Following three successful years of the Academy’s Regional Champions scheme, during which over 40 regional events have been held, we are now seeking new Champions to represent the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and East Anglia.
The Regional Champions scheme was established in 2014 by Professor Martin Humphries FMedSci Vice President Non-Clinical of the Academy. The vision was to establish a nationwide network of Fellows to build on the existing level of collegiality, increase communication networks and connections between Fellows, raise awareness of the Academy’s work throughout the wider biomedical community, and promote engagement with the Academy.
Professor Martin Humphries FMedSci said:
“The Regional Champions have devoted a huge amount of time and effort into engaging Fellows and local biomedical communities across the UK to achieve greater input into, and awareness of, the Academy’s work. They have acted as ambassadors for the Fellowship election process, encouraging, supporting and coordinating nominations, and they have built a very impressive programme of events that has engaged Fellows across the country, including in Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Southampton.
“Their work has recognisably contributed to the diversity of candidates in the Fellowship election pool and therefore in the Fellowship, resulting in the highest ever percentage of women Fellows elected this year and the highest ever number of applicants for the Foulkes Medal.
"I warmly thank the Fellows for their efforts and look forward to working with the new and existing Champions to see the scheme grow.”
The next stage of evolution for this exciting network is for the Champions’ work to link into the Academy’s new strategy by continuing to engage up-and-coming researchers and the wider biomedical community. The Academy will shortly begin a new horizon scanning programme, a major part of which will be a series of regional discussion events that enable researchers from a variety of career stages, disciplines and sectors to contribute their ideas into the process.
Over the summer we will be rotating three of our Champions: Professor Gillian Griffiths FRS FMedSci (East Anglia), Professor Steve Watson FMedSci (Midlands) and Professor Peter Grant FMedSci (Yorkshire and Humberside). We would like to express our sincere thanks to these Fellows for serving with such enthusiasm over the past three years. We look forward to selecting the Fellows who will continue the work in these regions, adding their own ideas and individuality to the position.
Any Fellow in the three regions above is eligible to apply to become a Regional Champion. A person specification and brief indication of activities is available to download from this page. Fellows interested in the role are asked to complete the expression of interest form and send this to Nick Hillier in the Academy office by 4 August 2017 ([email protected]).