Twenty-four participants have now been selected to take part in SUSTAIN, the Academy's flagship programme empowering female researchers to thrive in their independent research careers.
Female doctors, scientists and engineers have been selected from across the UK to take part in the third round of SUSTAIN. This is the first time that engineers have participated in the programme and we are delighted to have partnered with the Royal Academy of Engineering to make this possible.
SUSTAIN is a year-long programme that addresses the mounting evidence base showing that not enough female researchers in science are securing senior leadership posts in the UK. This forms part of the Academy's concerted effort to ensure women are appropriately supported along their career trajectory to enable them to secure those senior positions.
Evaluation of the pilot of SUSTAIN showed that participants particularly value the small cohort size. This ensures that training workshops become 'safe spaces' where participants are comfortable sharing personal stories and create a lasting peer support network. The Academy is committed to sharing the learning from developing and delivering SUSTAIN and regularly meets with organisations to advise on setting up similar programmes.
There was a very high number of applications for SUSTAIN round 3, which were stratified and then selected by a computerised randomisation method. The 24 participants on SUSTAIN are Academy of Medical Sciences grant awardees alongside those of the Medical Research Council, the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
The programme's launch will be marked by an evening Inspiring Women celebration on 7 March. If you would like to attend the celebration, please contact ruth.lowe@acmedsci.ac.uk.
To learn more about SUSTAIN, please visit the Academy’s dedicated webpage, or read case studies from previous SUSTAIN participants here. If you want to learn more about how to set up a programme like SUSTAIN in your organisation, please get in touch at sustain@acmedsci.ac.uk.
Participants on this round of SUSTAIN are:
Dr Karin Tuschl, UCL
Dr Samantha Terry, King's College London
Dr Sarah Alderson, University of Leeds
Dr Nisreen Alwan, University of Southampton
Dr Maud Lemoine, Imperial College London
Dr Jia Li, Imperial College London
Dr Lucy Davidson, Royal Veterinary College
Dr Karen Forbes, University of Leeds
Dr Julie Aspden, University of Leeds
Dr Kate Baker, University of Liverpool
Dr Gemma Nixon, University of Liverpool
Dr Helen Stagg, University of Edinburgh
Dr Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic, University of Oxford
Dr Huiling Tan, University of Oxford
Dr Catarina Veiga, UCL
Dr Melanie Jimenez, University of Glasgow
Dr Gemma Modinos, King's College London
Dr Jennifer Steeden, UCL
Dr Myriam Chimen, University of Birmingham
Dr Kirsti Ashworth, Lancaster University
Dr Jennifer Tomlinson, University of Leeds
Dr Yvonne Grunder, University of Liverpool
Dr Mahima Swamy, University of Dundee
Dr Eva Gluenz, University of Oxford.