How we work
Research Culture and Researcher Development is a multi-disciplinary team based in the Research Services Directorate. We work to ensure that every researcher is supported to be at their best, as part of a engaging, fair, and collegial culture in which people help each other to succeed, and to make informed active choices about their development and their careers. We provide a broad spectrum of activities and initiatives designed to enrich researchers skills and working relationships, foster their talents, and accelerate their professional prospects.
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We align our provision with national and institutional strategy and guidance
The Research Culture and Researcher Development Team offer a wide and comprehensive range of opportunities and experiences all aligned with the national Researcher Development Framework, the UKRI Statement of Expectations for Doctoral Training, The UKCGE Good Supervisory Practice Framework, and several University of Glasgow guiding documents:
- Our Research Strategy, which sets out our priorities under the headings of Collaboration, Creativity and Careers
- Our Research Culture Priorities which help us to focus on the five factors contributing to a positive culture and a fair, engaging, and collegial environment. These are: Collegiality, Career Development, Research Recognition, Open Research and Research Integrity.
- Our People and Organisational Development Strategy which asks us to live our values, to maximise our capabilities, and to focus on a positive and enriching employee experience.
The Team's approach combines the ideas above to create a suite of different delivery methods, platforms, and people, but underpinning them all is our team's ambition that every researcher should be enabled to be at their best, and to make informed and active choices about their career ahead.
We have six priority themes that shape our provision
Career Direction:
We support researchers to reflect on their career journey so far, and make the most of their time at UofG by making active choices for their future direction.
Connection and Belonging:
We facilitate the building and vitality of researcher communities and networks. We know these are critical to wellbeing as well as to academic progress.
Researcher Integrity:
We are committed to providing an environment that ensures all researchers feel safe and can conduct their research to the highest quality standards. We support the development of the specialist knowledge and behaviours that underpin this commitment.
Engaged Communication:
In a connected world, being able to communicate well with a range of audiences is essential. We help our researchers to be heard.
Constructive Conversations:
A good conversation is a powerful learning tool. We help our researchers to access the people they need, to talk about the things most important to them.
Innovative Ideas:
Whether our researchers big ideas relate to future research projects, new policies, products and services, or ways they can change UofG for the better, we support their development.
We make our provision as inclusive and welcoming as possible
We take the broadest view of ‘who is a researcher’ and welcome all PGRs and staff actively engaged in research work.
We embed inclusion as a design principle, as part of our commitment to creating stimulating, fair, and inclusive environments in which colleagues help each other to succeed. Everyone who is involved in any of our provision is asked to read and agree to our Code of Conduct.
We underpin all the work we do with a shared set of team values.
We empower researchers to take ownership of their own development
Development includes the full range of activities that support researchers to foster the attributes in the Vitae Researcher Development Framework. It may include, but is not restricted to, training. We reject the deficit model, and value what people bring to the University of Glasgow as well as take away. We also know that experience counts with employers, so we create ways for colleagues to put skills into practice, and take up opportunities.
The majority of researcher development is booked through the University Inkpath platform. Inkpath brings together opportunities from across the institution, streamlining the personal admin time spent on finding and booking development through a single access point.
Inkpath can empower researchers to take ownership of their own development by:
- identifying current training needs, and checking back in to reflect on those needs
- creating a full, skills-development focused record to enable strategic planning in consultation with their PI, supervisory team, or line manager
- preparing effectively for APR, P&DR, and promotion
- preparing for job applications and interviews
- successfully planning their career development
We collaborate with others across the University and the sector
We are part of an ecology of partners in researcher learning, education and development. We recognise that development opportunities are everywhere, and we aim to enable researchers to locate and select the forms of development and support they need. We work closely with supervisors and PIs, the Schools, Colleges, Institutes, Groups and Teams across UofG as well as external experts.
We use a shared skills and development platform, Inkpath, to help researchers find, book, track, and reflect on development opportunities.
We regularly evaluate, review, and enhance our practice
Our ambition is that every researcher should be enabled to be at their best, and to make informed and active choices about their career ahead. To support this, we reflect, review, and enhance our provision regularly to create a contemporary offer. In this we work in partnership with the researchers themselves, through formal feedback, evaluation, and consultation.
We share our learning designs openly through institutional reporting structures, through being active in our professional communities, and with the sector through our team blog The Auditorium.
If you would like to give us feedback you are invited to contact the Research Culture and Researcher Development Team directly by email, or share anonymously on this MSForm.