Our People and Culture
We want to provide a safe, supportive and inclusive working environment where everyone can fulfil their potential.
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.
We are working hard to provide greater opportunities for under representated groups. Building a focused plan to ensure that we can stand behind our aims to support careers in STEM for all and provide greater career opportunities to areas of our communities where there have been barriers.
We’re just getting started and will continue to build our efforts. Below are examples of our early commitments:
- Gender balanced interview panels
- Anonymised shortlisting process for our PhD studentship programme
- Annual participation in the HDRUK Black Internship Programme (in association with the 10,000 Black Interns initiative)
- Schools engagement activities to local comprehensive schools in the Thames Valley
- Wider reach recruitment activity to encourage applications from less represented areas of our community
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 have a fantastic benefits package, which includes opportunities for continuous learning, a generous annual leave entitlement, flexible working to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance and other wellbeing support.
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 in addition to Bank Holidays and a site closure 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.
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%.
Learning and development are encouraged and available to staff at all levels.
People from all over the world are working, sharing ideas and collaborating at the Franklin. We welcome all international applications and hold a licence which allows us to sponsor work visas for our candidates. We 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 hub building houses 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 walking distance.
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.
Meet Our Team
Dr Liang Wu – Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow
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.”