The next round of the Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard scheme will open soon. The University can submit four applications and you must be nominated by your institution in order to submit an application to the Academy. We will be running a university process to select applicants for the scheme.
AMS Springboard Scheme
Springboard offers a bespoke package of support to biomedical researchers at the start of their first independent post to help launch their research careers. This includes funding of up to £100,000 over two years and access to the Academy’s acclaimed mentoring and career development programme.
The Academy of Medical Sciences embraces the broad diversity of biomedical research and its non-clinical Fellows represent the breadth of the field. Equally, we encourage Springboard applicants from molecular, cellular and structural biology to anatomical, physiological, psychological, epidemiological and public health research areas. You may use experimental or theoretical approaches and be undertaking basic laboratory research through clinical application to healthcare delivery but your work must reflect the Academy’s mission to improve health through research.
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply you must:
- hold an academic post that incorporates research
- be in your first independent (salaried) position (i.e. group-leader level, line managed not supervised)
- be within 5 years (FTE) of appointment to this position
- have sufficient time remaining in your current post to complete the proposed Springboard project
- be based within one of the eligible higher education institutions
You must not:
- hold a clinical contract
- be in receipt of substantial research funding as the Principal or Co-Investigator exceeding £150,000 for the two year Springboard award (excluding your personal salary, overhead and indirect costs)
Process
University of Bath process for potential applicants: register your interest by 10 March.
Eligible applicants will be required to present their proposed application to a panel the week commencing 27 March (date tbc). The panel will select the Bath applicants who will submit to the springboard scheme.
HoD support: In the AMS Springboard application form, you will be asked to confirm a list of core duties in your role and your % time allocated to research. The AMS does not fund PI time and expects that as ECRs you will have substantial time allocated to research. Please discuss with your HoD the following:
- your potential Springboard application
- your overall % time allocation for all research
- the realistic amount of time you will require for the specific Springboard project
- what the AMS will and will not fund
- any other support required
Please send confirmation that you have discussed the issues above with your HoD and that they are happy for you to apply to this funding scheme. Please include confirmation of the amount of time agreed with your HoD that will be allocated to this project, if successful. This should not come out of the standard university-funded research hours allocation. Please email this confirmation to resdev@bath.ac.uk by 21 March 2023, prior to the University of Bath selection panel meeting. The Bath selection panel will not be able to consider you for this scheme without this confirmation.
Timeline
Bath selection process timeline:
- 10 March: Deadline for potential applicants to register their interest and complete eligibility form
- 21 March: Potential applicants to discuss their application with HoD and get confirmation of time commitment and support
- Week of 27 March tbc: Presentations to selection panel
- 4 April: Outcome of Bath selection panel
- 2 May: RIS Inform AMS of selected Bath applicants (max 4)
- 5 April - 15June: RIS proposal development support and internal peer review
- 15 June: Deadline for submission to AMS
Those selected to apply to the Springboard scheme will then work closely with Laura Wisby and Bath’s Springboard Champion Professor Laurence Hurst, Life Sciences, to develop their proposals for submission.