New Cross Sector Experience Award Grant launched by the Academy of Medical Science | Primary care latest updates

The Academy of Medical Sciences have just launched a funding opportunity for cross-sector experience. As part of the Academy’s Cross-Sector Programme, the Cross-Sector Experience Awards will support individuals to experience different sectors. The award provides up to £100,000 to support individuals who want to gain experience of working in a different sector between three to twelve months, examples include academia, industry, NHS/healthcare, government and policy-based organisations, charities and the private sector. This should be in a sector different to their current role or roles. The academy welcomes applications from those across disciplines and sectors. Applicants’ current work should have a clear link to the improvement of human health. Applicants do not need to work in research to apply, but their work must have a demonstrable link to improving human health

Applications for round one are now open. The deadline for applications is 16:00 on 29 February 2024.

In 2019, the Academy commissioned independent scoping work to assess what could be done to help people connect across sectors. Five key challenges were identified:

• A lack of incentives
• Difficulties in connecting with the right people/organisations
• Little recognition of mobility in career progression appraisals
• Cultural gaps between organisations
• Lack of resource to support engagement and backfill mobile researchers, particularly from the NHS and small businesses.

To address these challenges, the academy first launched the Cross-Sector Programme in 2022. The programme is designed to bring together innovators and researchers from different fields to promote health innovation. It also offers support to overcome the challenges to collaborating across sectors. 

In November 2023, the funded Cross-Sector Experience Awards scheme was launched. In addition to providing the incentives and resources required to work in another sector, this scheme will support individuals to:

• Gain new skills and share skills between different sectors.
• Generate novel ideas and collaborations that could lead to new innovations.

Find out more information about the grant and how to apply here.