Dr Kathryn Peall selected for the prestigious career development programme SUSTAIN

On Wednesday 11 March 2020, the Academy of Medical Sciences launched a fourth round of their career development programme SUSTAIN, which aims to enable female researchers to thrive in their first independent positions.

SUSTAIN provides an innovative programme of training and support to develop participants’ leadership and career potential, comprised of interactive career development workshops, one to one mentoring with an academy fellow and a peer support network of other participants. The 24 participants are all grant awardees funded by the Medical Research Council, the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The SUSTAIN Programme highlights that not enough female researchers in science are securing senior leadership posts in the UK. A concerted effort is needed to ensure women are appropriately supported along their career trajectory to enable them to secure senior positions. SUSTAIN is a unique programme in the UK that is providing female researchers a fantastic opportunity to benefit from individualised support tailored to their career needs.

Dr Kathryn Peall is one of the participants who has been selected to take part in this prestigious programme. Dr Peall is a clinical senior lecturer at the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute. Her work is predominantly focused on the aetiology and pathophysiological mechanisms that underpin movement disorders, particularly childhood and adult-onset Dystonia.

She says “It’s a huge privilege to have been selected to be a part of this programme. The events for the coming year look extremely inspiring, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the other participants and course leads”

The year-long programme offers interactive skills training and career development sessions, tailored mentoring and the opportunity to network with research leaders. It is designed so that participants are part of a unique cohort to share learnings and includes:

Interactive career development workshops

The programme starts with a 2.5 day residential workshop in London on 11-13 March 2020, followed by three one-day workshops spread across the next twelve months. A wide range of issues are addressed at these workshops, including media training, publishing strategically, finding your work-life blend and developing a personal leadership style. Each session is tailored to support attendees through the challenges of combining research, teaching, clinical practice and caring responsibilities. Additionally, participants are introduced to research leaders at an Inspiring Women event on one evening of the residential workshop.

A peer support network

The cohort is small by design and are matched in co-coaching trios to enable ongoing peer support and safe discussion of issues/challenges. Small group work at each workshop helps to embed and put into practice key learning points.

One-to-one mentoring

Participants are mentored by a Fellow of the Academy. Bespoke training on how to get the most out of mentoring, and ongoing support is provided to both mentees and mentors over the course of the programme.

How to apply

For more information on the SUSTAIN programme and to apply for the next round in November 2020 here.