Image credit: Wellcome Sanger Institute
A new, unique scheme to support postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) at the Wellcome Sanger Institute has been launched this year. Backed by the Institute’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiative, and driven by our commitment to the Athena Swan principles, the scheme aims to build capacity after a period of leave.
Postdoctoral researchers in the UK are often employed on short-term contracts of three to five years, to undertake a specific research project. Any extended period of leave – for example parental leave or carers leave – can disrupt progress, as well as someone’s future career prospects. The COVID pandemic had exactly this effect, as many postdocs were forced to slow or pause their projects as they juggled caring responsibilities with laboratory work.
To help these postdocs mitigate the impact of the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Sanger Institute piloted a new scheme last year. Postdocs were paired with highly skilled technical staff from other departments across the Institute, who they trained and mentored. The aim was to boost the postdocs’ capacity, getting experiments back up and running swiftly.
The scheme was a success, and is now available for all postdocs returning from any period of extended leave, alongside other support measures. The scheme also provides technical staff with development opportunities – in line with the Institute’s support for technicians and membership of the Technician Commitment. Here, we spoke to some of those who took part about their experiences.
Catarina Caetano
Catarina Caetano is a former Advanced Research Assistant, DNA Pipelines.
“The secondment enhanced my perception of how faculty laboratories work. I now better understand the research process, experimental design and how decisions are made.
“By using very different methods to the ones I use in my everyday job, I also got a lot more experience, which was great to build my CV.
“I’m glad I got the opportunity, it was challenging at times, but it felt really good to be part of such an interesting project. Due to the complexity of the project, sometimes I felt a bit lost, so having this responsibility to help and do well really pushed me out of my comfort zone, which was very positive.
“I would recommend it to other technical staff at Sanger who want to learn or practice something new, as well as collaborate and see different ways of working.”
Catarina Caetano is a former Advanced Research Assistant, DNA Pipelines
Catarina Caetano is a former Advanced Research Assistant, DNA Pipelines
Catarina Caetano, former Advanced Research Assistant, DNA Pipelines
“The secondment enhanced my perception of how faculty laboratories work. I now better understand the research process, experimental design and how decisions are made.
“By using very different methods to the ones I use in my everyday job, I also got a lot more experience, which was great to build my CV.
“I’m glad I got the opportunity, it was challenging at times, but it felt really good to be part of such an interesting project. Due to the complexity of the project, sometimes I felt a bit lost, so having this responsibility to help and do well really pushed me out of my comfort zone, which was very positive.
“I would recommend it to other technical staff at Sanger who want to learn or practice something new, as well as collaborate and see different ways of working.”
Suruchi Pacharne
Suruchi is a former postdoctoral researcher in the Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation Programme, now working as a technical specialist.
“My postdoc research focused on using CRISPR-Cas9 to identify new drug targets to treat leukaemia.
“During the pandemic, it was very difficult for me to find the balance in my work. I did not get the childcare that I was hoping to get. It became extremely difficult to find time to actually run my experiments and write a manuscript alongside taking care of my premature babies.
“My secondee was from the sequencing pipeline team, and CRISPR editing was really new to her. So we had a few weeks where a lot of training went into place. She became very confident to run drug resistance screening in leukemic cell lines. She had very interesting insights into how the data came out.
“I actually have no words to say how incredible the support was because I had someone who I could trust to conduct my research. We really connected on a very personal level as well. It took a lot of pressure off, because I was happy that my research wasn’t held up. I could take a step back from my work too, which helped me think about and plan a publication. It also helped me develop my skills as a mentor.”
Suruchi Pacharne is a former postdoctoral researcher in the Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation Programme, now working as a technical specialist.
Suruchi Pacharne is a former postdoctoral researcher in the Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation Programme, now working as a technical specialist.
Suruchi Pacharne, former postdoctoral researcher in the Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation Programme, and now working as a technical specialist.
“My postdoc research focused on using CRISPR-Cas9 to identify new drug targets to treat leukaemia.
“During the pandemic, it was very difficult for me to find the balance in my work. I did not get the childcare that I was hoping to get. It became extremely difficult to find time to actually run my experiments and write a manuscript alongside taking care of my premature babies.
“My secondee was from the sequencing pipeline team, and CRISPR editing was really new to her. So we had a few weeks where a lot of training went into place. She became very confident to run drug resistance screening in leukemic cell lines. She had very interesting insights into how the data came out.
“I actually have no words to say how incredible the support was because I had someone who I could trust to conduct my research. We really connected on a very personal level as well. It took a lot of pressure off, because I was happy that my research wasn’t held up. I could take a step back from my work too, which helped me think about and plan a publication. It also helped me develop my skills as a mentor.”
Saher Ahmed, PhD
Saher is the Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
“We are pleased to add the Research Support Scheme to our flexible package of benefits for postdocs returning from extended leave.
“Postdoc roles are time-bound and during this period, postdocs are expected to deliver impactful outputs that illustrate their research niche. The aim of this scheme is to help postdocs mitigate any negative impacts of extended leave by providing them with a ‘capacity boost’ to recover lost research productivity.
“We hope this will increase the retention of talented postdocs – for example women who have taken maternity leave - in scientific research.”
Saher Ahmed is the Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
Saher Ahmed is the Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
Saher Ahmed, Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
“We are pleased to add the Research Support Scheme to our flexible package of benefits for postdocs returning from extended leave.
“Postdoc roles are time-bound and during this period, postdocs are expected to deliver impactful outputs that illustrate their research niche. The aim of this scheme is to help postdocs mitigate any negative impacts of extended leave by providing them with a ‘capacity boost’ to recover lost research productivity.
“We hope this will increase the retention of talented postdocs – for example women who have taken maternity leave - in scientific research.”
