Welcome to the Broadening Horizons mentoring programme
About the programme
Broadening Horizons is a twelve month cross-sector mentoring programme designed to support, develop and empower early-career researchers who are interested in translational research for impact on health. The programme launched for its inaugural year in November 2020 with seed funding from Wellcome. After an extremely successful first year, we are proud to have launched the programme again for 2021-22, where we have welcomed 97 mentoring pairs from 18 universities and 25 organisations.
The aim of the programme is to support early career researchers with their professional development and help to raise awareness of translational career paths by connecting mentees with mentors from industry. The programme will also create networking opportunities via an online platform and digital events.
A mentoring programme like Broadening Horizons will serve to inspire the next generation of early career researchers to explore their future career paths, whether remaining in academia or transferring to industry, creating a community of individuals committed to their personal growth and that of others.
“I am finding the mentoring partnerships so incredibly helpful. My mentor is absolutely excellent at asking me questions that make me really think about what I want to do next in my career and helping me make a plan for the future. He is also very encouraging and has helped my confidence immensely. I am so glad I’m part of the scheme”
Thank you to our participating organisations and institutions…
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS, WELLCOME
Katherine Anastasi-Frankovics | Director of Innovations, Wellcome Trust
“Wellcome is delighted to be
supporting Broadening Horizons, working in partnership
with Moving Ahead to deliver a cross-sector mentoring
programme with a proven track record of success. Through
this programme, we will support early career researchers
to develop their careers and consider translational career
paths dedicated to improving health, connecting scientists
from academia and industry across the UK. We invite you to
join our network of partners to inspire and nurture the next
generation of translational researchers. ”
PROGRAMME SNAPSHOT
“I have found working through the exercises in the pdfs provided by Moving Ahead to be a valuable experience. It forced me to reflect in a distraction free environment on what drives me. Blocking off time and disconnecting from the world really helped me focus and do some productive thinking; something I hope to do more often! The experience made me feel more secure about the decisions I am in the process of making. It also gave me more self-awareness.”
Participant stories
Throughout the 2020-2021 Broadening Horizons mentoring programme, we have been capturing some fantastic stories from our current participants and inspirational figures from research sectors. Click on the images and videos below to read the stories from this programme.
Hear from Dennis Benicke, one of the programme’s mentees
Hear from Susan Billsborrow, one of the programme’s inspirational mentors
Hear from Alessandro Scandurra - a programme career spotlight
Hear from Shahid and Ana, one of the programme’s mentoring pairs, about thier mentoring journey
“My mentor has provided tremendous support through the last several months - listening and helping to analyse my problems, giving me helpful tips. Even though we don’t always have a solution for the problems at hand, we always work together trying to find one. It is also useful to learn a bit about how things work outside of academia, helping me make informed decisions when it comes to career development.”
“I have to say I’m finding the mentoring experience very rewarding, seeing my mentees confidence in what they are capable of grow is a fantastic thing. It’s also brought back a lot of emotions about how I felt at similar stages in my career.”