Macular Society
I worked with Macular Society in 2025 to write a PhD Impact Report, showcasing the impact of their support for the next generation of macular disease researchers through PhD studentships and travel grants.
Here’s what Dr Peter Bloomfield, Director of Research at Macular Society at the time, said about our work together:
“The Macular Society has been funding PhD studentships and supporting early-career researchers for several years. It was important to us to capture the experiences of PhD and early-career researchers in a way that numerical impact reporting so often misses.
“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. We believe this work will show our members, funders, prospective students, staff and trustees the value of these schemes, as well as the diversity of science and techniques used across our portfolio.
“We enjoyed the project and hope to work with Richard again in the future!”
Dr Peter Bloomfield, former Director of Research at Macular Society
Clare Bryce-Smith, Research Officer at Macular Society, said of the report:
“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.”
Clare Bryce-Smith, Research Officer, Macular Society.