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Recently there has been growing interest in an alternate business model, social enterprise. This is a different way of doing business that trades for a social purpose whereby the social or environmental aims of the business are of equal importance to its commercial activities. Consequently the skills required for running a successful social enterprise combine those typical of enterprise activities generally with a strong motivation and passion for social improvement. We have found that this aspect is useful in engaging researchers because at the heart of social enterprise is a strong commitment to achieving a better society, a motivation that resonates with that which typically drives the research agenda and researchers themselves. This collaborative project with Vitae has been successful in developing written and associated video materials to explore enterprise skills with early career researchers. There are plans to disseminate the resources via Vitae as part of the ongoing move to produce development resources that are freely available to HEIs as part of the research skills development agenda, this is likely to be in January 2011.

This interactive workshop explores the pros and cons of an academic career, looks at individual researcher's strengths and development needs and allows then to plan what needs to be done in order to be a strong candidate for an academic position in the future. (Uses materials first designed by Sara Shinton, Careers Consultant)

Volunteering is an often-overlooked route to skills development. Working with the Guild of Students, the Graduate School promotes a range of volunteering options to enable postgraduates to develop a range of invaluable skills while also helping the local (and wider) community.