Bored with the view from your laboratory window? Fancy seeing a new perspective on 96-well plates? Or maybe you're just keen on a change of colleagues? Why not try SEN - the travel agent for scientists.

The Scientist Exchange Network (SEN) was set up by former embryologist Simon Rees in 1999 to provide interested scientists - in all areas of biomedicine - the opportunity to swap places with a colleague in another lab without the risk of losing their position. Rees, who obtained his Ph.D. at Newcastle University in the Northeast of England, spotted with Peter Olive a need among his fellow lab inmates while working on reproductive physiology. Many of his graduate and postdoc colleagues were keen to work in another lab - for a short time - to widen their scientific horizons, but were fearful of trying to track down a professor who might have space at the bench.

There are plenty of exchange programs in the United States that scientists can get involved with, if they already have an idea about with whom they would like to work. The opportunities are there, but tend to involve the usual interview and selection process that makes such plans more like applying for a job - with all the stress and effort that that entails. The other option requires that applicants make the match themselves, in which case a particularly popular professor may get many candidates hoping to get into their lab for a stint, while labs that might better suit an applicant miss out. Rees believes he has the solution in SEN.

"I set it up to give people the opportunity to develop their careers by exchanging with other laboratories and units in their field in the United Kingdom and internationally," explains Rees. "People interested in getting involved in this kind of exchange usually have the motivation to give themselves that kind of stimulus so they register with SEN and we try and take it from there. I think this program is unique in acting as a 'match-making' service. Most other programs are really about offering support to someone who already knows where they want to go, whereas this is all about finding a new opportunity for young researchers," expands Rees. "With U.S. and European Union arrangements, scientists hoping to work in another laboratory have to have a target in their sights, rather than just the general desire to work elsewhere."

The registration fee is minimal, just $32 (£20) for an individual, and lasts for a year. Rees, however, is keen to get more involvement at the departmental rather than the individual level. "We are trying to encourage 'forward thinking' profs to register their department and encourage the people within the department to register," he says. The departmental fee is $80 (£50), which means departmental members register at no additional cost. If SEN is successful in matching an applicant for an exchange with another lab, there is an additional completion fee of $72 (£45). The plan's success will then rely on self-motivated individuals and departments; and most applicants should not find financial constraints in getting involved prohibitive at this level of cost.

Rees hopes that departments will see the whole process of exchanging researchers, or scientists in general, in this way as valuable to their development and support their people. The actual costs of taking part in the exchange - the travel, accommodation, and subsistence - are down to the individual, but with a willing professor or society there are usually ways and means.

At this point, SEN is constructing its database of interested laboratories and individuals. Rees mentioned a biochemist from Oman who wanted to work in the United Kingdom. This brought to light a potential pitfall in that for her an exchange would be more difficult given the nature of Middle East immigration rules. The possibility of a student scientist from the United Kingdom actually changing places would not usually be possible. SEN is trying to get in touch with departments who may be interested in accommodating her for a straight visit rather than an exchange. However, if SEN is to be successful overall, it might find that its ability to negotiate an exchange under such unfavorable circumstances useful in proving its skill and diplomacy in dealing with immigration departments, as well as laboratories.

"Usually, though," says Rees, "We would hope to be able to target willing departments, so it is a bit of both negotiating with departments and trawling through a database of contacts. If there is a suitable match on the database, then we can make it."

"I felt that during my own time as a clinical scientist, it would have been interesting to go and work in another lab and see how research worked there, but the only way you could really do that would have been to cold call the departments." If there were an organization that acts as a focus for the idea then it would be much easier. SEN, Rees hopes, is just such an organization.

"We might be small at the moment," says Rees, "but SEN is accredited fully with the UK's Institute of Biomedical Science." Connected through IBMS' continued professional development plan, members who participate in the SEN can count their experiences towards their membership profile, which obviously provides a mutually beneficial effect for the IBMS, whose professional member profile is consequently raised.

One major advantage of SEN is that young scientists get a chance to experience different ways of working and different science without having to abandon their original laboratory. The arrangement eliminates the fear of losing one's job. The idea is that scientists would exchange for a one-month to two-year period, then return to their previous position refreshed and with new experiences, ideas, and skills. Increasing their effectiveness and boosting their lab's proficiency and inventiveness, explains Rees. There is also the added bonus of making new contacts and potential collaborations.

Sarah Cassell is clinical biochemist at a hospital in Manchester, England, and is in the SEN database. "I think that the exchange program might offer me a change of scene for a bit, and I would also be able to learn some new skills - particularly in the molecular genetics area," she says. Sarah Thompson, a graduate student at Manchester University, agrees that an exchange could be very beneficial. "The inspiration would of course be the chance to work in a different lab, a different country, learn new techniques, and hopefully get some results!" she enthuses, but she recognizes a downside. "I think the main reasons that would put people off are family and friend commitments, accommodation arrangements, the extra costs involved, and a lack of time to organize the exchange." She suggests that to make the process easier, "It would be helpful to be able to talk to someone who had been through the exchange before, so they could advise on various queries."

"These are very important points that are most commonly mentioned by people interested but who do not go for it," adds Rees. "For people with families I think this program does offer an opportunity to visit somewhere else if you so wish. You have job security, and you could organize it for a long period of one to two years. In which case it is worth taking the whole family," he says. SEN could assist with this aspect of an exchange perhaps in arranging a house-swap as well as a lab-swap.

The arrangement is not limited to academic laboratories. Rees hopes that industry, hospitals, clinical departments, and academic units will get involved in SEN. As the plan grows, it might quickly reach a point of self-sufficiency given time and increased awareness of the benefits.