Get recognized, propel your career: Why you can’t miss ELRIG’s Early Career Professional Impact Award
The drug discovery sector consistently delivers innovation and new discoveries that have the potential to transform lives for the better. For that reason, it’s an exceptionally rewarding sector to craft a career in.
But while the power and pace of drug discovery relies on a continual influx of bright, enthusiastic minds, it can be a daunting sector for early career professionals (ECPs) to get their foot in the door.
That’s why ELRIG has always put ECPs at the heart of its activities, delivering world-class training resources, insightful networking workshops, and open-access events that put ECPs directly in contact with a vibrant community and mentor-minded industry leaders.
A vital part of those ECP-centric activities is our prestigious Early Career Professional Impact Award. But what exactly is it, and why should you apply?
Here, we give you the low down on the award, drawing on insights from two previous winners and Dr Mark Soave, ELRIG’s ECP Workgroup Leader, to explain why you can’t afford to miss submission for ELRIG’ Early Career Professional Impact Award.
So, what is the ELRIG ECP Impact Award?
ELRIG launched the ECP Impact Award in 2019 to support and recognize some of the most critical contributors to our sector — early career professionals. Twice every year, at both our Research & Innovation and Drug Discovery conferences, the award recognises impact achieved in any of four domains:
- Delivery of impactful science, contributing to early, pre-clinical drug discovery
- Science or technology development work
- Leadership or facilitation of collaborations
- Other philanthropic and volunteering contributions
The award is open to the whole range of drug discovery disciplines too, whether you’ve started a company or are doing fantastic work with charity, volunteering, or education.
Quite simply, if you’re a student in undergraduate, PhD, or you’re a scientist less than 5 years into your career path, then this is the award to have on your radar this year.
“ECPs are the future of drug discovery,” said Dr Soave, who is also Senior Scientist at OMass Therapeutics. “Sector success is not just about what Big Pharma is doing. We know that. And we want to make sure ECPs benefit accordingly. That’s what this award is all about.”
Why you don’t want to miss this opportunity
Get recognised and promoted for your work
Winners of the award will get several high-impact opportunities to share their work and raise their profile among the wider drug discovery community. Specifically, winners will be invited to give a 20-minute presentation on their work, with a whole host of further promotional activities ensuring continued visibility of your achievements.
“Showcasing your work, in detail, to hundreds of industry peers at a respected event is a powerful opportunity,” said Dr Soave. “Moreover, there will be recordings of your talk, a buzz of social promotion, and blog posts in partnership with ELRIG and its sponsors — all helping you better embed yourself in the life sciences ecosystem.”
“I’ve presented at international conferences before, but the ECP Impact Award presentation was really something — the biggest I’ve done,” noted Shaun Pennington, Immunologist and Microbiologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and winner of the ECP Impact Award at Drug Discovery 2022. “My talk at the Drug Discovery event followed the early morning keynote, so the entire hall was packed with around 250 people. It was coordinated to give great exposure.”
And don’t be surprised if a whole swathe of new faces are interested in finding out more about your work after the presentation.
“I’ve seen a huge increase in visibility after the award win, thanks to things like the promotion on social. But more than that, I had so many people engaging with me directly after my presentation. Everyone was so interested in my work. The networking and visibility boost was incredible,” said Dr Rottner, Postdoctoral Fellow at AstraZeneca and winner of the ECP Impact Award at Research & Innovation 2022.
“The added visibility from the presentation and promotion saw several companies approach me to collaborate. It has opened doors to new collaborations spanning academia and industry that have delivered striking value,” added Dr Pennington.
Spotlight on Dr Shaun Pennington
Dr Shaun Pennington is an Immunologist and Microbiologist based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He was awarded the ELRIG ECP Impact Award 2022 for his work responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in 2020, Dr Pennington and his team developed a number of advanced models of infection to assess the activity of compounds targeting SARS-CoV-2. Once established, Dr Pennington engaged with the Infection Innovation Consortium, iiCON, to make these platforms accessible to commercial partners looking to study the activity of their compounds in vitro.
Access to these platforms has provided academic and industrial partners with essential data, without the requirement for investment in containment level 3 infrastructure. These platforms have been used to screen thousands of compounds and were also used to demonstrate the first example of drug synergy against SARS-CoV-2. These models continue to support several drug discovery programmes across academia and industry towards the development of novel therapies for the treatment of COVID.
Find out more about Dr Pennington’s pioneering work here
Advice for aspiring applicants: “Have confidence in your work and back yourself! I dismissed the ECP Impact Award at first as I didn’t think I’d be competitive – believe in yourself and give it a shot… what’s the worst that can happen?!”
Your ultimate springboard for career progression
Another benefit of winning the award is the wonders it can do for your career progression. Winners get a £500 bursary to put towards career-enhancing activities or to give to charity. And, of course, you’ll get something eye-catching to put on your CV.
“Beyond the exposure that the award generates, the bursary is a great incentive. The funds can be directed to wherever you feel they will have the most impact in supporting your own career development,” noted Dr Pennington.
