C3 - Getting rid of our researchers!

Workshop overview:  

Doctorates and fixed-term contracts for postdoctoral researchers mean there is a known end date for the time early career researchers are expected to remain at our institutions.  With escalating pressures on completion rates for PhDs and for postdocs to produce “impactful outputs”, researchers do not always focus on what they will be doing the day after the end of their contract.  Researcher development opportunities designed to help researchers successfully move on to the next thing can (perhaps ironically) be used to attract and retain highly skilled researchers.  We will discuss the challenges associated with encouraging our research talent to move on, and the long term gains of this approach.  We will examine examples of current schemes such as mentoring across boundaries with other professions / sectors, early induction coaching on next steps, careers programmes, and interview preparation that are designed to “get rid of our researchers!” 

Workshop topics covered:  

• Attracting and retaining skilled researchers

• Engaging researchers with the realities of fixed-term contracts / completion deadlines

• Early intervention creating dynamic researchers

• Smoothing the transition to the next career stage for researchers, including enabling career transitions between academia and industry

• Researcher development across academia / industry boundaries 

Workshop outcomes:  

By the end of the workshop, participants should: 

• Identify the institutional  and personal challenges of helping researchers to move on to the next thing

• Share current practice in supporting these transitions

• Discuss and design measures to capture the impact of these practices 

Format:

80 minute workshop