Research careers by Janet Metcalfe
October 19, 2009Discussant session 1.1
The importance of developing highly skilled researchers and promoting the value of research careers to build our research capacity and ensure our economic and cultural prosperity has been well recognised. The creation of the European Research Area (ERA) and the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their recruitment are evidence of Europe’s commitment to promoting research careers.
In the UK, the aims of European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct (EC&C) for their recruitment are embodied in the revised UK Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers[1]. Three of the seven principles of the UK Concordat stress the importance of developing researchers, placing this responsibility on both employers and individual researchers.
Implicit in the ‘researcher development agenda’, is an understanding of the skills that researchers need to develop. In the UK, for doctoral candidates this is currently articulated in the Joint Statement of the UK Research Councils’ Training Requirements for Research Students (JSS) [2], which sets out the skills and attributes that doctoral candidates are expected to develop during their research degree programmes. For research staff there is no equivalent national statement, although a few universities have developed internal models.
This lack of framework for research careers was also recognised at the 2005 UK Presidency conference launching the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their Recruitment[3]. The outputs from the conference stressed the need for “substantial cultural change in the way researchers are perceived, managed and conduct themselves. The recognition of research as a profession – with researchers recognised as well as recognising themselves as professionals – is a key aspect of this change in perspective”.
This has been taken forward in the UK through the creation of the ‘Researcher development framework’ (RDF) is being developed as a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers in higher education. It is an evolution of the JSS covering the range of the research career and broadening the range of descriptors, i.e., including skills, knowledge, behaviours, qualities and attitudes. It encourages researchers to aspire to excellence through achieving higher levels of development. The framework has been built from empirical data collected through interviewing researchers to identify the characteristics of good and excellent researchers.
The RDF consists of generic descriptors that are common to all researchers, structured across four domains:
1. professional and intellectual attributes
2. personal effectiveness
3. research management and governance
4. impact and influence.
It also defines a progression of development through five levels within each individual descriptor.
It addresses different stages of being a researcher in higher education including:
· new researcher
· researcher
· experienced researcher
· advanced researcher
· eminent researcher[4].
The RDF is going out to consultation during November/early December[5].and the final framework will be launched at the end of March 2010. The implementation of the Researcher development framework and subsequent development of associated tools for skills assessment and analyses of development needs and linked provision of development opportunities will be an important contribution to achieving the aims of the UK Concordat.
The RDF will be critical both in raising the profile and professionalism of the research career, and providing a practical tool for researchers and institutions to support their career development. This will add considerably to the tools supporting the implementation of the Concordat.
Also of note is the Careers in Research Online Survey (CROS)[6]. CROS anonymously gathers data about working conditions, career aspirations and career development opportunities for research staff in higher education. The 2009 results found that most researchers feel valued, are satisfied with their work-life balance, have discussed career development with their manager or principal investigator and believe their employer is committed to equality and diversity. Over 70% of researchers took up training and development activities in their institution in the last year, double the proportion seen in CROS 2006. This reflects a sustained drive by government, national organisations and universities to improve the professional and career development support available to research staff in the UK.
Much still needs to be done, but the introduction of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct and the UK Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers have provided a focus for universities and national stakeholders to review their strategies for supporting research staff and we are clearly starting to see the benefits in the UK.
About Vitae
Vitae is a national organisation championing the personal, professional and career development of postgraduate researchers and research staff in higher education institutions and research institutes. We play a major role in the drive for high-level skills and innovation and in the UK’s goal to produce world class researchers. Our vision is for the UK to be world-class in supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers. Vitae is supported by Research Councils UK (RCUK), managed by CRAC: The Career Development Organisation and delivered in partnership with regional Hub host universities. www.vitae.ac.uk
[1] Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, 2008, www.researchconcordat.ac.uk
[2] Joint Statement of the UK Research Councils’ Training Requirements for Research Students (JSS) www.vitae.ac.uk/jss
[4] This approach is consistent with the high level ‘Descriptions for researcher competencies’ being developed by the European Commission‘s Steering Group for Human Resources and Mobility Working Group, as part of the development of the European Research Area
[5] This will be available from November 2010 at www.vitae.ac.uk/rdfconsultation
[6] Careers in Research Online Survey (CROS): Analysis of aggregated UK results, 2009 www.vitae.ac.uk/cros
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October 21st, 2009 at 4:03 pm
The Uk has been an early mover, first in seeking to enhance doctoral careers (e.g. UK GRAD) as well as for post-docs. What is interesting and notable is that this has been a wholly national effort. There is little evidence of cross-national collaboration, particularly with other European countries. For example, Germany was an early mover in enabling the postdoc to be a PI (e.g. Emmy Noether, MPG groups). UK efforts have much to with quality assurance, whereas the German effort aimed at excellence.