Whose Responsibility is it to Develop Research Staff?
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The Revised Concordat was published in June 2008 and contains seven principles that the major research funders and UUK have agreed to follow. However, research staff must take a role in leading and driving their own professional development. They are often in the best position to judge the areas of the project where they will need support and training:
They may also know what they want to achieve in their career in the mid and longer term and so may be able to ‘spot’ opportunities within the project to help them on their way.
Although the research team leader is often not the line manager of members of their project team, they are managing the researcher in respect of the research project. As such they have a devolved responsibility for their development within the context of the research project. This is true even when the researcher is based at a different institution or in a different country. The key to enabling research staff to feel able to engage in professional development is to provide a climate of trust and respect in which they can share their concerns and weaknesses and discuss their career aspirations and plans. Techniques for doing this might include: 1. Skills
This approach has the advantage of shifting the focus to strengths rather than weaknesses. 2. Preliminary team meeting
This approach requires courage on the part of the research team leader and the research team. However, it can have huge benefits in helping to build trust and respect within the team. 3. Continuing team meetings
If the research team leader has a good rapport with the researcher, it may be easier to get that person to ‘open up’ one-to-one than in a group. |