John Innes Centre Flexible Talent Mobility Account
Lead Research Organisation:
John Innes Centre
Department Name: Contracts Office
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Kolaric A
(2021)
Potent DNA gyrase inhibitors bind asymmetrically to their target using symmetrical bifurcated halogen bonds.
in Nature communications
| Description | The FTMA2 programme has continued to build upon the successes of the FTMA1 scheme. Both inward and outward secondment placements for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and less experienced industrialists have greatly expanded in their popularity, with an increased appetite for career mobility amongst our UK and International ECRs, and Post-Doctoral Research Assistants (PDRAs). Through FTMA2, we have supported thirteen (13) PDRAs to undertake successful, and often bespoke, mobility interchanges between academia and industry and vice versa. Out of these thirteen, five were successfully recruited to permanent positions in industry; one PDRA returned home to Sri Lanka for an extended stay, and four took mid-contract placements, subsequently returning to their labs at JIC at the end of their secondments. Out of these four, one PDRA has since been recruited to a different PDRA position within JIC, and the remaining three are planning to transition to industry at the end of their contracts. Two further PDRAs started their placements in March 2021. With a portion of the FTMA2 award ringfenced for longer term Rutherford Innovation Fellowship placements (6-9 months), JIC's International and Policy Department also supported one inward PDRA from the Federal University of Parana, Brazil. A further two Innovation Fellowship interchanges from our priority partners in Spain (CRAG) and India (DBT) have been delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but will commence their six-month placements at JIC subject to the approval of a 12-month, no-cost extension request submitted to BBSRC in March 2021. Should this extension be approved, FTMA 2 will have successfully supported a total of fifteen (15) PDRAs in gaining industry and/or academic experience throughout the duration of the award. To support to mobility of JIC's Independent Fellows and Tenure Track Researchers, further funds were ringfenced to create an Industry Engagement Awards Fund. This fund supported applicants with costs incurred during activities undertaken (meetings, symposiums, collaborative working) as part of their industry relationship-building at the start of independent research careers. From this fund, one Fellow was supported to attend The Starch Round Table (SRT) annual conference in Denver, Colorado; one to host a PDRA on a collaborative project between JIC and Syngenta, and one to attend the Data Science Europe virtual conference, with ongoing access to the Data Scientist Syndicate network. Two further Fellows were due to attend i) the 19th International Society for the Biology of Actinomycetes conference in Toronto, Canada, and ii) the O'Reilly Strata Data & AI Conference, but both were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. To what extent were the award objectives met? The Government's Industrial Strategy is focused on placing research and innovation at the heart of supporting an innovative economy. JIC's FTMA2 has continued to improve academia-industry links by seeking out placements that link high level skills with industry needs, creating opportunities to support early-stage industry innovation and providing industry experience to strengthen PDRA employability. By running FTMA2 as a competitive programme, JIC has ensured it has supported our most talented ECRs and attracted the 'brightest minds' internationally. By continuing to offer a free and bespoke mentoring service internally, we have been able to capitalise on individual's strengths as they strive to become tomorrow's research leaders, entrepreneurs, or industrial researchers. With the Industrial Strategy's ongoing commitment to "maintaining and building on our strengths in R&D to continue attracting world-class people" and as the UK prepared to leave the EU, we focused on collaborating with our partners in India, Germany, and Spain where "world-class people" are in abundance. Through the marketing of FTMA1 case studies on JIC's website and social media channels, we increased the awareness of the programme and built a waiting list prior to the start of FTMA2. We also secured interest from FTMA1 hosts, eager to utilise the mutual benefits of the programme and support future PDRAs with further industry experience. As FTMA2 approaches its end and more case studies and success stories emerge, further expressions of interest are being received for consideration within future FTMA award programmes. |
| Exploitation Route | By continuing to support the mobility of industry curious ECR and industrialist researchers to new environments, the FTMA2 programme has created a culture that reinforces the benefits of positive collaboration between academic research and industry. Many of FTMA2's participants have reported feeling more confident and empowered by the experiences gained during their short intermissions from research. Every secondee was supported to develop their own professional development plan prior to their placement. This was strengthened by mentoring both prior and after their placements. Collectively, this has strengthened their continued professional development portfolio and widened their scientific networking circles. By offering a range of bespoke placements (full-time, part-time, local, international, on location, and remote working) JIC has been able to support PDRAs with career and personal commitments in equal measures. