Researcher Futures: Making Your Mark

Excellent researchers understand that their work can change the world. How they go about and talk about their work can have a huge impact on how both their work and they are viewed. This course aims to help researchers make their mark. The course will draw on the current agendas of research impact demonstrated by the funding bodies and grant holders, but with specific focus on the individual and how they work. Through discussion and practical activities participants will consider both the impact of their research, and the impact they have in the research environment in which they work. Specifically the course will:

  • Explore how researchers can make more impact by:
    • how they work with others
    • how they communicate their research
    • how they  engage with those connected to their research
  • Explore the impact of their research by:
    • understanding the context of their research
    • considering the beneficiaries of their research
    • managing the implications of their research

This free course will be held in Manchester and is open to all research staff based at North West Universities.

To book your place, click here.


Programme

9:30Introduction and welcome
9:40 Motivations
  • to think about the motivations behind your choices to become a researcher
  • to engage others by thinking about ‘why' you do something
  • to consider what types of impact are going to be most relevant and interesting
10:00

 Perspectives

  • to consider the meaning of the word ‘impact' and its implications for how you work
  • to introduce the agendas of RCUK and the REF and think about how these affect your work
  • to think about how you can increase the impact of your work
  • to consider people involved and those that benefit from your research
  • to explore commonalities in research across disparate subject areas
11:00 Break
11:15 

Research Communication

  • to introduce the concept of you being responsible for communicating your research
  • to practise the discipline of being concise in your explanations
  • to practise tailoring your communication to a specific audience
  • to tap into the key issues in your research. 
12:30 Lunch
13:30

The £1 Million Question

  • to think about the economic imperative to demonstrate impact in your research
  • to think about how you measure impact in different research contexts
15:00 Break
15:15 

Your Pathways to Impact

  • to encourage you to be pro-active in you approach to making an impact
  • to engender the idea that making an impact will help you be a better researcher and produce better research
  • to encourage you to pursue the areas that interest you and to use the Pathways to Impact document as a springboard to help you build the resources necessary for success
16:15 Course summary and review
16:30 Close

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