“The award is a really nice addition to your CV. When it comes to career progression, recognition for impact is critical. But such recognition doesn’t often come so early in a career.” he added.
Dr Rottner had similar feelings: “It’s a very special achievement, and something that will shine on a CV. Be prepared for new possibilities to grow your career — and your positive impact in the world.”
Spotlight on Dr Antje Rottner
Dr Antje Rottner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at AstraZeneca, won the ELRIG ECP Impact Award at Research & Innovation 2022 for outstanding work during her DPhil at the University of Oxford, as well as her engagement within the ECP community and at science outreach events. Dr Rottner’s award-winning project focused on better understanding genetic risk factors underpinning Type 2 Diabetes. Dr Rottner and her team undertook the first ever genome-wide, unbiased CRISPR screen in human pancreatic beta cells, before further exploring one of the hits, the CALCOCO2 gene. As the first to explore CALCOCO2 in the context of diabetes, Dr Rottner discovered the functional mechanism of how CALCOCO2 loss could lead to reduced insulin production. Overall, Dr Rottner’s research unveiled many potential causal genes for Type 2 Diabetes, creating a springboard for fruitful future research.
Find out more about Dr Rottner’s pioneering work, now published in Nature Genetics, and also summarized in Nature Genetics News & Views.
Advice to aspiring applicants: “Don’t hesitate to put together an application! It’s simple, easy, and if you win, a career-changing opportunity. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”
A simple application process
We want to ensure getting recognized for your contribution is as easy as possible. That’s why the ECP Impact Award application is so simple: provide a 300-word synopsis of your contribution and its impact, along with a brief two-page resume. That’s it.
“The application process was incredibly straightforward,” noted Antje Rottner. “Award applications can be burdensome, which can discourage applicants. But the ECP Impact Award is very doable. It’s well-structured, fair, and a truly fantastic opportunity for ECPs.”
“There’s no second-stage interview or anything like that,” noted Dr Soave. “The application really is just the synopsis and short resume. Our judging panel reviews each application, shortlists them, and discusses before announcing the winner.”
Critically, you don’t need to wait around for someone else to put you forward. We accept self-nominations.
“The self-nomination option is great. It opens the application to all, as not everyone will have that level of support from colleagues or supervisors. It also makes the process that little bit simpler!” Dr Rottner added.
A supportive team, invested in your success
We know applying for awards (no matter how easy) and presenting to hundreds of people can be scary. But don’t let that stop you — we’re here to support you every step of the way.
“ECPs who haven’t been to a conference before can find the process quite daunting,” said Dr Soave. “ELRIG is acutely aware of this. And we go to great lengths to ensure all our events and activities are nurturing, warm, and welcoming — including our awards.”
“One thing that struck me early on was the feedback ELRIG gave about my application,” said Dr Pennington. “The team was super helpful and supportive – feedback wasn’t just limited to ‘Congratulations. You’ve won!’. They told me what they liked about my submission and explained why I was successful – it was really nice to hear what people thought of my work.”
“That same support carried through to the event itself,” Dr Pennington added. “Mark and the wider team co-ordinating the presentation were great. I couldn’t make the original presentation submission date due to travel, but the team was incredibly helpful and accommodating.”
Echoing this, Dr Rottner said, “I found the whole process very supportive. This was the first big conference talk I ever gave, and I was quite nervous. But ELRIG even organised the hotel for me and when I arrived, I was immediately greeted by everyone. They even knew my name before I knew theirs!”
“ELRIG has this knack for making you feel at home. The whole event vibe was really encouraging — it didn’t matter if you were just starting your career or a seasoned industry veteran,” she added.
All to gain, nothing to lose
Winning gives you a heck of a lot to be excited about. But even if your application isn’t successful, there’s still immense value in going through the (entirely free) process.
“You certainly don’t need to win to benefit from this award,” noted Dr Pennington. “Putting your project down on paper, remembering everything that you’ve done, and contemplating the impact of your work is a powerful exercise. Reflecting on your accomplishments in this way can catapult confidence and harden your resolve to keep pushing forward.”
“You have nothing to lose by applying for this award. It’s easy to make yourself feel smaller than you are. The act of writing the application can change that — you’ll realize just how much you’ve done,” said Dr Rottner. “The process has been so amazing and special to me. I’m really grateful to ELRIG, and I highly recommend this award to everyone.”
So, what are you waiting for? Apply for the ECP Impact Award at Research & Innovation 2023!
If you meet the criteria for an ECP and have worked on a project that fits one of the four impact areas, don’t hesitate to start putting together your application. But, there’s no time to waste — submissions close on 3rd March 2023.
Stay tuned for submission opening for the Drug Discovery ECP Impact Award later in the year!
“To all aspiring applicants, I firmly urge you just to go for it,” said Dr Soave. “If you feel you or someone you work with has made an impact, we’re dying to hear about it. The application is straightforward, free, and there’s so much to gain.”
Make your submission for the ELRIG ECP Impact Award at Research & Innovation 2023