COVID-19 career support space

To best reflect the different ways in which the pandemic is impacting our lives, our resources are organised under three main themes:

RECOVER encapsulates resources that help support us throughout the stage with most acute impact on our lives. This has been felt in many communities, including postgraduate researchers and clinicians. Resources for these two groups are gathered under the headings ‘Support for postgraduate researchers’ and ‘On the clinical frontline’. You can learn more about coping with the impact on personal lives in the ‘Loneliness and social isolation’ section, gathering resources supporting mental health.

Under the theme of REFLECT, we gathered resources which help us make sense of the pandemic as it becomes less acute. The early impact brought about new challenges in terms of leadership, time management and work-life balance. The incredible resilience we have shown in order to address these has also presented an opportunity to improve our work and personal lives by sustaining some of the positive changes we have implemented. Here we provide transferable resources on dealing with ‘Stress and overwork’ and ‘Leading your team’. It is important we keep focusing on our work/life balance and healthy mindset – more information is available in the ‘Looking after yourself’ section. The pandemic related disruption has also opened questions about career progression and emphasised the importance of support network – many resources on successfully approaching these questions (considering ongoing disruptions) are available in the ‘Mentoring support ’ section.

Substantial impact has highlighted the existing inequalities in the clinical and research environments, presenting the opportunities to REIMAGINE and address these, making the new normal more equitable, actively addressing inequalities. We gather resources on ‘Challenging inequalities’.

Become involved

If you would like to contribute ideas or resources or provide feedback about this support space, please get in touch with us via [email protected] or complete our anonymous feedback form.

We'd love to hear about what techniques and resources you're finding particularly helpful. Contact us at [email protected] or on social media:

• Tweet us at @AMS_Careers
• Find us on Facebook , Instagram and LinkedIn

Information from the Academy

• For updates or information please visit ourCOVID-19 information hub .
• If you are applying for, or currently hold, an Academy grant please read our Q&A for applicants and award holders .
• The Academy held a policy workshop to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on medical research careers in the medium-longer term and identify potential ways to support researchers in future (July 2020) - download the full report here or from the side of this page.
• We have introduced COVID-19 impact statements in our grants to help account for people's different pandemic experiences. We have published top tips for factoring COVID-19 into grant applications for applicants, panel members and also other funders. You can read about previous grant applicants' C OVID-19 experiences here. We have also co-ordinated a joint statement between 22 funders on how we as funders will look to fairly recognise and remember the impacts of COVID-19 in future grants rounds (March 2022).

Advisory group

• Dr Nisreen Alwan, Associate Professor in Public Health, University of Southampton
• Dr Shoba Amarnath, Research Fellow, Newcastle University
• Dr Daniel Horton, Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Virology, University of Surrey
• Professor Mandy MacLean MBE FRSE FMedSci, Professor of Pulmonary Pharmacology, University of Strathclyde
• Dr Kinan Muhammed, Clinical Lecturer in Neurology, University of Oxford
• Dr Virginia Newcombe, Clinician Scientist Fellow, University of Cambridge
• Professor Jane Norman FMedSci, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol
• Professor Philippa Saunders FRSE FMedSci, Director of Postgraduate Research for the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh
• Professor Paul Stewart FMedSci (chair), Dean of Medicine, University of Leeds
• Dr Jean-Paul Vincent FRS FMedSci, Senior Group Leader, the Francis Crick Institute

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We are grateful for a contribution from Wellcome Trust to help us develop these resources and deliver the programme of events.