Fellowship aims to attract more black scientists

LONDON:

A leading physicist of Jamaican heritage is promoting a funding scheme designed to increase the number of black science professors in the United Kingdom (UK).

Dr Mark Richards, a physics researcher and senior teaching fellow at Imperial College, is urging black researchers to apply for the second round of funding from the Royal Society Career Development Fellowship (CDF) this month.

The CDF will provide £690,000 over four years to each selected researcher who is completing or has recently completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Commenting on the CDF, Richards said: “There are many reasons scientists from marginalised groups may leave academia. Often it’s because they’re looking ahead and not seeing themselves reflected in those spaces.”

The physicist added: “This scheme, which offers funding, mentoring, and recognition from a body like the Royal Society, can be the endorsement to propel these eight excellent academics to go on and grow their own research groups.

“Over time, I hope it can become self-sustaining, creating a network of scientists in universities and beyond, who can help raise aspirations and open doors.”

Richards’ passion for equality moved him to become a member of the Royal Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee (RSDIC) that commissioned reports and researched trends across 11 years of Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) data.

The RSDIC’s findings identified a need for intervention across the academic pipeline to support researchers from African-Caribbean backgrounds, particularly researchers making the transition from postgraduate to early postdoctoral stages.

As a result of the pilot scheme, eight researchers received Royal Society Career Development Fellows to support projects ranging from ageing-related cancers to radiation-proof glass and the birth of planets.

MOST POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

Dr Katrina Skerratt-Love, a researcher who is of Jamaican and Asian heritage, has received a 2024 fellowship from the Royal Society and is currently working in the Department of Materials, Design, and Manufacturing Engineering at Liverpool University.

During Dr Skerratt–Love’s four-year fellowship she will develop unique types of glass and glass-ceramics, capable of shielding astronauts from harmful radiation during space missions.

Dr Skerratt-Love believes that the technology she is developing will also enhance safety during the use of radiation, magnets and sounds waves for medical imaging.

Skerratt–Love’s work will also become increasingly important, given the depletion to the ozone layer and the increase in certain types of skin cancer, eye cataracts, and immune deficiency disorders.

The use of the researcher’s glass in windows and lenses could provide essential protection.

She said: “I cannot emphasise how important the Fellowship has been for me as an individual. I don’t think I would have continued in academia and persisted in my research without the assistance I have received.

“A growing number of black scientists are leaving the profession. Part of the reason is they don’t see themselves beyond being lecturers and receive little support.”

Dr Skerratt–Love added: “I have had the most positive experience. I’ve never been before a panel of 15 or 16 high-achieving individuals for an interview in the past. But it was the first time I had been interviewed by persons of black heritage.”

The researcher is ecstatic about her career opening and has started outreach work in various schools.

She added: “I would never been able to create my innovative glass materials without receiving the funding from the Fellowship. Now, I can focus on good science and collaborating with others to make a positive difference in society. I also have two mentors to shape my academic path and personality.”

Dr Simone Webb, a research associate at Faculty Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, whose parents are from Jamaica, received her Fellowship during the first programme.

Speaking exclusively to The Weekly Gleaner, Webb shared her reaction on receiving the Fellowship: “My response was a mixture of surprise and excitement. When I received the acceptance email, I couldn’t believe what I was reading.”

The 29-year-old specialises in (studies on) how blood and immune formation is regulated by the nervous system from the embryo. She will research blood stem cells in the skull and how bone and nerve signals affect them.

She said: “My work will impact on how children develop blood disorders and improve the success rate of transplants.

She added: “What stands out to me is not just the money to carry out the research, but the mentorship, and how it will help me to develop my skills during the first year as I make the transition to leading a research group.”

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 that more outstanding researchers develop their talents and follow their research passions.

Funds can cover

• Contribution to the Research Fellow’s salary and associated on-costs (at 80 per cent).

• Directly allocated costs (at 80 per cent).

• Research expenses.