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Imperial Talent

Attracting and nurturing the next generation of leaders
Imperial Future Leaders Academy

Our goal: Imperial will provide sector-leading Next: The new Imperial Future Leaders Academy Supporting
opportunities for early-career STEMB staff, from will bring together Imperial’s skilled organisational
first year PhD students and postdoctoral fellows development professionals with academic and early-career
to those taking on their first position in academia, external experts to create a new suite of innovative
industry or policy. academic management and leadership development researchers
programmes for our early-career staff. They will
Now: We prioritise the career development of all receive training in how to lead high-performing, “People make this
our staff through a number of initiatives, including and increasingly multi-site and multinational teams, Imperial’s Centre for Quantum Engineering,
the Technician Commitment, the Postdoc and Fellows as well as operational, finance and risk management place. Our focus is on Science and Technology (QuEST) is collaborating
Development Centre, the Career Development Skills skills. Core to its mission, the Imperial Future with central specialist support teams including
offer, the People and Organisational Development Leaders Academy will foster a dynamic, supportive the Postdoctoral Fellows Development Centre,
Team, and the Academic Leadership Development and stretching environment that spans disciplines, inviting the brightest Imperial Policy Forum and Enterprise Division
Programme. Our academic, professional, technical fosters teamwork and encourages personal and to bring new approaches to upskilling its early-
and operational leaders work in partnership to create professional growth. minds and most career researchers. From Imperial Policy Forum
and sustain an environment of high-quality teaching, Workshops and visits to Parliament to better
research and impact. The Imperial Future Leaders Academy will integrate understand how to inform policy making, to
the development opportunities we provide PhD exciting researchers entrepreneurship masterclasses to move ideas
Today, the pace of change in our workplaces and students through to postdoctoral fellows and to the scale up phase for a quantum-enabled
our world is driving changes in how Imperial supports increase their awareness of the full range of to the Imperial family, economy, and seed funding and support to enable
and develops people in their careers here. Some of fulfilling career options available to STEMB talent, early-career researchers to make competitive
the most notable developments we’re responding to including academic, policy, advisory, industry, independent funding proposals. These new
include hybrid working, the mainstreaming of new media and regulatory. and ensuring they approaches have inspired us to be even more
technologies and AI, the importance of interdisciplinarity ambitious in our work to raise the quality of career
and multiprofessional teamwork to leading science, Imperial will begin a major recruitment drive, Top: A second year Ecology student on an Ecosystem Boundaries field course find a supportive development support for all those researchers
the increasing internationalisation of scientific research, the Imperial Future Leaders Campaign, to further who are just starting out.
and the need to promote and support non-linear career boost our capabilities in priority research areas.
paths with movement between academia, industry Working with our academic departments and linked culture of belonging
and other knowledge sectors. to our four new Schools of Convergence Science,
we will collaborate with partners to develop new and development
opportunities for top early-career talent to do more
to address the grand challenges facing humanity at the Silwood Park eco-Campus.
and our planet. when they get here.”

20 Harbhajan Brar, Director of Human Resources 21