Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences SUSTAIN partnership to expand development of female research leaders

The Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences have announced a new partnership to develop the next generation of female research leaders through an expansion of the SUSTAIN programme.

It will double the number of places for Royal Society funded researchers, and offer new networking and work shadowing opportunities, as well as drawing on the Society’s Fellowship and SUSTAIN alumnae for mentoring.

Applications opened today (12 March) following an announcement at the Society’s Women and the future of science conference, which celebrated 80 years since the election of its first women Fellows. 

The Academy founded SUSTAIN in 2015 to address under representation of female researchers in leadership positions in the UK, with support from the Society, Royal Academy of Engineering and Medical Research Council. 

Running two cohorts a year, the year-long scheme has offered peer support, media training, leadership coaching, and mentoring to around 275 researchers funded by the four organisations.

The expanded partnership will now see the Society join the Academy as a full delivery partner and 16 of the 24 places in each cohort will be available for Royal Society Research Fellows.

Other changes include an expansion of the range of disciplines covered by the mentoring programme and a new shadowing scheme offering participants experience working alongside senior leaders in academia or beyond. 

An end-of-programme networking event combined with the final workshop on leadership will allow more opportunities for alumni to build their networks, share experiences and support one another.

Recent surveys of SUSTAIN alumni showed 60% of participants had been promoted since taking part in the scheme and nearly two-thirds had been able to apply the skills learned to progress their career. 

Royal Society University Research Fellow Dr Nur Ünal, University of Birmingham, was part of the 11th SUSTAIN cohort that finished in 2025, she said: "Joining SUSTAIN in my first URF year was transformative and empowering. The hands-on training and mentoring shaped my research planning. I would love to attend again.”