Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
To enhance the researcher development workshops available to BU’s academics, the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office is making some changes to the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework (RKEDF), in consultation with senior faculty staff.
BU academics wishing to find out more about these exciting developments should refer to their internal Faculty Blogs for more details.
Make sure that you don’t miss out on these career-enhancing opportunities!
I posted last week a whizzy picture demonstrating the academic career pathway to research funding. This has now been turned into new pages on the blog for each stage of an academics career in research. The pages highlight the type of funding that you can aim for, what training and development is available to support this (through the RKEDF), and further resources that will support you in applying for external funding. As well as the main summary page, there is a page for students, research fellows, senior research fellows, associate professors, and professors.
Have a look at what’s available through each stage of an academics career. Links to these pages are also available in the Research Lifecycle – Your research strategy section and in the Research Toolkit.
If you have any queries about how to get started with your research strategy then please contact your RKEO Research Facilitator.
The Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework is a programme of training and development opportunities available to all members of staff regardless of what level they have attained in their academic career. It provides several pathways of opportunity depending on what interests you. We will soon be launching the 2017/18 programme in time for appraisals.
We’re often asked in RKEO what type of grant should someone apply for depending on their level of experience. Our Research Facilitators are only too happy to advise and so do get in touch with them. You may find the below illustration helpful in guiding you to the choices that are right for you (a larger version is available on MyBU). Also, standard calls for proposals from major funders can be found here.
The aim of this workshop is to give for Early Career Researchers or PhD students (particularly final year students) skills to conduct effective professional networking conversations and to use networking as a tool for developing their professional networks.
Networking is recognised by established researchers and Academics as an essential tool for career development and professional advancement.
In contrast, research reveals that many Early Career Researchers feel very uncertain about networking, in respect to both the practical “how to do it” issues and the underlying, often values-based questions “Why it is important ?” and “Should I be doing this?”.
We will address various aspects of networking and develop the appropriate physical and mental skills necessary to improve our skill set in confident networking techniques.
Progress will be made through discussions and group exercises to develop essential skills, build confidence and overcome anxiety or blocks to performance.
As a result of this workshop participants will :
We have hired the services of an external facilitator to offer support in this for academic staff as part of the BRAD programme. Dr Margaret Collins has a 20+ year academic career background and uses her experience and subsequent training in theories such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming to deliver advice on how to increase personal effectiveness in these areas.
You sometimes have to invest a little time to free up more later on – the session on Weds 15th April 2015 09:30 – 12:30 on Talbot campus is a worthwhile investment. There are limited spaces so please do ensure you get one by booking on the Organisational and Staff Development webpages.
Happy New Year to you all and welcome back to work! Each day this week we’ll be posting a New Year’s Research Resolution to help you get back into the swing of things. Today’s resolution is to forward plan your research strategy.
WHY? – To ensure your time and efforts are utilised in the most effective and advantageous way then you should have an up to date research strategy. This should set out a plan of how you want your research to develop, what your goals are for the next year, three years, five years, fifteen years, etc., and the steps you need to take to get there. It should cover funding (internal and external), publishing and other activities, such as public engagement, that will support you to develop your career over the years.
HOW? The steps below will take you at least a couple of hours to work through and could take significantly longer. Working through them, however, will pay dividends as a plan will give structure and objectives for your short- and long-term research career development.
Ensure you are aware of the support available to you and the research strategy of your Faculty. Check out stage 1 of BU’s research lifecycle – Your Research Strategy. This outlines the support and resources available to you when designing your research strategy, including support from RKEO, horizon scanning for future funding calls and policy news/issues, and support from the academic development schemes that BU offers. It also provides links to the most recent versions of the Faculty strategies.
Start to write your plan. Start by asking yourself what your ultimate goals are. These could be:
– to be the lead partner for a collaborative EU project
– to establish and lead a research centre or institute
– to publish an article in a leading journal
– to be a keynote speaker at a leading international conference
– for your research to result in a change to a national policy
– for your research to result in a significant benefit in the local community
– to land a senior academic position at a leading university in another country
Once you have these listed then put realistic dates against when you wish to achieve these.
