Things to Look Forward to in the 2026–27 Academic Year
A new academic year brings new opportunities, challenges and milestones, and there is plenty for the IOM3 Student & Early Career Committee, and the wider community, to look forward to in 2026–27.
A new academic year brings new opportunities, challenges and milestones, and there is plenty for the IOM3 Student & Early Career Committee, and the wider community, to look forward to in 2026–27.
Ollie Thomas | University of Oxford
For many of us on the committee, this will be a year of important personal milestones. Several members are approaching the final stages of their PhDs, from completing experiments and writing theses to presenting their research internationally.
There is plenty happening through IOM3 too. The Image Competition, Did You Know? Video Competition and Student & Apprentice Awards are all currently open, with entries closing soon. These provide great opportunities to showcase your work, communicate materials science creatively and gain recognition early in your career. Looking further ahead, we’ll also begin planning for Future Materials, Minerals & Mining conference on 23 November 2027, alongside plenty more Student & Early Career activities throughout the year.
Whether you’re starting something new, finishing a degree, developing your career or simply looking to meet others in the materials community, there should be lots to get involved with in the year ahead. Below, SECG committee members Liv and Alice share some of the things they are looking forward to in the coming year.
Liv Anderson | Loughborough University
After graduating from my Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering this July, I have been enjoying the summer sun and figuring out what comes next as the new academic year approaches. As many course mates leave academia for graduate roles in industry, I have been on the hunt for PhD and Research Assistant roles to further my experience in polymer science with the hope to become a Research Scientist in future.
Whilst I continue to search for opportunities, I have also upgraded my IOM3 membership from Student to Associate member allowing me the post-nominals AIMMM, and continue to access member benefits such as mentoring and technical document library. So whilst things are currently uncertain, I am very excited to see where things go!
Alice Robinson CEng MIMMM | Rolls-Royce plc
This academic year should be an exciting one for me, I’m hoping to finish all my experimental work for my PhD and get it written up and my thesis submitted!! Sounds absolutely terrifying writing that down as it’s been a massive effort to get to this point even and it still feels like there’s a huge amount left to do but I’m so excited to finish it. Working towards this PhD has been a huge part of my early career and I’m super proud of the work I’ve done so far. Aside from experiments and writing up, I’m also hoping to travel to Buffalo, NY to attend PowderMet 2027 to collect my prize for the paper I presented at WorldPM this summer (and hopefully present another paper based on some of my 26/27 work too!). The paper I presented this summer was the first paper I’ve written as part of my PhD and was my first conference presentation too. I’ve always struggled with public speaking so successfully presenting to a room full of industry experts and academics felt like a massive achievement!! I’m excited to keep learning in 26/27 and hopefully manage to become a Dr too!
Samuel Jackson AIMMM | University of Sheffield
As I head into my second year of my PhD, I am looking forward to several IOM3 events and webinars over the next academic year. November is looking particularly busy, with the Advanced Engineering show on the 4th and 5th of November, followed by the Defence Materials 2050 conference on the 17th. I am also interested in learning more about image analysis through the AI-Powered Automated Image Analysis for Materials Manufacturing and Research webinar also, which will likely feed directly into my PhD work. Going into the new year, I will be keeping an eye out for more events and webinars that interest me from both a personal and professional perspective, particularly those organised by the Non-Ferrous and Light Alloys Group, Composites Group, and the Materials Processing and Manufacturing Group. Outside of my PhD research, I am looking forward to getting more involved in triathlon training and have booked my first-ever race for next summer!
SEC Committee opinion pieces
