Harry Keen Intermediate Clinical and RD Lawrence fellows are eligible to sign up to the Academy of Medical Sciences mentorship programme, to get career development support from senior academics.
2020 was a challenging year for us all, including the research community. Between projects being delayed or paused and scientists shifting to new ways of working, it’s been difficult to keep things moving forward. This year, to help get researchers back on track, the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) is championing the role that mentoring can play in career development. Now, Diabetes UK is partnering with the AMS Mentoring programme, to help our researchers become research leaders.
The AMS Mentoring programme pairs early career researchers with an Academy Fellow as a mentee. This prestigious programme promotes an enabling, non-directive approach to help mentees make critical career decisions. Mentors provide a framework for making career choices and act as a signpost to information and resources, while gaining insights into the needs of early career researchers.
Prospective mentees can identify an Academy Fellow from the hundreds of mentor profiles on the AMS website. These briefly outline the areas of expertise which mentors can offer through mentorship, making sure that mentees are paired with someone who can best help them make the next step forward in their career. The AMS have over 1300 senior researchers with clinical and non-clinical backgrounds, who have a wide range of experience to support researchers moving to independence and working towards leading their own research teams.
The AMS also provides complimentary Mentoring Masterclasses, a two-hour online workshop, where mentees can learn about the roles of mentor and mentee and how to get the most from their experience.
A previous mentee on the AMS programme said:
“The AMS mentoring programme has provided me just the sort of support I need while I am at the stage of establishing my independent research and developing my career plan. My mentor has enabled me to think through options more broadly, challenged me and helped me become confident and able to find solutions.”
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, said:
“We want support the future of diabetes research, and there’s no better way to do that than to support the development of diabetes researchers. The AMS Mentoring Programme gives our fellows an opportunity to get expert advice on how to move their research careers forward and become the research leaders of tomorrow. We would encourage all of our fellows to take part in the programme.”
President of the AMS Professor Dame Anne Johnson DBE PMedSci said:
“I am delighted that Diabetes UK fellows can now join the Academy’s renowned Mentoring programme as mentees. Mentoring is an incredibly powerful tool for career development, and it is especially important during these turbulent times where COVID-19 has added extra challenges and uncertainty to every aspect of life.
“An academic career is an exciting one but can be challenging to navigate, so it’s really helpful to receive independent support from people who listen, push you beyond your comfort zone and build confidence. I received one of the best bits of advice late in life from one of my mentors – ‘Do what you want’, to which I would add, ‘But use your head to follow your heart.’”
