1. 1 BBSRC Fellowships 2009 Skills and Careers Unit

2. 2 * David Phillips Fellowship * Institute Career Path Fellowship BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Prof. David Phillips – a highly distinguished biophysicist 1 st degree in Physics, PhD in crystallography (Cardiff) 1 st degree in Physics, PhD in crystallography (Cardiff) Worked with Bragg, Perutz, Kendrew to determine 1 st protein 3D structure (myoglobin). Worked with Bragg, Perutz, Kendrew to determine 1 st protein 3D structure (myoglobin).

3. 3 BBSRC Delivery Plan BBSRC Delivery Plan 2008-11: “Delivering Excellence with Impact” –‘Skills and Training’ positioned under Economic Impact Previous (07-08) 2008-092009-102010-11 Studentships£42.0M£43.7M£47.0M£51.1M Fellowships£5.3M£6.7M£8.9M£10.5M Important to thinking about the flow of skilled people into bioscience research “cradle to grave” Flow of people into academia and out into other sectors – thinking about the broad economic and social impact of trained people

4. 4 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Purpose: –To support outstanding bioscientists in the early stage of their research careers who wish to establish themselves as independent researchers Institute Career Path Fellowship –Same duration, terms and conditions, etc, but held at BBSRC sponsored institute in areas of strategic importance for institute skills base –Institute guarantees permanent position subject to satisfactory progress

5. 5 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Full details available in the BBSRC Fellowships Guide: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/fellowships/ fellowship_handbook.pdf

6. 6 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Number and Duration –Normally 8-10 David Phillips Fellowships awarded each year, and 2 Institute Career Path Fellowships –5 Year duration, with 2 year further extension for exceptional fellows

7. 7 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Science areas –David Phillips fellowships can be an any area of BBSRC’s remit, but priority is given to those in BBSRC’s strategic priority areas; see: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/priorities.html Research priorities: Ageing research: lifelong health and wellbeing Bioenergy Global security Living with environmental change Nanoscience through engineering to application: bionanotechnology Systems approach to biological research Synthetic biology Technology development for bioscience Animal health Crop science (food security)

8. 8 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Science areas –The target areas for Institute Career Path Fellowships vary each year. –For the 08/09 competition proposals were invited from early-career researchers wishing to be based at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) or Rothamsted Research (RRes). The applicant’s research programme had to fit with the Institute’s Strategic Plans.

9. 9 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Eligibility –Maximum 10 years of active research in postgraduate research plus postdoctoral research employment as at 1 October. –In addition, applicants will normally have a minimum of 3 years of active postdoctoral research experience. –“Active” means that periods of maternity/paternity leave, or career breaks don’t count –No restrictions on nationality

10. 10 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Salary –No fixed maximum starting salary; it is determined in agreement with Research Organisation’s salary scales

11. 11 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Research Support Grant –No maximum limit, but typically will be around £600k - £1m over five years –Will cover staff post –Awarded under “full economic cost” principles –Family friendly: Fellows can go part-time, or suspend their fellowship for maternity break.

12. 12 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship 2008/09 Fellowships Competition –David Phillips scheme: 90 Applications (61 male; 22 female; 7 not disclosed);.. DP fellowships awarded (.. male;.. female) –ICPF: 4 applications (3 male; 1 female); 1 fellowships awarded (1 male)

13. 13 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Competition Process –Applications considered by BBSRC’s Training Awards Committee (TAC) –Call for applications in September; November deadline –Initial sift in December –References sought up on those that make it through the sift –Shortlisting in March –Interviews in April –Award taken up anytime before following January

14. 14 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Assessment Criteria 1)Candidate: –Research achievements to date; –Number and quality of publications; –Personal achievements eg. prizes, awards, honours, presentations, student supervision, collaborations etc.

15. 15 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Assessment Criteria 2) Proposed research programme –Relevance to BBSRC’s mission; –Scientific quality of the proposed research; –Choice of host institution; –Scientific independence.

16. 16 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Post-Award Support and Monitoring –BBSRC Induction Seminar –Further Fellows’ workshops planned –Mentor assigned from TAC –Mentor visits the fellow at their workplace within the first two years –Annual Reports discussed at TAC, with feedback given to fellow –Mid-term presentation given to TAC –Biennial BBSRC Fellows Conference

17. 17 BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Comments from a recent Fellow: “I am very grateful for this opportunity; it has now put me in an almost unique position for interdisciplinary research … The personal contacts provided by the fellowship conferences and the good work of [the BBSRC fellowships team] always gave me confidence that BBSRC was supporting me and would help if unexpected problems had arisen.”

18. 18 Challenges and Advantages of the Fellowship Route –It’s your research, you’re the boss –You need to recruit and manage the staff –Can be difficult to establish your independence alongside colleagues you have worked as a postdoc –From an employment perspective, you will normally be on a fixed-term contract

19. 19 Other Fellowships BBSRC contributes to BBSRC/RSE Enterprise Fellowships –www.bbsrc.ac.uk/business/people_information/ index.htmlwww.bbsrc.ac.uk/business/people_information/ index.html Royal Society Industry Fellowships –www.royalsoc.ac.ukwww.royalsoc.ac.uk Human Frontier Science Programme –www.hfsp.orgwww.hfsp.org Daphne Jackson Fellowships –Research Council funded fellowships for returners: www.daphnejackson.org www.daphnejackson.org