Day One

• Case study example of consolidating geographically different sites into one building with less square footage and fewer people
• Renovating lab spaces to accommodate new ways of working while operations were ongoing
• Pivoting plans due to changes mid-project within strict timeframes while still meeting financial deadlines
• Key lessons learned in managing through significant project challenges and workforce fluctuations

• Explore how lab operations roles evolve as companies transition from researchfocused organizations into clinical and commercial stages
• Learn which skill sets, competencies, and cross-functional knowledge are most critical for long-term career progression in lab operations
• Understand how to adapt responsibilities and scope to remain indispensable during periods of growth, restructuring, or commercialization

• Address knowledge gaps through cross-training, documentation, and transition planning strategies
• Gain frameworks for allocating responsibilities and resources
• Develop strategies to align expectations with leadership and end users during sustained periods of overload

The ideal opportunity to get face-to-face with many global lab ops and facilities professionals for important in-depth conversations.

• Examine the operational and emotional impact of layoffs, hiring freezes, and prolonged uncertainty on lab operations and facilities teams
• Understand how lab ops professionals can maintain visibility, recognition, and relevance in highly competitive job markets
• Learn how to adapt roles and skill sets to cover critical organizational gaps while managing the same facilities footprint with fewer resources

Biotech

• Discuss strategies for supporting lab ops and facilities staff facing increased workloads after layoffs
• Maintaining morale, engagement and service quality in constrained environments
• Explore how ops leaders in biotech are redefining roles and priorities to keep science moving forward

Pharma

• Examine the challenges of managing morale during restructures, site consolidations, and global workforce changes
• Share best practices for leading through ambiguity within matrixed, regulated organizations
• Learn how leaders sustain service excellence while navigating long-term change programs

• Learn principles for spatial lab design that support changing modalities, teams, and pipeline needs
• Explore multiple facility planning scenarios to prepare for expansion, contraction, or hybrid growth models
• Understand the importance of preplanning, to be ready for when the time comes.

• Highlighting how cold storage directly impacts research productivity, lab space utilization, operating cost, compliance, and sustainability.
• Moving beyond reactive freezer management toward a strategic sample stewardship model built on visibility, governance, and accountability.
• Using real-world assessment insights to show how inventory rationalization, workflow standardization, and change management can reduce waste, lower risk, and reclaim valuable lab space while providing inventory visibility.

• Discover how reorganizing lab spaces based on function, adjacency, and real usage data can improve efficiency, safety, and collaboration
• Learn how instrument-usage analytics and sensor data are enabling smarter decisions around equipment redundancy, space optimization, and resource reallocation
• Explore the operational and cultural challenges of centralizing shared infrastructure (e.g. freezers, cryo storage) and practical strategies to drive adoption

• Hear experiences navigating site consolidation, expansion and lab relocations
• Understand true costs, complexity and downtime risks associated with lab moves
• Learn how organizations protected scientific timelines while adapting their physical footprint

• Gain practical techniques for planning projects across diverse stakeholder groups
• Explore common misalignments
• Learn how to anticipate and manage conflicting priorities between science, safety, and cost
• Improve project outcomes by setting clear expectations and accountability from the outset

• Learn how to frame lab operations initiatives in terms of cost avoidance, risk reduction, productivity, and ROI
• Understand what finance and leadership teams prioritise when approving operationalspend
• Gain tools to justify investment in lab operations without relying on technical detail alone

Join the the drinks reception to further connect & network with like-minded peers, hosted by Polysense Solutions