As British Science Week shines a spotlight on curiosity-driven research, the Academy of Medical Sciences is marking 10 years of its Springboard programme - the flagship funding scheme that has backed over 400 early-career researchers across 64 Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) with a total investment of £44 million.
Launched in 2015 to fill a gap in support for newly appointed lecturers, Springboard has become one of the UK’s key drivers of discovery science at the start of independent research careers. Its mix of flexible funding, tailored development and experienced mentoring has helped awardees build real momentum, with those in rounds five to nine going on to secure further grants at a high rate and generating £5.30 in additional research income for every £1 invested.
When Prof Dennis Wang set out to understand why some patients develop multiple long-term conditions while others do not, he faced a familiar challenge for early career researchers as he tried to move beyond tightly defined projects and explore more ambitious questions.
With Round 4 Springboard support, he recruited a postdoctoral researcher to explore how artificial intelligence can predict patient outcomes and uncover treatments that may work across several conditions at once. The award provided both the funding and the independence to broaden his research direction at a pivotal career stage.
Since then, Prof Wang has led computational research internationally, including at the A*STAR Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences and the Bioinformatics Institute, before returning to the UK to establish a biomedical data science programme at Imperial College London with further funding from UKRI and AMS. There, he integrates genomic and clinical data across multiple disease and population cohorts, advancing new approaches to predicting and treating multiple long-term conditions.
Prof Wang said: "The Springboard was a true catalyst. The funding and validation of my preliminary research provided the essential confidence to pursue innovative directions. Crucially, it enabled me to pivot my focus toward an emerging and highly impactful healthcare application. Being an awardee facilitated access to invaluable mentorship and a robust professional network. This support system has been instrumental in elevating my research to a global stage and significantly accelerating my professional development. I remain deeply appreciative of this vital investment in both my science and my career."
The Springboard programme has supported a range of biomedical research – from infectious disease and metabolic science to imaging technologies and translational medicine – championing scientists as they establish independence and build platforms that extend far beyond their first award. Evaluation data indicate that more than four in ten awardees reported a promotion following their award, compared with around a third of unsuccessful applicants, underscoring Springboard’s contribution to strengthening the UK’s future research leadership.
This year’s British Science Week theme, ‘Curiosity: What’s your question?’, speaks directly to the ethos behind Springboard. Over the past decade, the programme has placed curiosity, creativity and discovery-led science at its heart. At a time when early-career researchers face growing pressures, Springboard gives them the freedom to explore ambitious new questions and lay the foundations of their future research groups.
In 2022, Springboard funding enabled Dr Laura Rivino at the University of Bristol to investigate immune responses to dengue virus, focusing on why overweight and obese individuals may be at greater risk of severe disease.
The award allowed her to generate integrated immunological data in well-characterised patient cohorts, positioning her research at the forefront of efforts to understand protective immunity in dengue and other inflammatory viral diseases.
She has since secured funding from Wellcome to lead multi-country analyses of dengue and Zika virus burden, immunogenicity and population-level risk – expanding her work onto the global stage.
Dr Rivino said: “I am very grateful for the Springboard award which enabled me to establish our dengue research in the UK and build momentum to secure further research funding in this area. I am very excited about the findings that have emerged from our Springboard-funded work as it opens avenues to exploring immunological markers as potential predictors for progression to severe dengue. It also identifies immune responses that are dysregulated in severe disease, which may targetable therapeutically. We currently lack therapeutics for dengue and we are unable to predict early in infection which patients have high risk of progressing to severe disease.”
Springboard has also catalysed innovation in medical technology. At King’s College London, Dr Wenfeng Xia used his award to develop new imaging tools to support minimally invasive surgery. The project improved highresolution imaging techniques, helping researchers and clinicians see more clearly through complex biological tissue, with the potential to make surgical procedures more precise and less invasive.
Building on this work, Dr Xia has since secured a patent for the new imaging technique. This highlights how early discovery research can lead to protected innovations with real potential for use in healthcare, strengthening the pathway from academic research to clinical and commercial application.
Dr Xia said: “The Springboard award came at a pivotal moment in my career as a Lecturer, providing not only vital early-stage funding but also the flexibility to pursue bold, high-risk ideas and adapt the research direction as new opportunities emerged. This freedom enabled me to lay the foundations for a multimodal endoscopic imaging platform with clear clinical and translational potential. The momentum generated by this support led to protected intellectual property and a strengthened pathway towards commercialisation, and played a significant role in my progression to Reader, shaping both my research vision and academic leadership.”
