The Wellcome Accelerator Awards are currently open for application and here I share some of the insights from my experience of fellowship support and panels. As this was mostly derived from my experience with the UKRI Future Leaders Fellows scheme, I’m sharing these insights more widely as part of my role as Director of the FLF Development Network. Before you read this you should check the Wellcome Webinar on the scheme and make sure that your hosting school or institute is aware of your intention to submit – they will have to approve your proposal and may be able to make some suggestions about what to include about your host support.
Although Wellcome encourage mobility with their awards it’s not compulsory. If you are already in the best place for your research then make sure this is part of the case you make in your proposal. I hope that we’ve moved on from the dinosaur years where choosing not to move for a fellowship was perceived as a sign that you weren’t committed enough to your career (don’t get me started on this piece of nonsense) but don’t assume that everyone reading it will be as enlightened. Make the case for the research environment you are in – make it clear that it will enable your success.
If you are reading this as an Edinburgh colleague, it’s worth looking at the list of projects we’ve funded through our Wellcome project as these might give you some ideas for the section of the proposal that looks at your contribution to improving culture. All these projects will produce recommendations or resources which might align with your plans. Being able to say these are being used by you and other leaders is a win-win for those project leads. If you are reading this from another institution, take a look anyway – we’ll aim to share these outcomes with open access so they will be available to you. Other research culture projects (funded by Wellcome or Research England) may also have useable outputs openly available.
I also suggested that it was worth three minutes looking at the animation that summarises the support that the FLF Development Network offers its members. Whilst you WON’T be able to access the FLF programme as an Accelerator awardee, I hope that looking at the way we approach research and innovation leadership development might inspire you to think differently about what to put in your application and what to COST.
The slides for this session are available below. If you are reading this in another institution, then please take these and use them. Not everything will apply outside Edinburgh but hopefully it will help you avoid a few of the common mistakes I see in drafts. One of the key messages from the event was to make best use of your network, so I did this! A quick question on LinkedIn about what questions/advice to share prompted responses from a current Accelerator Award holder and two experts who support fellowship applicants. I’ve made some slight edits to their contributions so they make sense out of the context of the post.
Rhoda Stefanatos is Fellowships Development Manager at University of Glasgow:
Reflect on your research contributions (the R4RI is a great way to map this) as you prepare your application:
- What will increase your competitiveness for further/larger funding?
- What will increase your competitiveness for recruitment/promotion panels at the research environment you have chosen as the best place for you and your research?
- Is it related to your visibility? Your network? What connections can this help you make? Is it piloting/learning /adapting a new approach? Proof of concept?
- Is it buy out to focus on research? What aspect of your research leadership do you want/need to develop?
- How will you use this two years and where/what is it accelerating you towards? What does the next stage look like for you in your research area and what activities will get you there?
Taryn Bell at University of Leeds added:
- What development opportunities will you need to take up BESIDES just ‘taking courses’?
I see so many initial drafts of career development plans that just list courses, as if this constitutes development in and of itself.
Tatendashe Dondo, Senior Research Statistician/ Epidemiologist AND Wellcome Trust Accelerator Award Fellow at University of Leeds referred to the support she is offering to applicants (classic throwing down ladders behaviour – hooray!) and emphasised how important it is to tailor the application:
I have also had conversations with applicants planning to submit this year (about 10 + individuals). The key area has been around what does career acceleration/ development mean at an individual level and figuring out the development initiatives to facilitate career acceleration beyond just training/ courses.
This has been the most common feature of the feedback I have given to applicants – they create specific and compelling research goals and plans, let down by generic personal and career ones. Fellowships are PERSONAL awards so the impact of the award on the person must shout from the page. What will be possible with this award that can’t be achieved otherwise? This is especially the case for this scheme where there is a really open call. Recognising that our research and innovation system will have impacted on minoritised groups and individuals in ways that others in that system (predominantly white, well meaning, but lacking lived experience) haven’t anticipated means that you can design the opportunities that will make the most difference to you. Be creative and ambitious.
This is summarised in the career plan schematic that I used in the session and above. As you go from “current self” to “future self” there will be actions that you take based on your research plans, but to stand out you will need additional opportunities that may not be available to you. You can use the flexible Accelerator Award to cost and create these, so think about what conditions you might be able to create for yourself through the award. Who can you be in the room with? What places might you be able to go? What new things can you learn from? All the time, keep thinking about how this will develop a unique research and innovation leader so you can grow your plans with confidence and distinctiveness.
There’s more detail in the slides at the end of the post but I’ll summarise the key messages:
The application should excite the reader and if you can, create a sense that not funding it is a risk they shouldn’t be willing to take. Look for ways to create a sense of urgency in the proposal – momentum with your field, new developments that you are poised to exploit, major conferences or strategic priorities that you can engage with. In short this proposal and my time is NOW – don’t risk not funding me!
Fellowship applications answer the WHY YOU question. They tell me how you are unique – the combination of skills, the choices you’ve made about what to pursue and why. How this aligns with your research vision and why you are the only person who can take your plans this far or this fast. Back this up by making effective use of the opportunity of the award – create the conditions that will enable your success.
But don’t forget the impact you can have on others, so be generous in sharing the benefits of your success. You’ve lived in our system so should have ideas on how can you make it better in new ways – resource these and look for allies (like me) to help you change our culture for the better.
Finally, you must get feedback from others on your proposal. I offered to take a look at the Edinburgh applicant’s career plans. But I also asked that were mindful of the demands on people who can offer this support, so I’ll close with some advice about how to ask for advice… in short MAKE IT EASY,
- Get someone in a development role or with a strong career plan to review your career statements
- Put the assessment criteria/form notes in the document at the start
- Summarise in a few lines what you want them to look out for
- Only send what’s relevant – if you print out the form from the website it’s at least 50 pages, much of which will be irrelevant and you’ll lose a lot of goodwill
- Don’t send PDFs – these are harder to annotate
- Give them a clear deadline
- REMEMBER TO LET THEM KNOW THE OUTCOME as it’s wonderful when it’s good news, but they are part of your support network if you don’t get it this time
The slides: Wellcome Accelerator Career Development Slides
GOOD LUCK.
