Written by Emily Armstrong at MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences.
Following a two-year career break, Dr Julia Riedl was awarded a Daphne Jackson Fellowship funded by The Royal Society last year, allowing her to return to research. She joined the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) where she studies brain activity in tiny C. elegans worms to help identify new drugs that affect the nervous system and could treat brain diseases.
For many scientists, stepping away from research can make returning feel unexpectedly difficult. Career breaks create gaps in CVs that are hard to explain, and leave researchers questioning how, or whether, they can re-enter academia.
The Daphne Jackson Trust helps remove these barriers. They provide funded, flexible fellowships that support researchers to return to research after a career break of two years or more – whether for family commitments, caring responsibilities or health reasons – alongside tailored mentoring, retraining and support to help rebuild confidence and research networks.
The fellowships were originally designed to help women get back into academia after a career break, as they are disproportionately impacted by caring responsibilities and are 40% more likely than men to leave research within 20 years*, but are now open to people from all backgrounds and research remits.
“A career break can create an “invisible wall” as people expect pitch perfect CVs when applying for jobs or fellowships and question your abilities when you’ve been out of the game even for a short period,” says Julia. “The Daphne Jackson Trust actively supports researchers in this vulnerable situation, acknowledging that life is not a straight path and comes with unexpected detours and turns.”
Reconnecting with research
The Daphne Jackson Trust awarded Julia a Fellowship funded by The Royal Society in March 2025, supporting her return to research following a two-year career break, which included a year of maternity leave and relocating to the UK with her family from Austria.
As part of their support, the Trust takes care to identify host institutions that are a good fit for the applicant to be able to retrain and reconnect with their peers, while acknowledging their need for flexible or part-time working hours.
Julia joined the Behavioural Phenomics group led by Dr André Brown at the LMS. With her three-year fellowship, she is developing new ways to image brain activity in the tiny nematode worm C. elegans to support the discovery of drugs that affect the nervous system, which may lead to new treatments for brain diseases. With her fellowship, she can work flexibly and occasionally work from home, which is crucial to balancing work and family commitments.
“The opportunities for building up a UK-based scientific network and reconnecting to cutting edge research at the LMS, as well as with my Daphne Jackson and Royal Society Fellowship peers, have been amazing. I’ve met recipients who were out of science for more than 5 or even 10 years, and then by means of the fellowship have continued successfully in a scientific career. It’s really impressive what the fellowship enables people to do!” says Julia.
LMS: A proud host of Daphne Jackson Fellows
Around 29 organisations currently fund Daphne Jackson Fellowships including UKRI, The Royal Society and the British Heart Foundation. The LMS are proud to be one of 33 current institutes who host Daphne Jackson Fellows.
“Career interruptions and caring responsibilities can have profound impacts on your personal and professional development as a scientist”, explains Dr Helena Cochemé, Co-Chair of the Athena SWAN Work-Life Balance Committee at the LMS. “Schemes such as Daphne Jackson Fellowships offer valuable support, providing flexibility and raising awareness of such challenges. Through various initiatives such as Athena SWAN, the LMS aims to promote gender balance in academia, and address the ‘leaky pipeline’ of female researchers at more senior career stages. These principles of inclusivity and diversity are at the heart of our Institute’s culture, and we welcome Daphne Jackson Fellows, such as Julia, as part of their community.”
At the LMS, there are always opportunities for new Daphne Jackson Fellows to join. If you’re interested in the LMS us as your host institute, get in touch with their People and Culture team to find out more.
https://lms.mrc.ac.uk/research-groups/You can find out more about the research groups who could host you at the LMS here.
