MND EnCouRage UK is our annual event which aims to celebrate and support the work of researchers who are just beginning their careers in MND, also known as Early Career Researchers (ECRs). ECRs are vital to driving MND research forwards to increase our understanding of the disease, improve care and find new effective treatments. They are the next generation of MND research leaders and we want to recognise their hard work and retain these talented scientists to continue working in MND.
MND EnCouRage UK is designed to encourage the best and brightest minds to stay in the field, building a continuous stream of future leaders in MND. The event provides ECRs with new skills, networking opportunities, career advice and an understanding of what it’s like to live with MND. It also brings together ECRs with people living with and affected by MND, to build partnerships and understand the research interests of the MND community.
Last week we held MND EnCouRage UK 2025 in Loughborough, which saw 21 early career researchers from across the UK and Ireland and over 25 people with or affected by MND attend.
Day 1: Supporting ECRs to build their careers
The first day focused on helping the ECRs to develop skills they need for a successful research career, such as how to communicate their research to a non-scientific audience, how to secure funding for research and how to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

The day kicked off with a workshop on how to give powerful presentations from Professor Simon Hall from the University of Cambridge. This interactive session included some tips and tricks for making a topic engaging, grabbing and keeping the audience’s attention and leaving them feeling inspired. Giving powerful presentations is a hugely important skill for ECRs and this session provided them with food for thought on presenting their research in the best possible way.
The ECRs then shared their research in 3-minute ‘lightning’ talks aimed at a non-scientific audience. An important part of being a researcher is being able to communicate your work and findings with the people that are affected by the disease, and who could benefit from the research. It’s vital that researchers aren’t just able to present to other scientists, but to share their work more widely in a way that’s understandable to the general public. The ECRs delivered their short presentations to their peers, senior researchers, clinicians and the MND Association research team, and received feedback on how to improve these before delivering them again on day 2. This year, there was a vast range of research presented from new tools for diagnosis to improving understanding of disease biology and finding new potential treatments. The lightning talks, not only give ECRs the opportunity to share their work, but allow them to hear about the work of others across the country and learn more about areas of research that they don’t work in. Bringing ECRs together from around the country is a brilliant way for them to gain a small snapshot of the wider MND research landscape and see how their work fits into this. It can also open up new ideas for researchers and lead to collaborations between institutions working on similar areas.
“My highlight has really been connecting with the other ECRs and getting to hear about the variety of research that’s been going on in the field. It’s really nice to see that we’re working on all stages of research from diagnosis to very fundamental science to even looking at therapeutic strategies.” – Emma Dyke, Research Associate at King’s College London.

The afternoon began with a session on the ‘real-world perspectives of MND’ where Anna and Martin Barrow shared their MND journey and what it’s like to live with MND. They spoke so openly and honestly about receiving the diagnosis of MND and what this has meant for their family. This session gave ECRs, some of whom had never met anyone with MND, an insight into the impact of MND on daily life.
The day ended with advice and guidance from senior researchers on navigating a career path within MND research. This included talks on securing funding to continue research, research career opportunities outside of universities and keeping a healthy work-life balance. Part of this session was a panel discussion with senior researchers at various stages of their careers. They shared their insights on different aspects of developing a career in MND research and answered questions from the ECRs.
Day 2: Showcasing MND research to the wider community
The second day of MND EnCouRage UK 2025 started with media workshops for the ECRs. This followed on from the skills they built on day 1 and allowed them to practice communicating their research with a wider audience. As their careers develop, ECRs may gain attention from the media to discuss their research and what it means for people. These workshops gave them some guidance on how to give a good interview and the chance to put these skills to the test through practice video interviews. There was also a workshop on using social media to share research with the MND community, which gave examples of ways to present scientific topics in an engaging way to take their work from ‘lab to likes’.


After lunch, we were joined by people living with and affected by MND and the ECRs gave their improved 3-minute ‘lightning’ talks to this new audience. This gave the MND community the chance to hear about the exciting work that ECRs are doing and ask them some questions about their research.
“If you’re working on a disease, sometimes you can get really into the nitty gritty of a disease and not fully understand why you’re working on it or what the importance of it is to people. By bringing people together, the people working on it can understand why they’re doing it, but also the people living with MND can understand the level of research, and amount of research that is going on into the disease.”- Dr Caroline Vance, Senior Lecturer at King’s College London

The next session of the day saw everyone take part in a discussion activity around different perspectives in relation to clinical trial design. The session, led by Professor Ammar Al Chalabi from King’s College London, was very thought provoking and demonstrated the value of involving the MND community in designing research studies. It talked about finding the right balance with clinical trial design so that trials are scientifically sound, but take into account the perspectives of the community.
The last part of the day focused on sharing updates on the very latest research into MND and included a presentation from Professor Dame Pamela Shaw from the University of Sheffield on the journey of MND research, showcasing just how much progress there has been in research and care over the years. We then heard from Kate Hartley, Lead Research Nurse at the MND Association, about the MND Association funded Research Nurse Network and how this network will help to increase opportunities for people to take part in clinical trials.
“…Hearing about all of the hypotheses and ideas surrounding MND, gives you hope that behind the scenes people are trying their best to come up with therapies, and you never know, one day maybe a cure.”- Jennie Starkey, person living with MND.
This event is one of the only early career researcher events in the UK for MND that brings together researchers and people affected by the disease. It provides a unique experience for ECRs to develop skills, think about future career pathways, make connections and gain an insight into the perspectives of people with and affected by the disease. We hope that ECRs have left the event feeling inspired, better equipped to build a career in MND and have a renewed energy to keep driving research forwards.
We would like to thank everyone involved in making MND EnCouRage UK 2025 happen. Thank you to all of the presenters, senior researchers and clinicians who gave up their time to attend. A huge thanks to Professor Simon Hall who kicked off the event with an amazing workshop and shared his personal connection to MND. Most importantly, thank you to all of the ECRs and people with and affected by MND who attended and spoke this year, without you this event wouldn’t be possible!