The 2013 Daphne Jackson Trust Conference was a huge success with more than 130 delegates, including 50 Daphne Jackson Fellows, enjoying an inspiring day of talks and poster presentations in delightful surroundings at the Royal Society in London.

We were delighted to welcome current, past and future Daphne Jackson Fellows from all over the UK, and representatives from universities, sponsoring organisations, and learned societies who all seized the opportunity to meet and network with one another and with our Trustees and staff.

We enjoyed presentations from 8 Fellows who gave us a flavour of their research on topics ranging from the fine structure of DNA to exploiting decomposing biomass as a renewable fuel source. The prize for best oral presentation was awarded to Dr Morag Maskey, a Daphne Jackson Fellow at Newcastle University, who gave a fascinating talk on developing virtual reality environments to help reduce anxiety in children with autism.

In addition, 25 Fellows presented their research as posters and again, the standard was very high. Dr Tamsin Majerus, a Fellow at Nottingham University, won a prize for her outstanding poster in which she presented a colourful perspective of how the spot patterns of ladybirds can influence survival and reproductive fitness. Dr Divya Tiwari, a Fellow at Cranfield University, was also highly commended for her poster which the judges thought was particularly clear and easy to navigate.

Vivienne Parry, science journalist and Patron of the Daphne Jackson Trust, presented prizes to the deserving winners and shared a few of her own top tips on how to successfully present research to non-expert audiences.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to such an inspiring day.