The Cell Ag UK guide to setting up a student society

Obviously all of the tasks that your university may demand are secondary to the most important thing: finding the other people to join your committee. Recruitment is essential, so you can split the workload, complete the other tasks and run the society effectively and with minimal impact on your studies. You will need at least 2 individuals but a 3rd, 4th and 5th will all make a huge difference. The main focus here is to find others who are excited by and motivated to work in alt proteins and who you think you can work with. A mix of academic backgrounds and professional interests would be great as well.

Each university has its own constitutional requirements before a university society can be sanctioned as an official part of the institution. Some frequent prerequisites include:

A Constitution: Constitutions provide a written framework for the purpose, intention and organisational functioning of your society. Cell Ag UK and GFI have sample constitutions you can use if you need inspiration to write your own document but our best recommendation would be to use one provided by your university if it's offered, these usually fit the university’s specific demands.

Timing: Are there any deadlines for when a student society can be set up? When is the next one you can realistically meet?

Funding: Do you need to secure funding before establishing the society? For some universities this is a prerequisite; for others, proof of a bank account so the university can provide funds is essential. If the former is the case then there are plenty of ways to source funding for your group. If the latter is an issue and you require specific guidance setting up UK bank accounts, we have experience of doing this with the banks that provide such services that fit with university requirements and with UK small business and charity law.

Filling Key Roles: Most university societies require a president, vice president and treasurer, with some also requiring a secretary. Fundamentally, you’ll need at least 2 students though pushing that to 3 or 4 asap should be one of your earliest priorities.

Frequently, a faculty member or academic of repute within the university is required to be on the board/ backing the society. It would help if this is an academic linked to alt protein research already but it’s most important to find one you have a good relationship with first and foremost.

Once the society is set up and its running the final essential step is ensuring there’s a framework so students are recruited to the society to ensure longevity and that it will last beyond the end of the degrees of the current committee members.

One major step, which we are happy to support with, is getting a stall set up and manned at your university's fresher societies fair. This is a great way to advertise yourself to the whole student body and recruit students right at the start of their degrees.

There's a plethora of different activities you can do with your society and if you are ever lacking ideas don’t hesitate to get in touch.

These should come from and be up to you and what you as the committee want to run within the university. You will be leading the group for the members of the uni interested in Alt Protein; as such you will have the best idea of what they want and will be able to learn the most from your experience as a leader by organising these events yourselves.

We do however strongly encourage that your first event is a launch event and involves a speaker involved in the field. We are very happy to help organise this and put you in touch with any industry or academic leaders in your region.