Researcher Spotlight: Kelly Parker and Hannah Campaigne
Two of the Franklin’s Research Assistants, Kelly Parker and Hannah Campaigne have recently received Registered Scientist (RSci) accreditations from the Royal Society of Biology. Registered Scientist is a nationally recognised professional award for researchers that demonstrate high standards of work, essential professional competences and a commitment to continued professional development. Kelly and Hannah have successfully completed their applications and will now be added to a professional register showing that they meet nationally recognised standards for skills, competence and ethical practice within their roles.
“I feel like this is a really important qualification to have gained.” Hannah reflected “It’s an acknowledgment of experience and skills gained throughout our careers that’s recognised alongside formal qualification. It’s also a stepping stone to get the next level of accreditation, the Chartered Scientist, which would acknowledge further career development.
We both attended a workshop hosted by the Science Council that highlighted all the additional benefits of having this accreditation and becoming part of the Royal Society of Biology, such as lectures and workshops we can attend, and I think that really cemented our drive to apply for it.
The application also made me realise just how much work I have done scientifically at the Franklin. I have had the opportunity to learn so many new techniques and work with some high-end equipment. Alongside the lab skills that I’ve developed, the application also made me reflect on other skills, such as teaching new starters within the group and helping them become confident in the workflow that we carry out day to day, and that’s something that I’ve really enjoyed. Looking at all the different skill sets that I’ve developed over my career, it also made me realise that I’ve tried quite a lot of things that are outside my comfort zone. Volunteering for public engagement events, for example, wasn’t something that I’d done much of before, but here at the Franklin it’s really encouraged, and I have found that I’ve enjoyed these experiences.
It feels great to have acquired this nationally recognised accreditation which shows the level of work I have achieved and the commitment I have to science. It’s great to have my name on the register and makes me feel valued within the scientific community.”
“We realised that this accreditation would be beneficial for our personal development, allowing us to demonstrate the wide range of practical and transferable skills utilised through our roles in the nanobody platform” Kelly added “I think this has been a really good opportunity to reflect on all the skills I use every day without realising. For example, communication is a huge part of our jobs. We often present findings to colleagues and collaborators in the field as part of our lab-based roles, but we also take part in a lot of public engagement opportunities at the Franklin to engage wider non-expert audiences with our nanobody projects, which have been advantageous experiences to add to the application.
The accreditation process also allowed me to reflect on my problem solving abilities and highlighted that I show quite a lot of resilience in my day to day lab work, because it doesn’t always go as planned, and that’s part of science, but it’s been great to be able to acknowledge my ability to troubleshoot and think critically through writing the competence report. The application really drove home that, as well as technical skills, we harness many other valuable skills through our roles here.
Gaining this qualification has strengthened my confidence in my own abilities as a scientist. Much like Hannah said, it’s fantastic to be nationally recognised, and I think anyone who’s considering about applying for accreditation should go for it, it’s been an invaluable experience for us to look back and feel proud of our professional achievements.”
About Kelly and Hannah:
With backgrounds in Biochemistry and Biology respectively, Hannah and Kelly are both Research Assistants working with Professor Ray Owens on the Nanobodies Discovery Platform. The Nanobody Discovery Team generate and characterise nanobodies and applying the technology to the diagnosis and treatment of emerging viral pathogens. The team will continue to apply machine learning to the engineering of nanobodies to improve affinity and the prediction of binding epitopes.