Physical Sciences Group Leaders
For clinicians interested in the Clinical Scientist Group Leader call, please visit the Clinical Scientist Group Leader section of this site.
When: The call for applications to the Physical Sciences Group Leaders scheme does not open annually and it is currently not known when it will open again. There have been two calls to date (2016 and 2020).
Apply: When the call is open, full instructions of how to apply will be listed on the Crick’s website.
More information: The Physical Sciences Group Leaders scheme jointly recruits exceptional researchers who are affiliated with both Imperial and the Crick. This scheme is aimed at early career researchers to help build both Imperial’s and the Crick’s community of interdisciplinary researchers working in physical sciences and applying their research to biomedicine. We are especially keen to see applicants from the Faculty of Engineering. The successful PI and their group (of up to 6 members) will spend 6 years at Crick developing their lab before moving to Imperial. The salary costs of the PI and their group are covered by the Crick for the initial 6 year period. You can find out more about the scheme on the the Crick’s website.
Our Physical Sciences Group Leaders: The College has secured two appointments through the scheme, Dr Ben Schumann and Dr Louise Walport, both of whom sit in the Department of Chemistry.
Group leaders
Dr Ben Schumann
“There’s a freedom at the Crick to answer risky, important questions. I can’t predict what will be happening in biology in the next five years but I know that I’ll be in the position to make the most of all the new advances.
I’m also looking forward to seeing the members of my group succeeding. If a student has a successful result, I’m usually just as excited as they are.”
Dr Louise Walport
“When I first heard about the Crick I thought it sounded like an amazing place to work, especially with its emphasis on collaborative research and training young researchers. Then the Crick advertised this new scheme for physical scientists applying their research to biological questions.
I thought, that sounds a bit like me! It was slightly before I had planned to be applying for independent positions but it sounded like my dream job so I thought I’d give it a shot – and it worked out!”