LAUSR

Just over a year ago, in March 2020, many cities around the world went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Against the backdrop of this unfolding situation, a group of dedicated young immunologists (YIs) in Europe started a collective network to support and promote junior researchers working in immunology: the young EFIS (yEFIS) [1]. Under the framework of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS), the group started to recruit representatives from across Europe and has been growing ever since (Fig 1). The mission of yEFIS is to bring together all young immunologists working in Europe and establish a platform for networking, collaboration, support, and promotion of these researchers. To achieve this aim, dedicated Working Groups were created. The idea of Working Groups is to have flexible and independent teams that work on a focused task for the required time. This workflow allows multiple projects to occur simultaneously and to make the most of all the volunteers’ precious time (Fig 2). The first year has been a whirlwind of organisation, establishment, and learning on the go. But as yEFIS continues to take shape, we expect great things for the future of this group.