Vitae News: November 2024

Vitae Events

Register for our next event - Researcher careers across borders: supporting careers beyond academia

 Our next webinar looks to bring speakers from across Europe together to explore initiatives and share good practice designed to guide researchers into careers beyond academia.

The event aims to foster international connections between researcher development professionals, and will also introduce a new Europe-wide peer learning programme for those involved in researcher development. The full agenda will be released in the coming weeks.

The webinar is free and open to all; please share the event with your networks.

Event date and time: Thursday 21 November 2024 9.00am GMT, online.

Register for Researcher careers across borders

Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) - winners announced!

At the beginning of October, the Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition took place!

Many of you joined us for the live broadcast of the six finalists' three minute thesis presentations on the Vitae YouTube channel. Watch again if you missed it.

The voting was opened after the broadcast on Wednesday 2 October. Then on Friday 4 October, the winners were announced in the live announcement. We are delighted to congratulate them:

• The Judges' Choice Award - Jo Baker at Newcastle University, for her thesis presentation: 'Elsa, the tiger and the Speech Sound Disorder'.

• The People's Choice Award - James McMullan at Ulster University for his thesis presentation: 'Start young, live long: is reeling in a tasty catch the secret to longevity?'

• The Editor's Choice Award (chosen by the Conversation UK) -Muhammad Muddasar at the University of Limerick for his thesis presentation 'Harnessing the Power of Leftover Lignin for Waste Heat Harvesting'.

Read the Vitae press release about Vitae 3MT®

Read The Conversation blog about Vitae 3MT®

#VitaeCon2024 - reflections and testimonials

Thank you again to everyone who attended the online and in-person elements of #VitaeCon2024. If you haven't already, there are plenty of session recordings and presentation slides available to view on the conference event platform.

 Take a look at the Vitae blog, which has two reflective pieces about #VitaeCon2024. Firstly, Reflections on the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference from Dr Julie Reeves, who also won the Vitae Impact, Culture and Engagement (ICE) Award for Outstanding Contribution.

 Secondly, we received many positive and inspiring reflections from researchers who attended the conference. We have collated their testimonials into a blog, Different pathways to success: Researchers' Reflections on the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference 2024.

 To accompany the above blog posts, why not have a look at the official photographs from the in-person element of #VitaeCon2024, as well as the photographs of the Vitae Impact, Culture and Engagement (ICE) Awards! The photographs were taken by Gemma Rose on behalf of Patrick Bannon.

CEDARS 2025 Benchmarking window

CEDARS, the Culture, Employment and Development of Academic Researchers Survey, is to have a new benchmarking window open for 2025. Open to institutions, the survey will enable data to be collected on research culture, research employment, and professional development for researchers, amongst other related topics. 

• CEDARS 2025 benchmarking window will be Monday 3 March - Friday 13 June 2025
• The intention is to reduce the number of questions in the survey to make it shorter, more manageable, and to improve response rates.
• The revised question set is expected to be ready by December 2024.

CRAC publishes 'think piece' commissioned by UKRI - Embedding career learning into doctoral programmes

 The Careers, Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) has published a 'think piece' for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), 'Embedding career learning into doctoral programmes.'

The 'think piece' addresses how career-related learning can be enhanced and better embedded within doctoral programmes.

Read the full 'think piece' via the CRAC website.

Also have a look at an update by UKRI on their blog about what they have been doing in the year since the New Deal for Postgraduate Research: Response to the Call for Input was published.

National Postdoc Conference 2025 - hosted by the British Academy

The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network will be hosting the National Postdoc Conference on Friday 19 September 2025, save the date!

The British Academy have been chosen by the UK Research Staff Association (UKRSA), supported by Vitae, to host the event. More details will be announced over the coming months, so remember to look out for updates.

 The event is open to researchers from universities, Independent Research Organisations (IROs), charities and think tanks across the sector, and particularly to those from SHAPE disciplines.

Learn more

New Generation Thinkers 2025

A funding opportunity from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is offering five early career researchers the opportunity to work with programme makers at BBC Radio 4 to produce a written piece to be recorded for radio.

To be eligible you must be an emerging early career researcher and be based at a UK research organisation that is eligible for the opportunity.

 The closing date to apply is Tuesday 28 January 2025 4:00pm GMT.

Apply for New Generation Thinkers 2025

Sector news

UKRI Survey - Stakeholder perceptions survey 2024

 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are asking for feedback for their 2024 stakeholder perceptions survey.

UKRI are happy to hear from all those who have a stake in their work, including those in the business community, civil service, research and academia, amongst others. Responses are welcome from overseas as well as the UK.

The survey is being conducted by IFF Research Ltd, an independent research agency, and all responses are anonymous. There is the option to add contact details if respondents wish.

 We have improved the survey this year, making it more concise and focused. It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and will be live until Thursday 19 December 2024.

Take the UKRI Stakeholder perceptions survey

ICoRSA International Survey on Research Precarity

 The International Consortium of Research Staff Associations (ICoRSA) advocates for improving the career conditions of researchers.

ICoRSA annually collects data on research precarity in order to inform how best to help researchers in their careers. Their survey on research precarity for 2024 is now live, and is structured into four sections: demographics, contractual conditions, career expectations and participation in governance structures.

The survey is anonymous and is aimed at researchers with a PhD; all sectors and career stages are welcome to complete the survey.

ICoRSA International Survey on Research Precarity

Vitae is now on Instagram!

Who says research can't be fun? And what better place to interact with Vitae's work than Instagram?

Join us there and be part of our community, as we share resources, news on our events, and inspiration for your researcher journey. It's also the place to be for all our updates on the Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition.

Expect many an emoji 👍

Vitae Instagram