Applications for the 2018 Science and Engineering Fast Stream (SEFS) are now open. In the first in a series of blogs highlighting the roles that Fast Streamers take on, we here from 1st year SEFS Zsofia about her work in BEIS, working with UK Research Councils.
Policy for science
I am currently posted in the Science, Research and Innovation Directorate, in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). This role has showed me the difference between ‘science for policy’ and ‘policy for science’, and I am most definitely in the latter. My team is mostly made up of sponsors for Research Councils and other partners such as the UK Atomic Energy Authority. This means we are the first point of contact for Research Councils, and we manage requests, funding, pensions, appointments and everything else relating to the Research Councils.
Part of my role focusses on providing the secretariat to our Capital Board meetings, where we manage the £2.2bn of funding allocated to capital projects for science and research. Capital basically means buildings or equipment, so our projects include: a new impressive institute for Life Sciences, The Crick Institute, upgrading an Antarctic base (see below), and part-funding cryo-electron microscopes. I have learnt quite a lot about finance from managing budgets in this role– and can now see why a role in finance would be interesting.
Global impact
The Government often announces projects ‘subject to business case’, and this is where my team would come in. The approvals process for projects is long and complicated. As well as commenting on cases, I coordinate between Research Councils, finance, economic analysts, the central BEIS teams, and sometimes Her Majesty’s Treasury, to approve projects. Recently I have also been working on the approvals process for 21 projects from the new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
As someone who was funded by a Research Council, I have enjoyed seeing a wider overview of the science funding area, learning about how Government interacts with Research Councils, seeing how they are actually funded, and also understanding what makes someone pick a project to fund. It’s also been a valuable experience learning how to build relationships with many different teams.
Interested in joining?
Help ensure the best science and engineering underpins government policy across a wide range of areas. Find out more about the Science and Engineering Fast Stream on the official Fast Stream website, including how to apply.
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