Wellbeing
The Department of Genetics is committed to providing a healthy working environment where physical and mental wellbeing is encouraged and supported. We recognise that a positive work culture impacts the health and happiness of everyone, and we aim to provide a workplace that embraces inclusivity and flexibility and allows staff to manage their time and commitments in the best way possible.
The Department's Wellbeing Advocates are Sam Laister, Anastasiia Naumenko and Ben Steventon. Our Wellbeing Advocates are here to offer support, provide resources and signpost services and department members are encouraged to contact our advocates with any concerns.
Happy Hours and Social Events
The Department hosts monthly Happy Hours which are organised by research groups within the Department. This is a great opportunity for colleagues to socialise in a relaxed environment.
The Events Committee organise multiple social events throughout the year including the Summer garden party, End of Year party, monthly cake breaks, charity cake sales and much more.
University Botanic Garden
We have signed up for membership of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. This provides us with 12 membership cards giving Department of Genetics staff and students free entry to the garden throughout the year. Ideal for wellbeing walks or outdoor lab group meetings!
Flexible working
We are happy to support flexible working arrangements wherever possible, in keeping with the University’s Flexible Working Policy. This includes flexibility to working times, starting earlier or later in the day, and working from home for part of the week where this can be accommodated in your role.
Please note, we feel it is important for our department culture that all staff spend part of their working week in the office. Working from home full-time is discouraged and should not be used to cover long term childcare arrangements.
Roving Researcher Scheme
The Roving Researcher Scheme in the School of Biological Sciences aims to mitigate the impact of medium- or long-term leave on our researchers and their scientific programmes. This innovative scheme provides experiment support (or other types of support, for example, to help Principal Investigators on leave with lab management) to scientists on leave, enabling research momentum to continue in the lab. Feedback from a colleague who has taken up this scheme:
"I knew I was coming back off leave part time initially and going straight into a really intensive teaching term. Normally these things would mean that I would do essentially no wet lab research for the first three months of my return to work. Instead, with the RR I have been able to complete revisions on a paper, submit a conference abstract with the RR as an author (accepted for a talk in the spring), complete the experiments for a further paper and generate pilot data for an upcoming grant submission. This is a huge improvement over where I expected to be. Having someone to prepare, start or finish experiments if I have to leave a short notice makes so much more possible."