Case studies

As Research Operations Manager for the department of Chemistry, I manage of a team of 3 administrators and am responsible for overseeing the costing of research bids as well as the post award budget management for the research portfolio for the department.

I have three young children, aged 3, 5 and 9. My 9 year old has Cystic Fibrosis, so as well as normal childcare duties it is vital that I have the flexibility to ensure that my eldest daughter can be active by attending after school activities. In addition, there are times when I need to be available to administer additional medication when she has an exacerbation, supervise her twice daily physio or attend hospital appointments.

Having three children, one of whom requires additional care, makes juggling a healthy work / life balance difficult, so on days when I can work from home and not have to face a 3-hour return commute, it is less stressful and often far more productive.

Prior to Covid 19 I worked from home two days a week. During the pandemic home schooling and continuing to work has been excruciating and there were days when I just wasn’t sure I could do it anymore. The HoD and DoM have shown nothing but support and understanding whilst acknowledging my ability to do my job well. I made adjustments and found ways to juggle the situation and made it clear to my line manager that whilst I may not be available constantly through my core hours because of other responsibilities the work would be done. This flexibility, trust and freedom to be honest helped me through.

I think there can be a misconception that working from home is a way of ‘slacking’. Whilst in some instances this may be the case, if managed properly and expectations are set I do believe it can be a recipe for success. I would be happy to talk to others about organising workload and the importance of communication when working flexibly.

Top tips include

• Be Honest and transparent in your situation.
• Be self-motivated and organised.
• Keep lines of communication open, be accessible when working flexibly and make sure people know when they can contact you.

As an EPSRC research fellow I lead a group of 13 people (2 postdocs, 4 PhD students, 1 visiting PhD student, 5 MRes students, 1 MSci student). I am working on developing novel methodologies and applications in computational nano-electrochemistry. I have a daughter who is currently attending many extracurricular activities, and involved in various exams associated to transition to senior school. I have never experienced any issues with working flexibly. Essentially for me this translated into flexible working hours, which in other words meant extending to working weekends and evenings.

I would be happy to talk to others about maintaining a proportion of remote working post-Covid, as well as helping children in their transition to senior school, flexible deadlines and time management.

Top tips include

• Try to prioritise what is important;
• Try not to feel too guilty;
• Take some time for yourself and your health;
• Have a day when you only (or mostly) work on what you like/find useful.

That said, I have to admit that I am not always able to follow my own advice.

I joined Imperial in 1993 and served as Head of the Department of Chemistry from 2007 to 2014, followed by Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and am now RSC president. My research interests are focused on ionic liquids and their practical applications which include for example dissolving textiles to make them more readily recyclable and dissolving wood to create biofuels.

Following chemo-radiotherapy for cancer, I had a phased return to work, starting part time and slowly increasing hours until I was back to full time, over an approximately 6 month period. The department was very supportive throughout my illness. I was allowed to control my own work patterns through my recovery and to decide my own priorities. My teaching and considerable administrative duties (as DUGS) were covered immediately.

I spoke with the HoD (Richard Templer) and said that I wanted to focus on future-orientated activities, such as writing research grant applications, because it helped me to imagine a future with me in it. He replied ‘I get that’ and offered to support me in that decision.

My colleagues were supportive, helpful and understanding throughout my period of flexible working.

I would be happy to talk with colleagues on any aspect of flexible working.

Top tips include

• Ask for help.
• Be clear on what it is that you need.
• Be public about what it is that you need.
• Remember to say thank you.

I am a lecturer within the chemistry department and my multidisciplinary research group focuses on developing novel nanoparticle drug delivery systems that are capable of triggered and targeted release of therapeutics. We also develop biomimetic models to better model disease and nanoparticle interaction.

I have a 2 and 4 year old, and life certainly is a complete juggling act on a daily basis when attempting to balance work and home obligations. It is very challenging to reach a work-life-balance with two very young children and especially whilst establishing a new lab. I am lucky to have a supportive partner who equally shares childcare and helps to keep our household afloat. Having flexibility to work from home one day a week for childcare is a huge help.

The award of an Elsie Widdowson fellowship has been an immense help to me where I was able to recruit the extra help I needed to manage the lab and supervise my students on a day-to-day basis, both whilst I was on maternity leave and also when I returned back to work. The fellowship also allowed me to take a sabbatical from teaching which further helped me to get back on my feet upon returning to work.

I would be happy to talk about my experience of having applied for the Elsie Widdowson Fellowship and offer advice on some of the challenges of having 2 young children close in age and balancing it all.

