To celebrate the Academy’s 20th birthday, we have put together a snapshot of 20 of our biggest impacts. To find out more about our 20th celebrations and our future plans, read this blog by our President Professor Sir Robert Lechler, and follow #AMS20 on social media.
The Academy would like to thank all our funders, partners and collaborators, without whom none of this work would be possible.
#3 Igniting the power of mentoring
“My research was finally showing promising data for a potential new treatment to improve the eyesight of children with albinism when family pressures and a series of grant rejections nearly led me to leave research for a more financially secure job as a consultant."
“It was only with the help of my Academy mentor that I realised I could balance my research and clinical duties while supporting my family. Every day in the laboratory I am thankful for this.”
Dr Helena Lee, Academic Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology, University of Southampton, Starter Grant holder and SUSTAIN participant.
Our work on the UK’s declining number of clinical academics highlighted that funding was not the sole ingredient for success. The pressures of the complex career track combining roles of doctor, researcher and teacher meant people needed considerable support and guidance.
In a culture where asking for help was too often seen as a sign of weakness, the Academy developed its widely acclaimed mentoring programme. To date we have provided mentors for 900 researchers. The support provided gives researchers a fresh and objective outlook, signposting opportunities and providing support for critical career choices. Repeated evaluations have shown the power of this approach.
The Academy now encourages other organisations to develop their own mentoring schemes as well as helping people get the most from their mentoring relationship through freely-available resources and films.
To find out more about our work, visit our homepage. To support the work of the Academy, see our dedicated Support us webpage.
