collaboration of four renowned European institutes: the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona, Spain), the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (NNF-CPR, Denmark), the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences at Radboudumc (Netherlands), and the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM, Italy). These core institutions hosted the first four conferences from 2017 to 2021. In 2022, FEBS and IUBMB joined forces with the ENABLE founders to relaunch the initiative as FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE, expanding its reach and impact. In this new cycle, institutions can apply to become associated centres and host one of the events.

I spent 40 years teaching and researching, and developed a particular interest in education and career development. I chaired the Education Committee and was Careers advisor for the UK Biochemical Society. In these roles, and my work with students at the University of Manchester, I realised how important it is for young scientists to recognise their skills and be able to "sell" themselves to potential employers (and grant awarding bodies). I now run CV support sessions for young scientists on behalf of the FEBS Education Committee, of which I was a founder member.