Fellowship renamed in honour of Janet Thornton
The Sanger Institute Fellowship, designed to support scientists who have taken a career break, has been renamed the Janet Thornton Fellowship in honour of Professor Dame Janet Thornton, former Director of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI).
The Janet Thornton Fellowship is a postdoctoral fellowship aimed at getting scientists back into scientific research if they have had a career break of a minimum of 12 months. The fellowship was launched in 2014, as part of the Sanger Institute’s commitment to retaining and developing talent.
Professor Dame Thornton has experienced first-hand the challenges of taking a career break and working flexibly in demanding scientific roles and raising a family.
“Taking time out from science to have my children and working part-time when they were little never hindered my career; I had a busy, complicated but enjoyable life. I really loved having my home life where I did different things and my responsibilities at work. It was actually like having two families.”
Professor Dame Janet Thornton Former Director of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute
The Fellowship can be taken as a full-time, part-time or flexibly worked position. Successful candidates will receive a fellow’s salary, research expenses, training and generous Sanger Institute benefits.
“We understand that even a short time out of research can have a big impact on your career. The Fellowship helps researchers who have had a career break to re-start their professional career in science and most importantly, is a mechanism to retain talent that may otherwise be lost. We are delighted to be renaming this the Janet Thornton Fellowship, in honour and recognition of a leading scientist and inspirational role-model.”
Professor Mike Stratton Director of the Sanger Institute
The Janet Thornton Fellowship is part of the Sanger Institute’s commitment to the aims and objectives of the Athena SWAN Charter. The Sanger Institute was awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award last year in recognition of its work in driving policy and practice change in support of women.
“[If you are considering applying for the Fellowship] Go for it. You need to be focussed, you need to work hard always, you need to be flexible, but you will have the pleasure of seeing and doing the most fantastic things.”
Professor Dame Janet Thornton
More information
To learn more about Professor Dame Thornton’s experiences of working flexibly to continue her scientific career and raise a family, see the interview on our blog
Selected websites
European Bioinformatics Institute
The European Bioinformatics Institute is part of EMBL, and is a global leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. EMBL-EBI helps scientists realise the potential of ‘big data’ in biology by enhancing their ability to exploit complex information to make discoveries that benefit mankind. We are a non-profit, intergovernmental organisation funded by EMBL’s 21 member states and two associate member states. Our 570 staff hail from 57 countries, and we welcome a regular stream of visiting scientists throughout the year. We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Sex in Science Programme
The Sex in Science programme is a joint initiative of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) that aims to generate discussion and raise awareness about issues traditionally facing women in science, and to drive policy and practice changes to redress them.
The Janet Thornton Fellowship
The Janet Thornton Fellowship opens routes back into science for those who have had a break from scientific research. We understand that even a short time out of research can have an impact on your career, which is why we have created a postdoctoral fellowship providing an additional opportunity specifically for those who have been out of scientific research for one year or more. One Fellowship is awarded each year. Each Fellowship lasts for three years and can be worked full time, part time or flexibly.
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world’s leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease.
The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests.
