Supporting Career Transitions via the Wellcome Trust’s

InstitutionalStrategicSupportFund

ISSF3 Newsletter November 2016

www.cardiff.ac.uk/bls/issf 32 College of Biomedical & Life Sciences

Our new award focuses on:

Enabling researchers to transition to the next career stage, catalysed by the successful delivery of innovative new science and public engagement.

Building new cross-disciplinary research opportunities and teams across the College, and beyond.

Supporting talented individuals to come back to the University, whether from other Institutions or after a career break.

Providing our early career researchers with skill enhancement, engagement training and career-enabling network opportunities.

Delivering innovative engagement activities which deliver high-quality experiences for the recipient, as well as the researcher.

Alignment with BLS and Wellcome Trust Research Strategy

The new Wellcome Trust ISSF award aligns to three strategic priorities of the College:

Growing our research excellence, focusing on greater coherence and scale alongside the delivery of interdisciplinary collaborations and Centres of Excellence;

Fostering the talents of our researchers, from early career through to senior academics;

Enhancing the translation of our research, leading to societal benefit with global health, environmental and economic impact.

A new £7M ISSF Award

Cardiff has successfully secured £3.5m over five years (2016-2021) from the Wellcome Trust, with the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences (BLS) providing £3.5m match funding to this award. The Wellcome Trust noted that our application “comprised a good set of new and flexible activities embedded in a well thought out careers framework, clearly linked to university strategy”.

The Wellcome Trust aims to support great ideas, from discovery to impact, connect experts from different fields, and help researchers deliver high-quality and effective public engagement.

Collaboration(Working in Partnership)

Independence(Building a Research Group)

Consolidation(Postdoctoral Stage)

Training (PhD level)

£450K

£740K

£1.63M

£3.41M

Publ

ic E

ngag

emen

t

£225K

Enhancing Career Transitions

The core principles of our ISSF award include: (a) facilitating a researcher-driven strategic approach to career planning, (b) providing dedicated funding and mentorship for early career researchers (ECRs), (c) embedding equality and diversity across management, panels, awards and monitoring, (d) developing and delivering a new College Engagement strategy, with public engagement at its core and (e) boosting support for cross-disciplinary and translational projects, including linkage with other Colleges.

To facilitate this, ISSF3 is founded on a Career Stages Framework, focusing activity in four areas:

www.cardiff.ac.uk/bls/issf 54 College of Biomedical & Life Sciences

Care

erSt

ages

Colla

bora

tion

(Wor

king

in P

artn

ersh

ip)

Inde

pend

ence

(Bui

ldin

g a

Res

earc

h G

roup

)

Cons

olid

atio

n

(Pos

tdoc

tora

l Sta

ge)

Trai

ning

(PhD

leve

l)

Fund

ing

•In

terli

nkin

g Aw

ard•

•Tr

ansl

atio

nal K

icks

tart

•

•Cr

oss-

Dis

cipl

inar

y•

•Po

pula

tion

Aw

ard•

•M

obili

ty &

Ski

ll Tr

aini

ng•

•Co

nsol

idat

or A

war

d•

•Se

eds

for S

eed•

•Fe

llow

ship

•

•R

econ

nect

with

Sci

ence

•

•Cl

inic

al P

rimer

s•

Proo

f-of-C

once

ptEn

gage

men

t Act

ivity

Dev

elop

ing

Enga

gem

ent

Wor

ksho

psEn

gage

men

t Tra

inin

gPu

blic

Enga

gem

ent

Han

ds-o

nEn

gage

men

t

Enga

gem

ent T

rain

ing

Han

ds-o

nEn

gage

men

tPr

oof-o

f-Con

cept

Enga

gem

ent A

ctiv

ity

Dev

elop

ing

Enga

gem

ent

Wor

ksho

ps

Care

er s

tage

Fund

ing

sche

me

(aw

ards

mad

e vi

a co

mpe

titiv

e ap

plic

atio

n)M

axim

um

dura

tion

of

each

aw

ard

Max

imum

am

ount

(£

) of e

ach

awar

d

Trai

ning

Clin

ical

Prim

er A

war

d

Alig

ned

to o

ur G

W4

WT

Clin

ical

Aca

dem

ic T

rain

ing

Prog

ram

me,

ISSF

3 Cl

inic

al P

rimer

s w

ill s

uppo

rt re

sear

ch-n

aïve

med

ical

/den

tal t

rain

ees

to

gain

labo

rato

ry e

xper

ienc

e an

d pr

epar

e ap

plic

atio

ns fo

r GW

4-CA

T an

d ot

her P

hD fu

ndin

g op

port

uniti

es.