With support from Round 6 of the Springboard programme, Dr Ildem Akerman at the University of Birmingham explored new ways to make pancreatic beta cells from stem cells. These specialised cells in the pancreas produce and release insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels, so are important for diabetes research. The award gave her the freedom to focus on her own research direction and build her expertise in beta cell biology.
Since then, she has founded BetaCell Birmingham, a facility within the University’s Technology Hub that produces stem cell–derived beta cells for researchers. As the only non-profit provider of these cells in the UK, the facility supplies them at cost to research teams across the country, making advanced cellular models more widely accessible and showing how early-career funding can grow into national research infrastructure.
Stem cell derived pancreatic beta cells for advancement of research into cell replacement therapy.
Credit: Jessica Hibbert
Dr Akerman said: "The Springboard award came at a crucial moment in my career. It enabled us to identify key drivers of beta cell identity and optimise how stem cell–derived beta cells are generated. These advances now underpin our non-profit facility, BetaCell Birmingham, which supports researchers working on new treatments for diabetes. The programme helped accelerate our trajectory from discovery science toward translation, and we are now focused on advancing stem cell–based beta cell replacement therapies for type 1 diabetes toward the clinic."
Professor Samir Bhatt FMedSci, now at Imperial College London and the University of Copenhagen, was an early Springboard recipient, receiving £100,000 to support his work on infectious disease outbreaks. That initial funding helped establish his independent research trajectory in epidemic modelling and global health.
Professor Bhatt went on to become the first Springboard awardee elected to the Academy’s Fellowship – a powerful testament to the long-term impact of backing researchers at the start of their careers.
Professor Bhatt said: "Starting your own group is a big step, and it can be daunting. Often, what you need most isn’t a perfect plan, but something that helps you take that first step into real independence. For me, the Springboard Award was exactly that. I wanted to move to a new research area, and this award gave me the confidence to back my own ideas and build something new, but not something enormous and overwhelming. Looking back, I can trace so much of my career’s direction to that early vote of confidence."
Professor James Naismith FRS FRSE FMedSci, Vice-President (Non-Clinical) at the Academy of Medical Sciences, said: ”Great science starts with giving talented people the freedom to follow their curiosity. This is what Springboard has done for 10 years. The research it has unlocked – from new approaches to women’s health to breakthroughs in disease prediction – shows why backing early-career scientists is one of the smartest investments we can make. If we want the UK to be the best place in the world for a career in medical science, programmes like Springboard are part of the answer.”
Originally partnered with Wellcome, Springboard has since attracted a broader funding consortium including the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK. Together these partners have enabled the Academy to provide meaningful and sustained support for researchers who will lead tomorrow’s discoveries.
Professor James Leiper, Director of Research at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Early‑career scientists drive scientific progress and represent the next generation of scientific leaders. Springboard has been instrumental in giving them the freedom and confidence to pursue bold new ideas. Through this programme, we’ve been proud to fund 30 outstanding researchers whose work is already helping to shape the future of cardiovascular science. By backing talented researchers at a formative stage, this programme helps unlock breakthroughs that can ultimately transform the lives of people affected by cardiovascular diseases. We are honoured to support a scheme that not only accelerates scientific progress but also strengthens the UK’s research community for the long term.”
Ben Murton, Head of Early Careers and Career Development Researchers at Wellcome, said: “Wellcome's involvement in the Springboard scheme over the last 10 years has been a critical part of our approach in supporting researchers throughout their career. It has helped launch hundreds of journeys, enabling researchers to gain that longer, larger funding that leads to cutting-edge, curiosity-driven discoveries. The growing partnership in Springboard points towards the success of funders working together with the Academy of Medical Sciences to bring meaningful opportunities to the sector."
As Springboard enters its second decade, the Academy will continue working with partners across the research and innovation landscape to ensure that discovery-driven biomedical science thrives in the UK and that talented early-career researchers have the support they need to pursue questions that matter most for human health. The latest round of Springboard awards will be announced in April, marking the next chapter of investment in the UK’s emerging research leaders.