David Turner
Dr David Turner held a David Sainsbury Fellowship with the NC3Rs. He is based within the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences
What type of fellowship did you have?
David Sainsbury Fellowship from the NC3Rs
When did you hold your fellowship?
April 2017 to February 2021
What is the aim of your research?
I’m a developmental biologist and I’m interested in finding ways to understand how the vertebrate embryo integrates signals (genetic, chemical, positional) to allocate cell fate. I use pluripotent stem cells grown in 3D as Gastruloids, which allows us to study early developmental patterning events in a tractable system that doesn’t require mouse embryos.
Why did you choose to undertake your fellowship with the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences?
I did my BSc (Pharmacology) and PhD (NF-κB signalling) in Liverpool, and after my PDRA position in Cambridge (stem cells and development), I took up a tenure track position back here. Liverpool has state of the art microscopy facilities, is a nucleus of 3Rs research and regenerative medicine, and is close to high-quality centres of Developmental Biology research (e.g. Manchester) where my collaborators are.
What made you want to apply for a fellowship?
It was the natural progression for my career to enable me to show independence, and work on a project that I could develop from scratch. It gave the time and funding solely focusing on my future research direction without distraction.
What scheme did you choose and why?
My research fits perfectly within the remit of the 3Rs (replacement, refinement, reduction of animals in research), as the gastruloid model system doesn’t require animals to study the basic mechanisms of signalling and pattern formation. Somewhat fortuitously, the deadline for the scheme came at a time when I had managed to publish a couple of papers on gastruloids, which I think helped.
How did you go about writing your application and preparing for interview?
I’d had a few attempts at applying for fellowships in the past, but didn’t manage to get them. The main reason for the lack of success (in my mind) was that I was too junior, didn’t have the publications, and the applications were somewhat rushed. This time, I spent quite a bit of time preparing for writing, getting multiple drafts to my supervisor and others for comments, and the writing process felt a bit less murky and more driven. It also helped that the scheme had a preliminary application, so it meant that it gave me a bit more confidence once I got through the first round.
With the interviews, it was a three-part affair: a traditional presentation and panel interview, with a non-normal open (and assessed) group discussion. For the presentation, I just practiced with colleagues, and for the panel interview, I didn’t do much except read around what the NC3Rs expected and what they stood for. No one could really prepare much for the group discussion until just before the interview when the material was given to us. It was fun though!
Was there anything that surprised you about the application process?
In the grand scale of things, nothing was really surprising about the application itself, but I’d applied to other schemes before. I think for the uninitiated, what could catch people off guard is the time taken to really sort out how much things cost for consumables, travel etc, and staff time. When I did my first application, this was completely unknown, and it’s not often we actually sit down and think about how much cash do we need to get the work done. I had good support from my supervisor and my Department’s administration team for the costing, so it was quite straightforward in the end.
Top tips
Start as early as you can, hone your ideas, and let Finance be the first people you email (they’re wonderful). Really articulate why you’re the best person to do this sort of work (for fellowships, the science is very important, but a significant portion of these schemes are about realising the potential of the applicants). One bit of feedback from a successful post-fellowship grant can be applied to all grants/fellowships: You don’t need to solve all your field’s problems in three years; be realistic. Your colleagues can help advise you on what is actually achievable.