Researcher development for non-linear career paths
A Vitae event
Tuesday 7 June 2016
Event preview
There is no single path through a research career, such as, from undergraduate degree, to PhD, to postdoc, to professor. Doctoral candidates may have many years of professional experience, or complete their doctorates part-time or by distance-learning. This creates unique opportunities for researchers to bring their professional experience into their research, or to combine their research with other commitments, but also creates challenges for researcher developers in meeting the needs of this diverse population.
The grand challenge for this event will be ‘how can we, together, support researchers, to ensure appropriate professional development provision for all, in light of the many routes into, through, and out of a doctoral degree?’
This one-day event will start with invited speakers, followed by in-depth group discussions around topics led by participants, in an Open Space format. Potential discussion topics include
- Providing appropriate resources and support for part-time and distance-learners
- Understanding the challenges and opportunities for developing researchers with extensive professional experience
- Researcher development provision for university teaching and professional staff undertaking a doctorate
- Preparing researchers for diverse future career directions, such as, portfolio careers, self-employment and entrepreneurship, transitions to other sectors, combining practice and scholarship, etc.
This event is open to all stakeholders in the professional development of researchers through their careers, including researcher developers (particularly those working with part-time researchers and other researchers with non linear career paths) , staff developers, careers advisors, representatives of funding councils and charities, senior academics and managers, directors and staff of Doctoral Training Centres.
Continuing Professional Development
Vitae CPD certification is available for this event and would provide appropriate evidence against the Careers Framework for Researcher Developers (CFRD), for example, in ‘Training and Development’ and ‘Underpinning Knowledge’.
