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Welcome
Welcome to the October edition of the Vitae News. With the new academic year now fully underway for many, and others drawing their academic year to a close, there are plenty of updates to share with you.
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Highlights from the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference 2023 - #VitaeCon2023
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Vitae staff recently shared their highlights in a post-conference blog that emphasises the positive, collaborative and inclusive nature of #VitaeCon2023 and the willingness within the community to progress the research culture agenda. A community reflection piece is currently being compiled for Vitae members, with learnings that will weave through the Vitae Annual Programme 2023/24.
If you are a #VitaeCon2023 ticket holder, you can now rewatch the 8 plenary recordings along with many of the slides from the community sessions that took place.
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The latest Research Adjacent podcast was published this week - recorded with a live audience from #VitaeCon2023. The podcast features an interview with shortlisted nominees for the Outstanding Contribution Award category of the Vitae Impact, Culture and Engagement (ICE) Awards, talking about the significant contributions they are making within the community.
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Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) 2024
"I had a hard time finding my voice, struggled with self confidence and English as a second language...[but] I've found my voice and its actually lifted me up to the next level [as a] researcher"
Ridzuan A-Rasid, Loughborough University, Vitae 3MT® People's Choice Winner 2023.
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Vitae member organisers can now register institutional interest in entering their institutional competition winner to the Vitae 3MT® 2024 competition. The competition challenges doctoral candidates to present a compelling spoken presentation on their research and its significance in just three minutes.The development of this important skill helps researchers to articulate their research to a non-specialist audience and can open up a diverse range of career opportunities. If you are a doctoral candidate from a member institution considering the 3MT® journey, take a look at videos from this year’s entrants for inspiration. Next year will be Vitae’s tenth anniversary of hosting the competition so we want to make it extra celebratory - watch this space for more information!
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Upcoming Researcher Development Concordat thematic sessions
Designed to support UK member institutions who are signed up to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, the Researcher Development Concordat thematic sessions are back due to popular demand. The sessions are intended to aid the Vitae community in integrating the Principles of the Concordat into institutional policy and practice.
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Book now for the first session on 1 November, which will be on the theme of ‘Aligning the Concordat with research culture activity’.
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In addition to unpacking the CEDARS 2023 aggregate results on research culture, the event gave members the opportunity to discuss what responsible indicators of positive research cultures could look like and reflect on how the CEDARS question-set might evolve in the future through a research-culture specific CEDARS pilot in 2024. If you are interested in being involved in developing the CEDARS pilot please email cedars@vitae.ac.uk
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Sustainable researcher training
Vitae’s Learning and Development team have co-developed a new workshop for institutions, aimed at early career researchers called ‘The Green Researcher’, in response to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Green Charter and other sustainability initiatives.
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Designed for STEM disciplines initially, the training will provide an overview of sustainability considerations in research, and environmental impacts of research in the sciences and engineering. The workshop will provide participants with the knowledge and tools to think sustainably in their research. Researchers will further enhance their skills in problem solving, teamworking, critical thinking and leadership.
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Improving research culture
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Sustainable Careers for Research Empowerment newsfeed launched
The Sustainable Careers for Research Empowerment (SECURE) project, of which Vitae is a proud partner, has launched a regular newsfeed where they will share insights relating to researcher careers and employment across Europe, as well as project updates.
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A recent article introduces the SECURE Research Career Framework (RCF) that will follow the guiding principles of key policies, including transparency, merit-based research career systems across Europe, gender equality, and open science.
If you are interested in finding out more about the project and developing sustainable researcher careers, follow SECURE on LinkedIn or go to their website for the latest posts.
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Response from UKRI to Call for Input into the New Deal for Postgraduate Research
UKRI have published their response to the Call for Input into the New Deal for Postgraduate Research.
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We are pleased to see professional and career development placed front and centre, recognising that postgraduate researchers are calling for more careers advice, placements, and opportunities to develop wider skills. Vitae will be working with UKRI to review the current provision of careers advice for researchers to identify how careers learning can be enhanced.
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The conference follows the workshop by the network at the Vitae conference, and Dr Robin Mellors-Bourne, Director of Research and Intelligence for the Careers Research Advisory Centre (CRAC), that manages the Vitae programme, will be sharing insights from the research and evaluation of FLF recently carried out.
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