Up to

6

mon

ths

30K

Cons

olid

atio

n

Cons

olid

ator

Aw

ard

Prov

idin

g su

ppor

t for

out

stan

ding

pos

tgra

duat

es, t

o pr

epar

e ap

plic

atio

ns fo

r ear

ly c

aree

r aw

ards

(e.g

., H

enry

Wel

lcom

e Po

stdo

ctor

al o

r MRC

Sk

ills

Dev

elop

men

t Fel

low

ship

s). S

ucce

ssfu

l app

lican

ts w

ill b

e ex

pect

ed to

pub

lish

pape

rs fr

om th

eir t

hesi

s an

d un

dert

ake

a sm

all r

esea

rch

proj

ect,

with

a n

ew m

ento

r, th

ereb

y en

hanc

ing

thei

r res

earc

h sk

ill-s

et.

12 m

onth

s45

K

Mob

ility

& S

kills

Tra

inin

g Aw

ard

Supp

ortin

g ou

r ear

ly c

aree

r res

earc

hers

by

enab

ling

acqu

isiti

on o

f new

rese

arch

ski

lls, v

isits

to e

xter

nal l

abor

ator

ies

for s

mal

l-sca

le d

ata

colle

ctio

n, s

econ

dmen

ts to

indu

stry

, gov

ernm

ent o

r oth

er k

ey s

take

hold

ers

and

enga

gem

ent t

rain

ing.

Varia

ble

leng

th10

K

Inde

pend

ence

Rec

onne

ct w

ith S

cien

ce A

war

d:

Des

igne

d to

sup

port

the

retu

rn to

the

Univ

ersi

ty o

f exc

elle

nt p

ostd

octo

ral (

Gra

de 6

/7) r

esea

rche

rs w

ho h

ave

take

n a

care

er b

reak

. Aw

ards

w

ill p

ay s

alar

y in

itial

ly, in

clud

ing

part

-tim

e, b

ut re

sear

cher

s w

ill a

lso

be a

ble

to re

ques

t res

earc

h fu

ndin

g fo

r a p

roje

ct o

r tra

vel t

o vi

sit o

ther

la

bs a

s th

eir s

kills

and

con

fiden

ce d

evel

op.

Flex

ible

up

to 1

8 m

onth

s55

K

Fello

wsh

ip A

war

d

Des

igne

d to

reta

in a

nd re

crui

t exc

elle

nt e

arly

car

eer r

esea

rche

rs a

nd s

uppo

rt th

eir t

rans

ition

to in

depe

nden

ce. U

p to

eig

htee

n m

onth

s of

fu

ndin

g is

des

igne

d to

pro

vide

tim

e to

col

lect

pro

of-o

f-con

cept

dat

a, b

uild

new

sci

entifi

c ne

twor

ks a

nd w

ork

on s

ubm

issi

on o

f an

inde

pend

-en

t fun

ding

app

licat

ion.

18 m

onth

s75

K

Seed

s fo

r See

d Aw

ard

This

sch

eme

is d

esig

ned

to h

elp

early

car

eer r

esea

rche

rs c

olle

ct p

ilot d

ata

to s

uppo

rt a

Wel

lcom

e Tr

ust S

eed

Awar

d or

Res

earc

h Co

unci

l N

ew In

vest

igat

or A

war

d. M

ento

rs w

ill h

elp

appl

ican

ts n

avig

ate

idea

gen

erat

ion,

gra

nt w

ritin

g an

d de

liver

y of

a s

ucce

ssfu

l fun

ding

out

com

e.

