Develop with us

We actively support our researchers to develop and grow their careers.

We offer a range of training and development opportunities supporting publishing, grant-writing, knowledge transfer and impact (including pathways into industry, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation), and research leadership to forge independent careers.

Training is complemented by mentoring and coaching programmes, with 60% of research staff undertaking at least one formal development and training opportunity each year.

Training is delivered by a dedicated researcher development team, with additional specialist training provided by other teams across the University:

Partnering in your development

We view researcher development as a partnership and encourage all research staff to take responsibility for their own personal, professional and career development.

Our Statement of Expectations on the Career Development of Researchers (PDF, 565KB) outlines the responsibilities of the institution, managers and researchers themselves. We encourage research staff to engage in a minimum of ten days professional development activity and to use their annual performance and development review to identify their development needs.

We encourage our research staff to make use of the Researcher Development Framework as a tool to map and guide career development, giving structure and progression to development, and tailoring training and development programmes as appropriate. Each year our academic and research staff complete 2,000 online courses and 1,000 places on workshops and leadership training programmes offered by our Staff Learning and Development Team and our Institute of Teaching and Learning.

Recognition

Researchers make a significant contribution to the strategic ambitions of the University and this significant role is recognised in a range of ways.

  • The University is a signatory to the Researcher Development Concordat committed to creating an environment in which all researchers can thrive.
  • The Research Staff Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievement, impact and successes of our researchers.
  • The Research Staff Dissemination and Collaboration Funds provide opportunities for researchers to network, disseminate and communicate their research and establish new collaborations.
  • The Research Staff Promotions track ensure researchers also have the opportunity to secure promotion. 

Investing in you and your next steps

Our comprehensive investments have helped us not only to employ the best research staff through our flagship Presidential Fellows programme, but to nurture and expand the career progression of all of our research staff.

In addition to the Presidential Fellows programme, our investments include providing dedicated support for research fellowship and research grant applications and we now host approximately 355 externally funded fellowships (2020).  

As a partner in the Research England funded Prosper project, University researchers have access to the Prosper portal, resources and tools enabling researchers to reflect on their skills and explore multiple career pathways.