David Fisher
PIPS Host Organisation: United Kingdom Research and Innovation – Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Project Objective: To analyse and summarise the outputs, outcomes, and impacts from UKRI-Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) investments into a versatile dataset, written report, and slide set to facilitate engagement activities and dissemination of evidence-based insights to key stakeholders, ultimately contributing to the strategic development of future funds.

Main Duties:

• Building, cleaning, and managing databases for GCRF outputs and impacts, stakeholder engagement opportunities, and potential GCRF impact case studies.
• Synthesising reports and slide decks for internal communication of GCRF outputs, outcomes, and impacts, as well as providing regular progress updates to colleagues within the global hub team.
• Engaging and working closely with colleagues across BBSRC to understand how his work could best support the strategic priorities of different teams.

Output:
The slide deck in question is an example of an output culminating both from the skills David brought to the PIPS and the skills he learned and developed throughout; his ability to develop and manage a project, manage himself and his time, collaborate effectively with a wide range of people in an unfamiliar environment, adapt to uncertainty and input from others, persevere through periods of difficulty or slow progress, efficiently manage and reshape untidy data, and produce creative visualizations to support effective and confident communication of information to colleagues.

Reflection:
David very much enjoyed working in an environment still embroiled in science, but that is one step removed from actually doing the scientific research. It was exciting and refreshing for him to learn about the logistics and strategy that goes into making research projects possible in the first place, and to see a much broader range of science and research through his project than he normally exposed himself to. The sheer amount of new information to absorb and understand about research funding was certainly challenging within the restricted timeframe of the placement, and made progress feel slow at times. However, he noticed a marked shift in the last month of the placement where he was much more autonomous in making decisions and asking questions, at which point he was really enjoying his work. He was particularly interested in learning about the context of current difficulties and the complexity around international funding and enjoyed being able to observe and eventually contribute to discussions on current and future funding strategies.

The team (BBSRC RSP International) he was fortunate enough to be a part of were all brilliant and a real pleasure to work with, which definitely enhanced his enjoyment of the placement. David found himself working very closely with a lot of different people, and that his responsibilities were a lot more numerous and diverse than he was used to. Initially, he found it challenging to manage so many different tasks and people all at once but, having finished the placement, he now feels much more confident in his ability to manage and prioritize himself, his work, and others.