Matthew Davis-Lunn
PIPS Host Organisation: The Academy of Medical Sciences
Project Title: Grants & Programmes Intern

Matthew Davis-Lunn’s internship with the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) involved taking on the role of a grants and/or programmes officer at the Academy. This broadly involved supporting the delivery of their grants (primarily Springboard) or academic career development programmes and events (such as FLIER and mentoring). Day to day, Matthew was involved in a range of activities typical to the Academy officers. In the grants team, this meant general administration for different grant schemes, finding peer reviewers for applications, and supporting a panel meeting. With the programmes team, he participated in team meetings to guide the review and development of FLIER and the PILLAR and HIVE communities, and the organization of Academy events.

Towards the end of his internship, Matthew developed an online career development event for PGRs using his connections from the Academy, which felt like quite an achievement given the profile of speakers involved. One of the major personal benefits of his internship was the confidence gained from taking on more daunting tasks he wouldn’t have made time for during his PhD. Matthew would recommend this experience or similar to anyone looking to support researchers by working in a closer-knit team than they would in an academic context, looking to gain an understanding of the research funding environment, or exploring alternative careers in research away from the lab.