2017-01-27

Mozilla Science Fellowship application 2016

Last summer I applied to the  Mozilla Fellows for Science 2016 call. Congratulations to the four 2016 fellows, selected from an impressive 483 submissions for only the second year of this innovative program.

I was delighted to be short listed and interviewed, but also slightly relieved not to have made the final cut. This is due to the timing of personal circumstances - I'm now a father, and despite the taking time off under the UK's Shared Parental Leave scheme, I'm currently trying to cut back work related activities.

While preparing my application, I was impressed by Jon Tennant's decision to post his application openly online, and had been meaning to share mine too. Better late than never?

[Update: To be clear, this was my application in 2016, which was shortlisted but ultimately unsuccessful]

[Update: Cross-posted on the James Hutton ICS blog]

2017-01-25

Achievement Unlocked: Shared Parental Leave

This year was a first for my employer, the James Hutton Institute, and potentially all the UK research institutes on BBSRC employment Terms and Conditions: A father has taken time off work using Shared Parental Leave (SPL). That's something to be pleased about, although to me overshadowed of course by becoming a father.

The UK's new SPL system was introduced in April 2015, and is intended to allow working couples to share a year off after the birth of a child. The basics of the UK SPL scheme and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) rules are laid down in law, but good employers will pay the father more than the statutory minimum.