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | Update March 2022 JIC was successful in its 12-month, no-cost extension request for BB/S507921/1, taking the final project end date to 31 March 2022. During this period, JIC supported two (2) further Postdoc placements and one (1) Innovation Fellowship. Staffing extensions were also awarded to three (3) of our existing Centre of Excellence for Plant and Microbial Science (CEPAMS) colleagues. Huge efforts were made to rekindle one of the previously planned Innovation Fellowship interchanges with our partner in Spain (CRAG), but due to covid-19 travel restrictions, the placement was deemed non-viable in the timeframe. CEPAMS extensions Set up in 2014, CEPAMS brings together three world-leading institutes in the UK and China to tackle the global challenges of food security and sustainable health care. Dr Dewei Wu Working on the Newton Fund: Sino-UK excellence with impact on the Sustainable Development Goals project in the Osbourn Group at JIC, Dewei's work focuses on exploring the role of root-derived metabolites in shaping plant root microbiota and the effects of root-recruited microbes on plant growth and health. With FTMA2 funding, Dewei's extension was supported between 1st October - 31st December 2021. Dr Lipeng Feng As a Post-Doctoral Scientist working in the Maxwell Group at JIC, Lipeng's work focuses on structural analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance-related proteins. With FTMA2 funding, Lipeng's extension was supported between 1st October 2021 - 31st March 2022. Dr Roberto Biello As a Post-Doctoral Scientist working in the Hogenhout Group at JIC, Roberto is involved in the large collaborative BRIGIT project studying the froghopper and leafhopper species that are candidate insect vectors of the invasive plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa. With FTMA2 funding, Roberto's extension was supported between 1st October - 31st December 2021. Update on 12 FTMA2 2019 MHS Dr Maria Hernandez-Soriano Following on from a placement a LEAF Expression Systems on the Norwich Research Park at the beginning of 2020, Marie has recently helped to shape a new parliamentary briefing on agricultural soil launched in January 2022. The briefing was produced by the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology https://post.parliament.uk/, known as POST, a parliamentary body established to make scientific research accessible to members of Parliament. Read the full article here https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0662/?utm_source=POST+alerts&utm_campaign=249732a77e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_01_21_08_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bf17dda729-249732a77e-104125581&mc_cid=249732a77e&mc_eid=338cbf2a19 Submission March 2021 By supporting the ever-growing SME sector in Norwich, FTMA2 allowed JIC to strengthen academia-industry links locally whilst providing industrial and business exposure to our growing cohort of ECRs. By reaching out to the wider network of JIC commercial partners, including non lab-based partners (i.e., IP, commercialisation, and scientific publication editing services), secondees were able to broaden their skills and mind sets, in areas of business not explored before. The recruitment of two PDRAs at the start of their new contracts, allows industry experience to benefit postdoctoral research projects, and ensured JIC is at the forefront of ECR innovation, capitalising on the freshest ideas and aspirations from newly qualified PDRAs. Based on the Norwich Research Park (NRP), JIC took full advantage of the opportunity to develop, and reinforce links between the academic base at JIC and a range of NRP-based companies including spin-outs and spin-ins. With previously collected data showing that research at JIC continues its commitment to attracting top international talent, currently, staff come from 34 different countries with 66% from outside of the UK. By utilising JIC connections with the commercial sector, we were able to widen the scope of industry interactions within FTMA2. Areas included transforming food production (Enza Zaden, CN Seeds, Solynta UK Ltd), scientific product services (Inspiralis, Leaf Expression Systems), technologies (Iceni Diagnostics), academic publications (Public Library of Science - Biology), and translational research (John Innes Enterprises). Internationally, as part of its post-Brexit strategy, JIC is building new strategic partnerships in Europe, partly to ensure that our profile amongst European scientists is not diminished. We have established a trilateral partnership between JIC, the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding in Cologne, and the Centre for Agricultural Genomics in Barcelona (CRAG). New international links with vegetable-breeding company Enza Zaden, Netherlands, have been strengthen after a successful three-month PDRA placement in 2020. An existing link with seed company CN Seeds Ltd was further strengthen after a visit to their collaborating partner Sarba Shrestha Seeds Pvt Ltd (SSS) in Nepal by a PDRA as part of their three-month placement. A JIC spinout, Leaf Expression Systems, worked closely with JIC to identify their specific skills deficits and match these against a call out for PDRA placement. Unfortunately, despite two rounds of advertising, this placement was not filled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Should more funding become available in the future, PDRA recruitment and selection shall be driven by Leaf and overseen by JIC. Many of our placement secondees reported a boost in their confidence when it came to searching for (and securing) future jobs thanks to the industry experiences the FTMA gave them. Several secondees also reported how mentally beneficial it was to have a short 3-month intermission away from their laboratory work in order to think more clearly about their future career aims and aspirations. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |