Society for General Microbiology

The Society for General Microbiology (SGM) is a scientific organisation based in the United Kingdom but with members in more than 60 countries. With approximately 5000 members, it is the largest microbiological society in Europe. Interests of its members include basic and applied aspects of viruses, bacteria, rickettsiae, mycoplasma, fungi, algae and protozoa, and all other aspects of microbiology. Its headquarters are near Reading, Berkshire. The society's executive secretary is Dr Ron Fraser.

History

The society was founded on 16 February 1945; its first president was Sir Alexander Fleming. [http://www.socgenmicrobiol.org.uk/about/history.cfm About SGM: History: A Short History of the SGM] ] Postgate, J. (1995) Fifty years of the SGM. "Trends Microbiol." 3: 249–250] The SGM's first academic meeting was in July of that year, and its first journal, the "Journal of General Microbiology" (later renamed "Microbiology") came out in 1947. A symposium series followed in 1949, and a sister journal, the "Journal of General Virology", in 1967. The society purchased its own headquarters in Reading in 1971, after sharing accommodation with the Biochemical Society in London, moving to its present location just outside Reading in 1991.

The SGM's stable of journals later increased to four, with the acquisitions of the "International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology" (later renamed "International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology") from the American Society for Microbiology (1998) and the "Journal of Medical Microbiology" from the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland (2001–4).

Activities

The SGM currently organises two academic meetings a year. It publishes a magazine, "Microbiology Today" (formerly "SGM Quarterly"), and four academic journals in virology and microbiology:
*"International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology"
*"Journal of General Virology"
*"Journal of Medical Microbiology"
*"Microbiology"

Young Microbiologist of the Year

The SGM organises a competition each year in which Ph.D students and postdoctoral researchers (who have completed their Ph.D within the last 2 years) are nominated to enter based on their performance at oral and poster presentations during recent SGM conferences. All finalists receive one years free membership of the SGM along with transport costs to and from the conference at which the finals are held. Three cash prizes of £500, £200 and £100 are awarded to the winner and two runners up [http://www.socgenmicrobiol.org.uk/meetings/SgmPrize.cfm

List of SGM Young Microbiologists of the Year

* 2008 Rich Boden, University of Warwick, UK (Dimethylsulfide metabolism in "Methylophaga" spp.) http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/bio/research/jcmurrell/people/rich/
* 2007 Ed Hutchinson, University of Cambridge, UK (Packaging of the influenza A genome)http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/news-08-jan.html
* 2006 Josh D Neufeld, University of Warwick, UK (Molecular ecology of marine methylotrophs)http://www.biology.uwaterloo.ca/people/neufeld/index.html
* 2005
* 2004
* 2003

References

Further reading

*Postgate, J (1995) "Society for General Microbiology – Fifty Years On", Society for General Microbiology

External links

* [http://www.socgenmicrobiol.org.uk/ Society for General Microbiology website]