Questions to Consider

Senior Managers

  • What national and international policy initiatives matter to your institution?
  • Are there areas that as an institution you need to develop?
  • How can these be mapped to the RDF and the Concordat?
  • Consider how the RDF can be embedded across your institution
  • Encourage all staff to use the RDF – not just early career researchers
  • Review your HR practice and consider using the RDF for appraisals, induction etc.
  • Role of the RDF and Concordat for equality, diversity and inclusion.

Researcher developers and those supporting researchers

  • Review your practice against the RDF – what opportunities and training are you providing? 
  • Map all your training activities to the Vitae RDF - Which descriptors are included and are your objectives clear?
  • Use the RDF to carry out a training needs analysis for your institution
  • Use the RDF as a basis for measuring impact of your training

Individual Researchersg

  • Analyse and benchmark skills against the RDF
  • Decide on priority areas to work on, set SMART targets and monitor
  • Collect evidence of your skills against the RDF demonstrating your expertise as a researcher and preparing you for future roles.