Top tips

• Unless you are superhuman, balancing parenthood and young children, with that of maintaining a growing research lab is extremely challenging. My top tips to avoid burn-out would be:
• Make sure you have a support network and speak to colleagues about your childcare experiences as you can learn a lot talking to those who have been there and done it before.
• Apply for the Elsie Widdowson Fellowship.
• Learn to say no occasionally.
• Keep a positive and open mindset as plans can change constantly due to last minute work deadlines, children becoming ill and pandemics!

As a Reader in Inorganic Chemistry, I lead a Research Group of 14 researchers working on medical imaging, biological sensing and sustainable catalysis. In addition, I am a Co-Director of the MRes in Green Chemistry as well as DPS for the Department of Chemistry.

I have joint caring responsibilities for two young children (aged 7 and 13). This includes school drop off and pick up as well as help with study, which was particularly significant during the pandemic.

The flexibility shown by the Department, including working away from College 1-2 days a week (e.g., at home or in the British Library) has allowed me to be more productive and focus on writing major pieces of work (proposals, papers, strategy documents). The understanding shown by my Line Manager has helped me to achieve a healthy work/life balance.

I would be happy to share my experiences of managing the transition from childcare to primary school, and then to senior school, as well as discussions with line manager over flexible working, and how I managed departmental responsibilities and career progression as a parent.

Top tips

• Don’t miss out on the many positive aspects of having children and the events in their lives as you don’t want to regret it later!
• Find time to relax without the children, seeing friends and going out once children are old enough for a babysitter. This is more important in a good work/life balance than you might imagine.
• Talk to others in a similar situation at work and feel free to contact your Line Manager or other senior members of Department if you are struggling.
• Mention/explain if you are unlikely to make a deadline – people are happy to know in advance if there are likely to be difficulties delivering.

As an Imperial College Research Fellow, I lead the Sustainable Carbon Solutions research team. In addition, I am also Director of the MRes in Green Chemistry and the Environment

My primary need for flexible working arises from childcaring responsibilities. My children attend full time nursery, which is open on normal working days from 8:00-18:00, however, there are instances when they will need to be home, sometimes with little or no notice, often illness related, due to Covid-19 isolation or showing symptoms that exclude their attendance, such as a fever, impetigo, chickenpox etc. There are also routine doctor’s appointments to be attended during the day, for example check-ups and immunisations.

When my children start attending school, my husband and I will also need to organise and cover childcare during school holidays. When I am in charge of picking up the children and physically on campus, I need to leave at 4:30 pm to make sure I arrive in Reading before 6 pm, and when I am in charge of dropping the children off, the earliest I can be at College is 9:30 am due to the >1h long commute.

I used to need a later start-time on some days due to severe sleep deprivation when my twins where babies/young toddlers. There is however also a benefit of arriving at work later, because the train is not as full after 8-9 am rush hour.

I am happy to share my experience of working flexible hours, shared parental leave, the transition from childcare to primary school, being pregnant/on parental leave while being a postdoc, having twins, being a parent of young children while being a research fellow, being a commuting parent and breastfeeding while working.

Top tips

• As a parent, sleep deprivation is commonplace. It is more productive to work a shorter day but be more rested. Consider taking naps on days when you can.
• Shared parental leave is great and has long-term benefits for working family - go for it.
• Do not schedule meetings before 11 am when possible.
• If you struggle with your workload, ask for help.
• Get the chickenpox vaccine for your children, this way you don’t have to wait for them to catch it and then stay home with them.
• Get the seasonal flu vaccine for the children (and possibly yourself), your children will catch it at nursery. Having the flu wile caring for young children is horrible!

As a reader, I run a research group with 14 members developing chemical biology tools and technologies aimed at enhancing photosynthesis and increasing crop yields. I am a mother of two children aged 6 and 4, and on a daily basis find myself in a juggling act, attempting to balance work and looking after my kids. 

I was incredibly grateful for the support I received from the department when I returned from both of my year-long maternity leaves. The Elsie Widdowson Fellowship enabled me to focus on my research and relieved me of most of my teaching duties. There is a great network of parents working in the department, and I have found their support and advice invaluable!

I like to be able to plan, and I think one of the things I have found hardest is that your plans can be changed in a matter of seconds. You can be in the middle of writing a grant for a rapidly approaching deadline, and then receive a call from nursery/school to say that one of the boys is poorly, which changes everything!

I am happy to share my experience of applying for an Elsie Widdowson Fellowship, running a research group when on maternity leave, balancing work and home life and managing the transition from nursery to primary school.

Top tips

• Always ask for help if you need it.
• Apply for an Elsie Widdowson Fellowship
• Talk to other parents in the department / college, as it will make things feel less daunting.

As a research fellow and Reader in the Chemistry Department, I run a research group developing computational methods to accelerate the discovery of materials. I teach materials chemistry and computational modelling at the undergraduate level, and am also Co-Director of EDI in Chemistry.

