Resources for Scientists
Professional bodies with re-entry programmes
- Daphne Jackson Fellowships – Fellowships with mentoring and training to help people with STEM backgrounds to return after career break
- Wellcome Trust Career Re-entry Fellowship – 2-4 year fellowship for returning postdoc biomedical scientists
- Medical Research Council – Research fellowships open to applicants with career break
- British Heart Foundation Career Re-entry Research Fellowships To re-establish a career in cardiovascular science in an established research institution in the UK, after a break of more than two years.
- Sanger Institute Fellowship Three year fellowship for postdocs who have been out of scientific research for one year or more to return to high-quality postdoctoral training. Full time, part time or flexible
- For a longer list see WISE Campaign Funding & Scholarships
Professional associations and networks
- WISE Campaign
- SET Women
- Mums in Science
- Royal Society of Biology – returners to bioscience group
- Equate Scotland – working for gender equality in SET and built environment
- MentorSET – one-to-one mentoring for women in and returning to STEM fields, co-ordinated by WES
- Institute of Physics diversity programme
- Royal Society of Chemistry careers support
Most societies offer reduced membership rates for people on a career break. The Society of Biology offers a 50% discount, the Society for General Microbiology offers full concessionary membership.
Some also offer bursaries to attend scientific conferences and events, updating both networks & knowledge.
- The Biochemical Society’s Stay Connected Bursary Scheme
- The Society for General Microbiology’s Inclusion Grant
Strategic Volunteering
- School Gate SET: volunteering opportunities for parents on career breaks to help with STEM in primary schools
Other resources
- Returners’ Guide to Research (UK): Published by Wellcome Trust to support people returning to research career
- Reboot Your STEM Career: Interactive toolkit to help STEM professionals to relaunch their career after a break
- Returning to STEM: Free online course specifically designed to encourage people that have taken a career break back into STEM based roles.
Success stories
- Returning to scientific research (3 year break)
- Returning to scientific research (8 year break)
- Healthcare to scientific publishing (7 year break)
- Financial services to nutrition (8 year break)
- Daphne Jackson fellows’ stories
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