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The University of Birmingham Graduate School website brings together all information offered to doctoral researchers by the University Graduate School (this covers both the University Graduate School and the Research Student Administration teams). The website is meant to offer a ‘one stop shop’ for all doctoral researcher information at the University. Upkeep of the website is the responsibility of the University Graduate School Projects Officer (Marketing and Events). New developments for the website are supported by the University’s systems and web teams.

A range of two hour bite-sized workshops aimed at research staff and students. Titles include Being Assertive: getting yourself heard, Being Strategic: getting others interested in your research, Getting the Most out of Conferences and Making Contact and Making your Contacts work for you.

A bespoke, pilot programme designed exclusively for postdocs/research staff in the Department of Engineering and sponsored by the Head of Department and the Director of Research. Participants were selected through an application process and needed to gain the support of their academic supervisor/PI.

Researchers are key members of academic staff. They are central to the College’s status as the leading centre for veterinary research in England, as well as its global aspirations. Beyond this, the College recognises that researchers make many other important contributions, for example in undertaking valuable research support, teaching and supervision duties, and as a vibrant group within the wider RVC community.

Following the launch of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, the College developed a Concordat Code of Practice and Guide which demonstrates the Colleges commitment to the provision of timely and effective support for Research Staff and their chosen career paths.

The courses and workshops outlined in our programme are designed to meet the needs of all groups of staff within the College and offer a wide variety of development opportunities in five key areas:

• Health & Safety

• Information Technology

• Leadership & Management

• Skills & Knowledge

• Wellbeing

In our 2009/10 training programme, we introduced a section specific to the development of researchers, in response to principle 4 of the Concordat. This section has continued to develop following feedback received from research staff, line managers and principal investigators.

Research staff may also attend any of the other Staff Training & Development courses offered in the programme.

A CPD Tool is being developed for Researchers to enable them to analyse, plan and record their development.  This electronic tool uses researchers’ job factors specific to Strathclyde and draws on relevant factors from the Researcher Development Framework to form a Career Pathway which acts as the analysis part of the tool.  Researchers can then go on and set development objectives, choose appropriate activities to meet these objectives and then record development.  This allows researchers the opportunity to manage their career development in a secure space as well as allowing them to take greater responsibility for it.

The Strathclyde Mentoring Scheme is being developed for Research staff to support their career development.  It will train and support mentors and match them with appropriate mentees who volunteer to be part of the scheme.  It will also offer on-going support for mentors who are part of the Scheme as well as those who are active mentors within the University but carry out this role informally. 

This is an online course developed by a consortium of UK institutions to help researchers understand what it means to be entrepreneurial and to develop those skills for success.

This is a two day workshop during which a series of talks by successful grant applicants illustrate the range of research that is supported by the different research councils, as well as offering insights into the world of EU funded projects. Participants develop their own research proposals in advance of day 2 and then work in small interdisciplinary groups (mock panels) to review and evaluate each other’s proposals.