Varia

ble

leng

th20

K

www.cardiff.ac.uk/bls/issf 76 College of Biomedical & Life Sciences

Care

er s

tage

Fund

ing

sche

me

Max

imum

du

ratio

n of

ea

ch a

war

d

Max

imum

am

ount

(£

) of e

ach

awar

d

Colla

bora

tion

Popu

latio

n Aw

ard

Retu

rnin

g in

a s

light

ly m

eatie

r for

m th

an in

ISSF

2, th

is s

chem

e ai

ms

to c

atal

yse

popu

latio

n-sc

ale

rese

arch

alig

ned

to th

e st

rate

gic

goal

s of

ou

r Col

lege

Res

earc

h Th

emes

.

Varia

ble

leng

th50

K

Cros

s-D

isci

plin

ary

Awar

d

Fund

ing

desi

gned

to p

rom

ote

rese

arch

inno

vatio

n al

igne

d to

new

inte

rdis

cipl

inar

y re

sear

ch, i

nclu

ding

col

labo

ratio

n w

ith re

sear

cher

s fr

om

othe

r Col

lege

s in

the

Univ

ersi

ty a

roun

d st

rate

gica

lly im

port

ant b

iom

edic

al re

sear

ch q

uest

ions

.

Varia

ble

leng

th50

K

Tran

slat

iona

l Kic

ksta

rt A

war

d

Ben

efitin

g fr

om o

ur e

xper

ienc

e w

ith th

e M

RC C

onfid

ence

in C

once

pt a

nd P

roxi

mity

to D

isco

very

aw

ards

, thi

s ne

w s

chem

e w

ill tr

ial p

rovi

sion

of

sta

rter

fund

ing

for c

olla

bora

tive

proj

ects

with

indu

stry

, gov

ernm

ent a

nd o

ther

key

sta

keho

lder

s on

hea

lth-re

late

d lif

e sc

ienc

es p

roje

cts,

in

clud

ing

envi

ronm

enta

l im

pact

s on

hea

lth, a

str

ateg

ic p

riorit

y of

the

WT.

Varia

ble

leng

th50

K

Inte

rlink

ing

Awar

d

To p

rom

ote

a te

am s

cien

ce a

ppro

ach

in th

e Co

llege

and

hel

p ev

iden

ce a

trac

k-re

cord

of c

olla

bora

tion,

thes

e aw

ards

, dev

elop

ed v

ia w

ork-

shop

s, w

ill fu

nd 2

-3 th

emat

ical

ly li

nked

inte

rdis

cipl

inar

y pr

ojec

ts a

ddre

ssin

g ke

y he

alth

and

env

ironm

enta

l gra

nd c

halle

nges

. Cr

oss-

Colle

ge,

UK

or i

nter

natio

nal c

olla

bora

tions

are

enc

oura

ged,

esp

ecia

lly w

here

new

met

hods

/ s

cien

tific

appr

oach

es w

ill b

e br

ough

t to

Card

iff.

Varia

ble

leng

th14

5K

Publ

ic

Enga

gem

ent

Enga

gem

ent T

rain

ing

and

Han

ds-o

n En

gage

men

t:

Wor

king

with

the

Univ

ersi

ty E

ngag

emen

t Tea

m, t

he C

olle

ge E

ngag

emen

t Offi

cer w

ill d

eliv

er a

new

pub

lic e

ngag

emen

t tra

inin

g pr

ogra

mm

e fo

r re

sear

cher

s in

the

Colle

ge, w

ith a

par

ticul

ar fo

cus

on e

arly

car

eer r

esea

rche

rs.

An E

ngag

emen

t new

slet

ter w

ill b

e pr

ovid

ed to

hel

p de

mys

tify

‘Eng

agem

ent’,

with

face

-to-fa

ce tr

aini

ng p

rovi

ded

via

an E

ngag

emen

t Mas

terc

lass

, and

a M

onito

ring

and

Eval

uatin

g En

gage

men

t Cou

rse.

By

mai

ntai

ning

a li

st o

f tra

ined

indi

vidu

als

we

will

als

o he

lp re

sear

cher

s ob

tain

han

ds-o

n en

gage

men

t exp

erie

nce,

pla

cing

them

in a

com

petit

ive

posi

tion

to a

pply

for I

SSF3

pro

of-o

f-con

cept

eng

agem

ent f

undi

ng.

