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Science for Life

The Science for Life campaign champions science and medical research to ensure that scientists are motivated and able to carry out ground breaking research.

Dramatic improvements have been made over the last few decades in the early detection and treatment of breast cancer, which has led to greater survival. To continue making progress, we must ensure we are nurturing the star scientists of tomorrow to conduct this life changing research.

Campaign’s Science for Life report
To find out more about the barriers in conducting research, Campaign surveyed 62 of its senior scientists for their views of careers in medical research. We also asked them to identify their key priorities for science and research in the UK to find out what needs to be done to attract people into a career in research and keep them there.

The results made up part of Campaign's key publication, Science for Life. The report has allowed the charity to develop recommendations on how to address key priorities and take the debate on medical research careers forward.

Among the findings:

• Nearly half of respondents thought that conditions and prospects had gotten worse with competition for funding cited as the main reason.
• 60 per cent of respondents felt the level of pay was not reflective of their work or achievements and fared badly compared with other professions
• Many scientists believe their work is important but the value of what they do goes largely unnoticed by the public. 75 per cent rated their work as important while only 41 per cent felt the public agreed with them

Key recommendations
To address the key issues for a career in medical research, Campaign recommends:

• Higher status to be given to science and research
• Better career progression and job security for researchers
• Salaries which reflect the value of the contribution of medical research to society
• Well resourced research facilities

In order to maintain the UK’s position as a key player in science and research, Campaign recommends:

• Improved access to funding and longer term grants
• Greater Government investment in cancer research
• Less bureaucracy
• More emphasis placed on the education and training of researchers

We are continuing to campaign on issues that have a direct impact upon research and research careers across the UK. As a member of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), we are helping to ensure that these issues are kept high on the political agenda.

For more information, download Campaign's Science for Life report

For more information about Science for Life, or to find out how how you can contact your MP to ask them to support its findings, please email us at: policy@breastcancercampaign.org

Find out more about the charity's current campaign's