Then work backwards and identify the steps you need to get there, setting yourself targets to achieve each task.
For example, if your goal is to lead a collaborative EU project then you will need to: ensure you are fully conversant with Horizon 2020 and EU strategy, join/establish a network (ideally to join one that has already had some EU success), apply for some internal funding (via the Fusion Investment Fund or the URA Programme) to undertake some pilot research, apply for small research grants (these help you to gather data and build a track record), engage with business/industry to undertake contract research, KTPs, consultancy, etc (this helps you to build your profile, make connections, build you track record, develop real-world case studies to support your teaching), publish your work in highly ranked journals and ensure your work is freely available (open access publication fund and via BURO), use your network to bid for EU funding with you as a work package leader, apply for a research fellowship, undertake some public engagement work, etc.
Set yourself success measures where appropriate and add in specifics. For example, if one of your interim goals is to publish in a journal then identify two or three journals highly ranked journals (such as Q1 journals on Web of Science or Scopus) that closely align to your research field and make your interim goal to specifically publish in one of these journals.
Review the interim tasks and think about the support you need to achieve these. Would additional support help you to achieve these goals? Maybe an industry-based mentor would help? Add these to your plan.
Share your plan (or at least parts of it) with those who can support you in making it a reality. For example, share your long-term bidding plan with the Research Facilitators in RKEO who can help you with horizon scanning, identifying potential funders and calls, shaping ideas, etc. Share the highlights of the plan with your line manager and Deputy Dean Research who can help you with time, support and resources.
Once you have finalised your plan then try not to be diverted from it and regularly check progress against your goals.
Sources of further information include:
Elsevier’s Charting a course for a successful research career
Strategic approaches to getting your work published
Academic career pathway diagram
The perfect academic career path (includes an excellent career path diagram from the ESRC)
If you have been away from the workplace, you may feel that your career is on hold or slipping backwards, but with the schemes highlighted below, you have the opportunity to re-invigorate your academic career:
Within Biomedical Sciences, the Wellcome Trust Research Re-entry Fellowship is one scheme within their suite of Flexible Working options. This scheme is for postdoctoral scientists who have recently decided to recommence a scientific research career after a continuous break of at least two years. It gives such scientists the opportunity to return to high-quality research, with the potential to undertake refresher or further training. The fellowship is particularly suitable for applicants wishing to return to research after a break for family commitments. The next deadline is 06/10/14.
The Wellcome Trust also offers the Sanger Institute Fellowship, which enables and opens routes back into science for those who have had a break from scientific research – for any reason. The funder understands that even a short time out of research can have an impact on your career, which is why they have created a postdoctoral fellowship providing an additional opportunity specifically for those who have been out of scientific research for one year or more to return to high-quality postdoctoral training. One Fellowship will be awarded each year. Each Fellowship will last for three years and can be worked full time, part time or flexibly. The next call for applications will be in mid-2015.
A Daphne Jackson Fellowship is a unique fellowship designed to return STEM professionals to their careers after a break. Fellows normally carry out their research part-time over 2 years, in a university or research establishment in the UK. The Fellowships are flexible and include a tailored training programme designed to update skills and knowledge and support you in your return to research. If you are ready to return to research following a break of 2 or more years, take a look at their sponsored fellowship opportunities. Alternatively, if you have a potential host institution and/or research area in mind, you can apply for a fellowship at any time. If your application is successful, the Trust will endeavour to find suitable sponsorship.
The Royal Society’s Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship scheme is for outstanding scientists in the UK at an early stage of their research career who require a flexible working pattern due to personal circumstances such as parenting or caring responsibilities or health issues. Female candidates are particularly invited to apply. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine. Applicants must be able to demonstrate a current need for flexible support due to personal circumstances at the time of application. This can include current parenting or caring responsibilities (such as raising children or looking after ageing or seriously ill family members), clinically diagnosed health issues or other personal circumstances that create a need for a flexible working pattern. This scheme is closed for 2014 but should open again in late 2014 / early 2015.
Although these are the main schemes, it is worth checking if smaller funders or charities in your field also provide such funding. For example, a quick internet search found a similar scheme offered by the British Heart Foundation.
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