Varia

ble

leng

th

Dev

elop

ing

Enga

gem

ent W

orks

hops

and

Del

iver

ing

Proo

f-of-

Conc

ept E

ngag

emen

t

Enga

gem

ent w

orks

hops

will

allo

w re

sear

cher

s to

pre

sent

and

dis

cuss

thei

r eng

agem

ent i

deas

, and

dev

elop

an

appr

oach

that

faci

litat

es

bi-d

irect

iona

l dia

logu

e w

ith th

e pu

blic

and

eva

luat

ion

met

hods

to e

nsur

e th

e en

gage

men

t act

ivity

has

ben

efite

d th

e pu

blic

’s p

erce

ptio

ns/

enga

gem

ent w

ith th

e to

pic.

Onc

e fu

lly m

atur

ed, a

pplic

atio

ns fo

r sm

all-s

cale

pro

of-o

f-con

cept

pub

lic e

ngag

emen

t will

be

cons

ider

ed b

y th

e Co

llege

Eng

agem

ent P

anel

, wor

king

col

labo

rativ

ely

with

the

Univ

ersi

ty E

ngag

emen

t Tea

m.

Varia

ble

leng

th5K Early Career Researchers

ISSF3 will have dedicated ECR funding aimed at supporting (a) scientific skill enhancement, (b) work experience outside of the Institution, including with pharma, industry, or government, (c) networking opportunities, (d) preliminary data collection to support first grants and (e) public engagement training and delivery.

A new College ECR Lead will oversee this activity, with feedback provided to ECRs applying for schemes, as well as grant mentorship to help boost successful ISSF3 outcomes. Engagement training will build confidence, understanding and experience, generating scientists who, from very early on in their careers, can act as ambassadors for public engagement.

ECRs will be actively mentored to enhance their success in obtaining awards, and translating outcomes into external funding. This mentoring will be provided by an ISSF3-linked ECR mentoring committee, helping facilitate a culture whereby experienced researchers enable the success of our younger academics.

Equality & DiversityEquality and diversity will be embedded in the delivery of our ISSF3 ensuring that we include and represent all researchers in the College. Panel Members will undergo training on equality and diversity, and working with the University Equality & Diversity Team, we will pilot a new Institutional approach to equality and diversity monitoring of internal research calls, from panel membership to successful outcomes.

Our pilot will be reported to the University Equality and Diversity Committee, thereby informing the development of new policies around internal funding calls across the University. To support this work an Equality and Diversity Lead will be appointed to the ISSF Management Board.

As part of ISSF3, we are also looking to boost engagement in the scheme from individuals who have taken a career break, and who need time – back in the research environment – to develop their confidence, knowledge and research skills to be competitive for postdoctoral, fellowship or lecturer positions.

EngagementOur ISSF3 public engagement will be delivered as an embedded career activity, supporting enhanced engagement skills across the academic lifespan, mirroring the approach implemented for research. We will appoint a dedicated College Engagement Officer who will work closely with the University Engagement Team and a new ISSF3 Academic Engagement Lead to develop a cohesive College Engagement Strategy.

This individual will provide tailored training designed to boost knowledge and understanding of engagement, with hands-on experience provided via our existing engagement events. Interactive workshops, led by our Engagement Officer, will support idea development for proof-of-concept engagement events, designed to demonstrate the value – to recipient and researcher – of the activity for larger-scale funding.

Our ambition is to unite researchers around synergistic engagement goals, encourage a dialogue-based approach and enhance the quality and value of the engagement experience for the recipient, as well as the researcher.

Measures of success:• New self-sustaining research collaborations

• ECR research skill development, including experience outside academic (e.g., industry, government)

• Obtaining a first independent or skill enhancement fellowship, or a first grant

• Increased ECR involvement in, and delivery of, engagement activities.

• Greater diversity in ISSF 3 panels and funding suc-cess, as well as enhanced cultural understanding of equality and diversity across the College

Measures of success:• Delivery of a new College Engagement Strategy

• Significant increase in the number of skilled engagement researchers within the College

• New innovative proof-of-concept engagement activities

• Increased success obtaining external public engagement funding

www.cardiff.ac.uk/bls/issf 98 College of Biomedical & Life Sciences

Provisional Year 1 (2016/17) Application Timeline

Processes and ApplicationsFunding for all ISSF activities is awarded via competitive application, using brief application forms outlining the planned activity, means of delivery, and likely scientific, engagement and sustainable funding outcomes. For ISSF3 we will also be asking for lay summaries that we can put on our external website, as well as clear evidence of the value of the activity as an enabler of researcher career transition.

