C4 - From practice to research: supporting and developing researcher-practitioners
| Day | Day 2 |
|---|---|
| Session | C |
| Start time | 11:00 |
| Strand |
Research staff / talent development |
| Code | C4 |
| Presenters |
Dr Anne Galliot, Research Development Adviser, University of Brighton Dr Kieran Fenby-Hulse, Programme Manager: Early and Middle Career Researcher Development, Coventry University Alona Welby, Research Funding and Policy Manager, Northumbria University Laura Hutchinson, Research Development Manager, Northumbria University |
Workshop overview:
Universities recruit many academics from professional industries to infuse their courses with current job market related expertise and experience. These academics are frequently part-time, sometimes continuing their professional practice at the same time. They are often without a PhD. And unless they are on a teaching-only contract, they are often thrown in at the deep end of research. Universities can reap benefits from harnessing practice-based and applied research, not least in the Research Excellence Framework. So how can we support the development of these practitioners into researcher-practitioners?
This workshop will examine the currently policy landscape and organizational and faculty approaches to developing and supporting researcher-practitioners. It will look at the challenge of supporting a diverse research population and how institutional capacity needs to evolve to support researchers from professional backgrounds. It will examine research on the experience of research-practitioners undertaking doctorates and go on to explore the specific needs of researchers who come from a professional practice background in achieving research excellence. With perspectives from Brighton, Coventry, and Northumbria, the workshops will focus specifically on: organizational and faculty initiatives for practitioner development, valuing practitioner knowledge, and embracing career diversity within research.
Workshop topics covered:
Researchers from practice background
- Leadership and management of practitioner-researchers
Training and development of practitioner-researchers
- Research culture and environment for practitioner-researchers.
Themes covered:
- Developing a pipeline of research talent, including widening participation, strategies to attract and retain research talent, and approaches to mainstreaming equality and diversity for researchers in the research environment
Workshop outcomes:
- Understand the specific needs of researchers who come from a professional practice background
- Gain knowledge of how practitioner-researcher experience can support other stakeholder groups within the academy.
- Test approaches and ideas with peers on how to best support researcher-practitioners.
