The Fellows will be undertaking ground-breaking research that can benefit society and further human understanding.

Currently running as a pilot with researchers from Black and Mixed Black heritage, the Career Development Fellowships (CDFs) offer four years of funding (up to £690,000), mentoring and support to kickstart the careers of researchers from groups underrepresented in UK STEM academia.

Dr Simone Webb, a Research Associate in the Newcastle University Biosciences Institute, will be applying her previous work on how we first build a healthy immune system in the womb, to predict the nerve cell signals that are important for keeping blood stem cells alive using high resolution images of cells and their signals. 

Crucially, the study, “A systems approach to unravel neural regulation of embryonic haematopoiesis,”
will aim to provide a resource to enable scientists to improve research protocols and better design urgently needed clinical therapies for blood disorders.

Dr Webb said: “I am so grateful to be part of such an impressive first cohort for the scheme. The package of mentorship and leadership support offered by the Royal Society will be particularly valuable and timely for me, as I now extend into research independence.

“I am excited by my project's potential to advance our knowledge of how our immune systems are formed in prenatal development and am motivated by the impact this will have on our understanding of when this process goes wrong, such as in blood disorders. 

“On a separate note, I cannot wait to meet with and learn from the other Career Development Fellows. The landscape for Black scholars within UK academia has long shown serious gaps in recruitment, retention, and progression, with vanishingly few academics making it to senior research positions. The statistics for Black Women Professors are particularly stark. This Fellowship begins at a crucial time for me as an early career researcher bridging to independence. It would be an understatement to say the experience can be an isolating one, but equally true to reflect that the impact of network and community can be transformative. 

“While the Royal Society Career Development Fellowship seeks to redress parts of this Broken Pipeline in its own way, I look forward to forming community with this cohort of Fellows and exploring those intangible and tangible things which have emboldened us each with staying power.”

"a launchpad"

The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine whose purpose is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science for the benefit of humanity. 

They launched the CDF scheme in response to 11-years of higher education data which showed Black heritage researchers leave academia at higher rates than those from other groups. The impact of this higher attrition rate is pronounced at senior levels of academic careers. Analysis of the 2022/23 Higher Education Statistics Authority data, undertaken by Jisc on behalf of the Royal Society, shows just 3% of Black heritage staff were working at F1 Professor level. This compares to 13% of White STEM academics working at professor level, 7% Asian, 6% Mixed and 5% Other.

In addition to their fellowship funding and support from the Royal Society, the award holders will have access to networking and mentoring opportunities supported by the Black British Professionals in STEM (BBSTEM) network.

If the pilot is shown to be effective, the CDF programme could be expanded to include researchers from other groups where the data shows there is persistent underrepresentation.  

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said: “We need an academic system where talented researchers can build a career, whatever their background. But we know that is not the case in the UK today – particularly for researchers of Black heritage.

“The variety and quality of research being undertaken by this first cohort of Royal Society Career Development Fellows suggests a bright future ahead if we can ensure more outstanding researchers develop their talents and follow their research passions.

“I hope this pilot and the support it offers can be a launchpad to achieve that.”

More information about the scheme can be found on the Royal Society Career Development Fellowships homepage.

Adapted with thanks to the Royal Society