Informing strategy and policy development

The Researcher Development Framework enables researchers to articulate their skills and take a pro-active approach to their own professional development. The Researcher Development Statement replaces the Research Councils' Joint Skills Statement (2001) as the UK framework underpinning professional development for researchers at all levels.

The Researcher Development Statement can be used:

• as the framework for researcher development in support of UK goals to maintain global competitiveness and produce world-class researchers
• to inform strategies for supporting the implementation of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the QAA Code of Practice for research degree programmes
• to build a strategic and operational framework for provision of formal and informal development opportunities for researchers, extending the legacy of the Joint Skills Statement to all researchers.

The Research Councils UK Statement of Expectations expects research organisations to fully embed researcher development into normal processes within the research and training environment. More generally, research organisations are also being asked to give good account of their researcher development policy and practice.

The Researcher Development Framework supports the delivery of institutional strategic aims:

• providing access to career progression opportunities through a programme of researcher development
• giving structure to implementation of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers
• demonstrating excellence in the research environment for the Research Excellence Framework (REF)
• providing benchmarks for institutional audit in relation to the QAA Code of Practice to demonstrate efficacy of research degree programmes
• articulating researcher development provision to international audiences and potential researchers
• achieving the European Commission's HR Excellence in Research Award
• contributing to research excellence and impact
• meeting research grant criteria for funders expectations of training and development support for their funded researchers.