Our People and Culture
The mission of the Franklin is to accelerate future Life Science discovery to improve human health, through the creation of innovative technologies. This mission will be driven and delivered by our people working together. Every member of our team – staff and students – has an important role to play in our success. Our aim is simply to reflect the world we live in and have a diverse workforce which is representative of the rich cultures, experiences, backgrounds and skills that the UK and the world has to offer.
Creating a safe, supportive and inclusive environment where all our people have the opportunity to contribute and fulfil their potential is a guiding principle of the Franklin.
We are continually looking to best practice to help guide our approaches. For example:
- A Pay Policy and advertising salaries for roles.
- Annual performance and pay reviews based on contribution during the year.
- We build and develop our policies and procedures to be welcoming and accommodating, offering enhanced maternity and paternity leave and a more flexible approach to working, with paid time off to manage emergencies.
- We work hard to ensure our shortlist and interview panels will never be single gender.
- We advertise our roles across multiple platforms including those specialising in reaching a more diverse candidate base.
Here’s what a recent candidate thought of our hiring process:
“The recruitment process, including the interviews and the administrative support your team provided, was excellent and one of the best I experienced!”
Employee Benefits
We take a holistic approach to employee benefits which is centred around our people’s needs within key areas supporting 3 main aspects of employee wellbeing: physical, mental, and financial. We are regularly reviewing our package to ensure that it is competitive.
We offer flexible working arrangements for employees including flexible hours, part-time hours, and hybrid working to enable them to get the right balance between work and personal life.
We offer enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption leave so that you can spend more time with the people that matter the most. We are committed to making our policies family friendly.
We offer 25 days of annual leave with the Bank Holidays on top and in addition to this a company holiday between Christmas and New Year. You can also take a day off for volunteering on the causes that matter to you or join one of the team volunteering initiatives.
We recognise the importance of ensuring people are supported through any period of absence and their subsequent return to work and that’s why we have a company sick pay scheme in place.
We offer company paid health plan that helps to support our people and their family with unexpected expenses due to health problems and encourages preventative health checks to support their physical and mental wellbeing.
We want to ensure that our people have peace of mind, knowing that their families will be taken care of during difficult times. In the event of their passing, their loved ones will receive a lump sum payment to help them through challenging times.
Our salaries are competitive and fair, with a focus on rewarding excellent performance. In addition to this, we offer a generous pension scheme with an employer contribution of up to 18%.
The Franklin offers a growing range of learning and development opportunities, including leadership and management training, career coaching and e-learning courses. We are also an institutional member of Vitae, the global leader in the professional and career development of researchers, providing access to a wealth of resources and advice tailored both to researchers as well as staff supporting their development. Employees are encouraged to invest time in upskilling and the Franklin supports its staff to pursue training and qualifications that will benefit not only their day-to-day roles but their longer-term professional development as a whole.
People from all over the world are working, sharing ideas and collaborating at the Franklin. We welcome all international applications and understand that moving to a new country can be difficult and time consuming, therefore we offer a variety of support including advice and guidance during visa application process, reimbursement of majority of the costs associated with the visa application and a relocation allowance to help with the move.
Our world-class laboratory facilities with open plan social areas for people to come together. We are located on the Harwell Science and Innovation campus which has an array of sports and recreation facilities open for all staff as well as a subsidised canteen and other food outlets within the walking distance.
Free parking is available with charging points for electric vehicles, as well as a bus pass discount scheme and interest-free seasonal travel loans. For those who prefer to cycle, we have a cycle-to-work scheme to help with the purchase of bicycles and cycling accessories, as well as bike storage facilities and showers.
Shopping discounts are available through Perkbox, which offers discounts for shopping, restaurants, entertainment, technology, gift cards, and more.
Free parking is available with charging points for electric vehicles, as well as bike storage facilities and showers for those who prefer to cycle. A bus pass discount scheme is also available.
Keeping our people both physically and mentally well is important to us. Lock-down has been a challenging event for many people. During this time, we’ve reached out to our people to offer advice and support and this is being further enhanced through our occupational health offering.
Other benefits include flu vaccinations, eye care vouchers and a variety of wellbeing resources including free advice and counselling through Employee Assistance Program.
Meet Our Team
Dr Liang Wu – Deputy Challenge Lead and Glycobiology Scientist
Liang has established a lab to study the processes involved in formation of heparan sulfate, one of the essential polysaccharide (sugar) molecules produced by the body. He studied Medicinal Chemistry at UCL, followed by a PhD at Cambridge studying the interactions between proteins and noncoding RNAs. He then moved to York for a postdoc, investigating the structures of sugar processing enzymes and their roles in biology, which is where his interest remains today.
Here is what Liang has to say about working at the Franklin: “As it’s not a traditional university-type environment, it’s easy to see where the opportunities for collaboration might be, and it’s scientifically stimulating to be surrounded by people who are experts in different technologies. Everyone is excited to put their own stamp on things and make sure the Institute is a success.”