The Macular Society exist to support people affected by conditions affecting the macula – the tiny region of the eye’s retina where most of our vision abilities are concentrated. The charity has been funding research for many years, and most recently developed a new research strategy to boost research into macular conditions, which cause blindness to millions worldwide.
Part of the charity’s research work is focused on supporting the next generation of scientists – achieved through PhD studentships, and travel grants to a major international conference. The team needed someone to come in and summarise the impact of some of this funding on the careers of scientists, and how that makes a difference to people affected by macular conditions.
I interviewed four researchers who had received PhD studentship funding from the Macular Society about the pivotal role that funding had played in their research careers, and their views on the impact that has for people affected. I also summarised feedback from travel grant recipients about how attending an internationally renowned conference helps their career.
I packaged it all up together into a report for the charity, which they are using to help them convey to members and donors about the support their donations provides to PhD studentships.
The team were very happy with the final version of their PhD Impact Report (PDF), and are using it to support funding applications and relationship building with donors.
Dr Peter Bloomfield, former Director of Research at Macular Society, said:
“We wanted to make sure we worked with someone with the right skillset to produce this report. For us, that meant a combination of understanding the academic environment first-hand, as well as being able to develop compelling story-based material that clearly communicates what is so valuable about these schemes. This is a unique skill set, so it made sense to outsource, and Richard has this combination.
“The work progressed smoothly and in a timely fashion, with a good combination of appropriate oversight and independent working. It was also enjoyable working with Richard as an individual.
“The work was well-written, captured the spirit intended from the outset, and will be useful in a range of communications.“
Clare Bryce-Smith, Research Officer at Macular Society, said:
“Thank you for all your help in putting together our very first PhD Impact report – we are delighted with the final product, it has gone down very well with everyone who has seen it so far. We have high hopes for the value it will bring to us here at the Macular Society. It goes a long way to validate with potential donors how important our PhD grant programme is.”