MSD is inviting expression of interest to become Oxford’s next Champion for the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) Springboard Awards. This is a great leadership opportunity to contribute to the development of Oxford’s early career biomedical scientists.
AMS requires all host institutions to have a Springboard Champion to provide institutional oversight and leadership for the internal selection of candidates for these early career awards. Oxford has an excellent success rate at securing Springboard awards, which provide two years of funding and career development to newly independent biomedical scientists to launch their research careers and which have been transformative to Oxford’s award holders.
The selected applicant will initially serve as Deputy Champion alongside the current Champion Prof Krina Zondervan, and will take over as Champion from February 2027. They will be supported by the Medical Science Division’s internal review panel, and by the professional services staff in the MSDO Research Strategy & Funding Team.
The Springboard Champion may be from any department within MSD, must not be a practicing clinician (reflecting eligibility for AMS Springboard awards), and must be a researcher at Professor level, preferably holding a senior role within University research management. Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences is not required.
The (Deputy) Springboard Champion will be asked to:
- Attend the annual Springboard Champion’s online meeting to receive guidance from the AMS
- Review around 5 – 10 internal applications for the award in April each year and Chair the 1-hour internal panel meeting, selecting up to four nominations to go forward to the AMS.
- Provide a statement of support for each of the four selected candidates and their research proposal as part of the application process to the AMS.
Applicants must send a short CV of up to two pages, and brief Expression of Interest (200-500 words) describing your field of research and why you are interested in the role, by email to research@medsci.ox.ac.uk by 12pm on Monday 9 March 2026.
We aim to notify applicants of the outcomes in time to review applications for Springboard Round 12 in April 2026. If you have any questions about the Champion role please contact krina.zondervan@wrh.ox.ac.uk; for questions about the internal process please contact research@medsci.ox.ac.uk