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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.

Official pre-launch of the International Year of Chemistry 2011. An event held in Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow on January 18^th brought together women chemists from 37 countries using modern communication tools; each country/region will arrange its own event(s) and individual breakfasts will be linked together by SKYPE/video, and by using Twitter.  In addition to networking, the aim is to celebrate the pivotal role of Marie Curie in chemistry, and to reflect on the current landscape for women chemists. 

Following consultation at the Research Staff Forum in March 2011 a programme has been devised and is scheduled to run for the first time in September 2011.  The programme exists as a one day event, but it is envisaged that following the initial event in September online content will be developed to make the Induction Programme available to researchers who need it, when they need 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. 

The current provision across the university of generic and transferable skills training was audited and then mapped to the RDF.  This allowed an analysis of provision to be carried out that will be used to inform and guide the effective allocation of resources.

The Researcher Development Programme (RDP) at Strathclyde offers all research students and staff a range of opportunities to continue their personal, professional and career management skills development. The courses, events and information sources aim to help researchers enhance their generic skills and competencies and widen their scope for future employability both inside and outside academia. The Researcher’s Portal is an online resource designed to support the RDP.

A strategy has been developed to support the achievement of the University’s Strategic Plan in terms of its statements relating to researcher development. A parallel operational plan lays out the key actions that have been devised with the aim of achieving the strategic aims.

This initiative, which seeks to develop potential future research leaders by allowing individuals to gain experience supporting the development of others, is considered an effective way of achieving long term impact and sustainability from investment in researcher development. Derived from existing good practice and responding to feedback from the researcher community, it involves early career researchers being seconded to work in multidisciplinary liaison across the researcher community to develop appropriate training and ensure that the Researcher Development Programme meets the needs of individual researchers.