Panel assessment criteria and membership will be made available to researchers in advance, with examples of successful ISSF applications provided on the website as we progress through the scheme. Panels will be held by career stage allowing us to use funding within, but not between,

Current Progress/PlansThe ISSF Board will continue to be Chaired by Professor Dylan Jones (BLS Pro-VC). It will include appointed Leads for each of our major sets of activities, including public engagement, early career researchers and equality and diversity, as well as panel representatives appointed to be responsible for funding allocations at each career stage. Board meetings will be held regularly to monitor spend and success of new initiatives. Minutes of Board meetings will be provided to the College Research Committee to ensure input from Directors of Research, URI Directors and College Research Theme Leads. Panels will be led by individuals with expertise in the relevant career stage, with appropriate diversity and interdisciplinary expertise across panel members. A change to ISSF 3 is that ECRs will be allowed to observe panels to enhance their knowledge of funding decision-making. They will also be mentored by more senior academics, with the expectation that such support will be provided by individuals who obtain ISSF funding from other calls.

We are currently working on revised application forms, as well as a website for ISSF which will host all the information required by researchers, but also showcase our ISSF activities and progress externally. We are about to advertise for our new College Engagement Officer.

We will launch our first calls for funding late in 2016, and follow those up with a suite of other calls in early 2017.

Wellcome Trust ISSF Management

Board

Training Lead

ECR Lead

Equality &Diversity Lead

Public EngagementLead

Panel Chairs

ISSF Research Officer

Engagement Officer

RIS Support

BLS CollegeResearch

Committee

School DoRs

Research ThemeLeads

URI Leads

ISSF Research Officer

Engagement Officer

RIS Support

career stages, while flexibly responding to our research community priorities. To provide sufficient time for provision of thoughtful applications, a provisional Year 1 timeline is shown below. This will be confirmed once discussions with HR over some schemes are completed and a longer timeline, up to our midterm review, will also be provided subsequently.

Proposed outcomes from successful applications will be used to benchmark expected measures of success for each scheme. Successful applicants are required, therefore, to monitor, evaluate and evidence the benefit of the ISSF investment, allowing us, in turn, to write our midterm ISSF progress and continue to benefit from a full five years of funding.

If you would like to find out more about ISSF3 funding schemes, panel membership or governance please contact: issfadmin@cardiff.ac.uk

Mrs Swapna KhandavalliEmail: issfadmin@cardiff.ac.uk Tel: 02920 888697

Swapna is the ISSF Administrator and Research Support Officer in the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences. Swapna manages the day-to-day running of the ISSF scheme, including collation of applications, panel meetings and general enquiries relating to the scheme.

Professor Dylan JonesEmail: JonesDM@cardiff.ac.ukTel: 02920 870468

Dylan is the Chair of the Wellcome Trust Management Board, as well as Pro Vice-Chancellor in the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences. His role with the Wellcome Trust ISSF is overall responsibility and governance of the scheme.

Professor Kim GrahamEmail: GrahamK@cardiff.ac.ukTel: 02920 870468

Kim is the ISSF Principal Investigator and the Dean of Research in the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences. Kim is responsible for the strategic and operational delivery of the ISSF schemes, and regular reporting of outcomes to the Wellcome Trust.

Dr Amanda Roberts-JonesEmail: JonesAL6@cardiff.ac.ukTel: 02920 872796

Amanda is the Acting Head of Research Development, Research & Innovation Services. She was the programme manager responsible for our previous ISSF awards, but now manages the professional team (based within Research and Innovation Services and the College) responsible for delivery of the ISSF awards.

Dr Andrew StaphnillEmail: StaphnillA@cardiff.ac.ukTel: 02920 688957

Andrew is a Research Development Officer based at the University’s Research and Innovation Services. He is responsible for managing appropriate use of the ISSF grant in alignment with the College match funding, and providing support in identifying opportunities for grant funding.

visit: www.cardiff.ac.uk/bls/issf

Who’s who – Meet the ISSF Team