The Daphne Jackson Trust is an independent UK charity
based in the Physics Department at the
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...
.
It was established in 1992
to provide Fellowships to scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians to return them to their careers after a career break of over two years taken for family, caring or health reasons. The Daphne Jackson Trust arranges salaried, part-time Fellowships, usually held over two years, which are normally based at a university or industrial laboratory throughout the UK. Fellows undertake a supervised research project with a retraining programme.
The Trust's work is highly praised by Government and the charity is acknowledged as running the foremost returners' scheme in the country. The Trust's Fellowship scheme has been recognised as an exemplar model for returnships; over the past 30 years, it supported over 370 Daphne Jackson Fellows return to their careers.
History
The Fellowship scheme was started by
Daphne Jackson, the first female professor of
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
in the UK.
Over the course of her career she met many clever and highly qualified scientists who were reduced to taking low-level jobs because they had taken a career break. Drawing attention to this frustrating situation, Jackson observed, "Imagine a society that would allow
Marie Curie
Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity.
She was List of female ...
to stack shelves in a supermarket simply because she took a career break for family reasons."
Deciding that this was a waste of talent and investment, in 1985 she began a pilot scheme that enabled women to return to their careers.
The pilot scheme enabled talented women to return to their careers in science, engineering and technology (SET)
after a break by offering Fellowships composed of a retraining programme linked to a challenging research or development project, with the overall focus put firmly on improving future employment potential of the individual. The key objective was that the Fellowship should help re-establish professional expertise as well as personal confidence, within an appropriately supportive environment, with significantly improved job prospects at the end. A total of 27 fellows successfully completed fellowships during the pilot scheme, which ran during the late 1980s.
Jackson left a legacy after her death in 1991 which enabled the Daphne Jackson Trust to be established in 1992. The physicist Elizabeth (Betty) Johnson was a major force in the establishment of the Daphne Jackson Trust. Johnson had been one of the first Daphne Jackson Fellows in 1986 at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
.
Betty Johnson was appointed a MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 2002 in recognition of this work.
The Trust named its 100th fellow in 2002
and has gone on to work with many more returners. The Trust took its first male fellow in 2003,
and now works with both men and women. In 2016 the Trust celebrated thirty years of Daphne Jackson Fellowships.
Governance and administration
The charity's Chief Executive is Katie Perry.
A board of Trustees governs the Daphne Jackson Trust.
The Daphne Jackson Trust holds a Research Conference every two years.
The Patrons of the Daphne Jackson Trust are: Dame
Athene Donald
Dame Athene Margaret Donald (née Griffith; born 15 May 1953) is a British physicist. She was Professor Emerita of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge, and former Master of Churchill College, Cambridge. Outside the university, ...
DBE,
Vivienne Parry
Vivienne Mary Hunt Parry (born Vivienne Mary Hunt Mills on 4 June 1956 in Portsmouth) is a British science journalist and author, currently employed as head of engagement at Genomics England. She is most well known for presenting BBC Television ...
OBE,
Maggie Philbin
Margaret Elizabeth Philbin Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 23 June 1955) is an English radio and television presenter whose credits include ''Tomorrow's World'', ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'' and latterly ''Bang Goes the Th ...
OBE.
The Daphne Jackson Trust was established as a Charity in 1992, Charity Number 1009605.
The Trust was incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee in 2008. The Charity Number was changed and its new status became effective from 1 December 2008.
Registered by the Charity Commission as the Daphne Jackson Memorial Fellowships Trust with Charity Number 1125867.
Sponsors
The Daphne Jackson Trust's sponsors and hosts include universities, research councils, learned societies/professional institutions, industry and charities.
References
External links
* {{official, http://www.daphnejackson.org/
Charities based in Surrey
1992 establishments in England