I have one daughter who was born in 2017 when I was a research fellow. My husband and I took up shared parental leave, so after 6 months of maternity leave, my husband looked after our daughter for 2 months before I then looked after her for another month. She then started childcare at 9 months at a nursery close to where we live.

During late pregnancy when my train and cycle commute was no longer viable, I was able to have on-site parking for days when I wanted to come in to the department. Support from the department allowed a final year PhD student in my group to stay on as a research associate for an extra year, and that person took on many of my teaching commitments.

The department removed teaching and administrative commitments from me in the academic year of my return to work so that I could focus on research and my fellowship was extended for the 7-month period of my leave by the funding body.

Flexible working hours have been key to juggling childcare and work. It has been incredibly helpful to be able to request that teaching commitments are not late in the day for me, so that I can pick up my daughter from nursery on time, and to avoid certain days where feasible. I have also made use of funding for childcare-related travel costs from both the RSC and the Royal Society to help me juggle childcare commitments with attending international conferences.

I would be happy to share my experiences of managing maternity leave as an academic, returning to work following maternity leave, shared parental leave, career progression with children and making flexible working hours work for you.

Top tips

• Talk to people – discussions with colleagues about how they had managed things were incredibly helpful to take away some of the fear of the unknown and to discover there were perhaps simple solutions to some things I (wrongly) saw as big problems.
• Look into the RSC’s grants for carers, they’re very easy to apply for.
• Working flexible hours has been key to balancing home and work commitments - talk to colleagues about what’s worked for them.

As a reader in the Department of Chemistry, I run a research group at the interface of Chemistry, Physics and Biology, using spectroscopic methods and microscopy to study biological processes. I also teach Spectroscopy and Imaging at the undergraduate level.

I have two children who were born in 2015 and 2018. I took 6 months’ maternity leave with each child, after which they started childcare at a nursery close to where we live. My eldest child now attends a local primary school.

I received Elsie Widdowson fellowships following my return to work with both of my children. This meant that I was mainly free from administrative and teaching commitments during the first academic year after each maternity leave. I was on an EPSRC CAF Fellowship during my first maternity leave and this was extended for 12 months by the funder (as a no cost extension) to allow me to productively focus on research. I received support from the department, which allowed a final year PhD student in my group to stay on as a research associate for extra 6 months (in 2016) and an experienced postdoc for a year (in 2018), and these people took on day to day running of my research group during my return to work. This was particularly valuable as I often had to work flexibly.

Flexible working hours have been key to juggling childcare and work, especially concerning sick leave with small children, wrap-around afterschool care and school holidays, as well as travelling for conferences etc. It has also been incredibly helpful to be able to request that teaching commitments are not late in the day and I also requested to keep one day per week teaching-free. This was not always possible, especially during my busy teaching term with two lecture courses running, but was extremely useful, so that I can pick up my son from school on days when no after school club was available.

I would be happy to talk to people about managing maternity leave as an academic, returning to work, career progression with children, making flexible working hours work for you, the transition from childcare to primary school and applying for the Elsie Widdowson Fellowship.

Top tips

• Talk to people – discussions with colleagues about how they had managed things were incredibly helpful to discover there were simple solutions to some things I saw as big problems.
• Don’t assume that flexible working is not possible and/or will restrict your career progression – figure out the way of working that is most productive for you

I am a Lecturer in the Chemistry Department. My research is focused on developing coatings that use sunlight to drive useful Chemistry. For example, we are developing one of the world's largest prototypes that uses sunlight to convert water into clean hydrogen fuel. The work we do is highly multidisciplinary and collaborative. I currently manage 10 researchers; including PhD and Master's students and Research Assistants.

I have an 8 year old daughter and an 11 month old son. My partner and I both have full time jobs, and take equal responsibility of our childcare. The Elsie-Widdowson Fellowship was a huge help. This provided funding for me to hire a Research Assistant to take care of my research group and lab management duties when I recently took parental leave for ~4 months when my son was born. We are both lucky to work in environments where flexible working is accommodated.

I would be happy to share my experiences of how I manage my work-life-childcare balance.

Top tips

• Having children has been the most positive and rewarding experience in my life. Even though I share the childcare responsibilities with my partner, I do not feel that having children has held me back from doing well at my job or progressing in my career.
• Imperial College has a fantastic Shared Parental Leave Scheme. Guys, you can be there those early months too!
• Apply for the Elsie-Widdowson Fellowship for support with your teaching and administrative duties so you can focus on your research.
• Try to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Try and have a set time to stop working each day and keep your weekends free to spend time with your friends and family.
• Make use of the mentorship scheme at the college and your line manager for advice and support. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience to be tapped into.