The Plowright One Health Mentoring Scheme (POMS)
About the Scheme
RCVS Knowledge, the charity branch of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, awarded the 2024 Plowright Prize to Professor Fiona Tomley from the Royal Veterinary College, London. She is using the prize to catalyse formation of a One Health mentoring network for veterinary infectious disease researchers. POMS will support career development of future research leaders from the UK and low- and middle- income settings. As well as the Plowright Prize funds, POMS is supported by a grant from the MRC-funded International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN).
Purpose and Scope
Veterinary infectious disease researchers have wide responsibilities, from promoting healthy pet ownership to improving animal welfare, enhancing livestock production and contributing to food security and safety. The COVID-19 pandemic was a stark reminder that public health is intimately linked to that of animals and the environment and emphasised the urgency for One Health approaches to tackle the underlying causes of pathogen emergence, adaptation and transmission. One Health recognises that drivers of zoonoses, emerging infections and antimicrobial resistance are linked to man-made impacts on climate, land use, global connectivity, health and food systems. Moreover, solutions to complex global challenges require interdisciplinary collaboration and communication across sectors. With a focus on One Health, the POMS network will connect experienced researchers from a range of disciplines and settings with earlier career researchers who are showing clear potential to become the research leaders of tomorrow.
Embracing One Health does not diminish our discipline-based skills or excellence, but it does require a lot more from us than to just ‘do the research’. We must communicate meaningfully across disciplines, respect the views of experts from different fields of endeavour and embrace the synergy that emerges when working together to tackle problems. We must go beyond our comfort zones to disseminate our findings to broader audiences than we may be used to, think deeply about how are findings can translate into real-life impacts, advocate for evidence-based science at the interface with stakeholders including policymakers and industry, and collaborate with people from different sectors, cultures and geographical settings.
Mentoring is a tool that can support people at all stages of their lives and is especially useful for those who are developing their careers. It can take many forms but in essence is about establishing networks and relationships between people who are not connected by line management, and providing a safe space for discussion, brainstorming and advice. In the POMS network we will support many mentoring activities which, in addition to traditional one-to-one pairings, will include group mentoring, peer mentoring and speed mentoring. The network will also host online lectures, workshops and small group sessions in interdisciplinary learning and One Health from invited speakers and network members – which will generate a bank of resources available to subsequent cohorts in the network. Much of this will take place online, but there will also be opportunities for face-to-face meetings.
Eligibility
For this call we are prioritising applications from early career researchers working in the UK, Africa and South Asia. We expect to select ~20 people who will join the first POMs cohort from mid-August 2025 for 1 year. Successful applicants will be conducting high quality research that relates in some way to veterinary or zoonotic infectious disease. They will be able to demonstrate a strong research trajectory so far and have clear potential to be future research leaders. Importantly they will have the desire to develop interdisciplinary links with researchers from different disciplines and sectors and an understanding of the importance of One Health approaches. In terms of career, they will typically be at senior post-doctoral or junior faculty level and have had several years research experience at post-PhD level. In terms of discipline, we would like to finalise a cohort that encompasses skills and experiences from multiple disciplines drawn from humanities and sciences (including social, natural, applied and formal sciences). The unifying feature of successful applicants will be their desire to develop research leadership in One Health and interdisciplinary working.
Reporting of outcomes
There will be active monitoring of mentoring activities with all members of POMS registered and kept ‘on the books’ to track their future career development. Pre- and post- surveys will assess changes in participant knowledge of One Health and interdisciplinary research as well as network connectivity. New perspectives on both science and mentoring/career progression will be shared with the broader research community through published papers and perspectives and through appropriate online media.
Length of scheme
This POMS cohort will launch at a two-day face-to-face meeting to be held Vienna, Austria on 15th/16th August, immediately following the International Veterinary Immunology Symposium which will also be in Vienna. In addition to all the POMs recruits and mentors attending, we will be joined by vaccinology fellows from the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network. The POMS activities for this cohort will then continue for 12 months.
How to Apply
Please complete each section of the application form and send together with CV to ftomley [at] rvc [dot] ac [dot] uk. Please note that the number of words indicated for each section must be strictly adhered to and indicate the level of detail required.