Researcher Development Programme for Research Staff

This provision supports researchers at all stages to create and maintain inclusive, equitable, and supportive research cultures. Supported by local initiatives, it includes an awareness of how EDI principles inform research, such as designing inclusive research projects and collaborating with diverse groups, leading to higher quality and robust research outcomes.

Aimed at current and aspiring research leaders, this provision supports you in effectively leading and motivating others including larger research groups and communities. It fosters teamworking skills to build positive relationships and empower others, as well as considering frameworks for thinking about research leadership.

This provision supports your development through exploring career paths including research inside academia as well as creating opportunities beyond, for example in non-profit, government and industry to build knowledge and enhance research. It also includes maximising your research profile, PRDP and the promotions process. 

This provision supports you in proactively building and sustaining networks to support your development as a researcher. It connects with opportunities to share and learn with others within and across disciplines, as well as supporting you in working collaboratively to design, create and enhance your research in ways that can maximise impact.

These sessions support you in understanding and navigating the Higher Education landscape as a researcher. They explore what it means to be a researcher at different stages – from emerging researcher to professor – as well as engaging with research-informed teaching and building fluency in assessment frameworks such as REF, KEF, TEF. 

This provision supports you to support other researchers through sharing experiences, knowledge and expertise, as well as working with your own mentor to enhance your research and development as a researcher. It includes developing coaching and mentoring skills such as identifying goal, supported by internal and external resources.

This provision supports you in getting the best out of yourself and in turn enabling you to do your research ‘well’ by using your skills and expertise to realise your goals as a researcher. It includes areas such as including goal setting, time management, researcher wellbeing and managing work/life balance.

Delivered by academic colleagues and library staff, these sessions explore a multitude of research methods across disciplines. They expose researchers at all stages to the theoretical and practical dimensions of research methods including data collection and analysis, and different methodological approaches, which may be common to your discipline or from other fields.

These sessions enhance literacy in handling data in the context of research. Building on the ability to read, understand, create and communicate data as information, they focus on managing, storing and using data in ways that are legal, ethical and secure for your research, along with ways to visualise data effectively.

These sessions support you in seeking, identifying, collating and evaluating a range of information from different sources. They include using search strategies to find information on a research topic, navigating how to find and organise information for interdisciplinary research, using bibliometrics, information software and understanding open access.

Aimed at new and experienced doctoral supervisors, these sessions support you in understanding all aspects of the doctoral researcher lifecycle at BCU—from recruitment to progression monitoring and completion—as well as the supervisory relationship. They include supervisor development days, viva chairing and examination workshops and BCU’s ‘Community of Practice’ programme, supported by local-level researcher development sessions.

These sessions support you in understanding different funding opportunities for your research, as well as other pre-awardactivities such as the application process, principles of writing a high-quality funding application, peer-review and feedback. They also extend to training and supports for Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators.

These sessions support you in the different elements of undertaking a research project from planning to tracking progress and managing resources. They also provide focussed support for those managing funded research projects, including project reviews, navigating project challenges and the post-award process extending to understanding, assessing and mitigating different types of risk related to a research project or activity.

These sessions introduce you to Trusted Research in academia to provide guidance and support in ensuring international collaborative research activities are done safely and securely. They will give you an awareness of operating within a global research and innovation ecosystem, along with UKRI policy and other UK regulatory frameworks.

These sessions support you in understanding the core principles of research integrity and ethics to ensure your research aligns with ethical and legal guidelines and standards. Supported by online resources, they include understanding and mitigating challenges to research such as misconduct, use of AI, BCU policy and ethical approval process.  

These sessions consider ways to share your research to a wide range of audiences and promote knowledge exchange. Key areas include modalities of dissemination, pathways to publication, writing for publication, visualising research. They sit alongside university-wide dissemination events and local-level provision particular to disciplines.

These sessions support you in considering public engagement as a two-way process: how your research activity might be shared with the public and how engaging with the public can enhance your research to break down the barriers between research, innovation and society. They consider how public engagement intersects with other aspects of research including impact, raising your profile and disseminating your research beyond academia. 

These sessions support you in considering the benefits of your research beyond academia and their contribution to society and the economy through understanding research impact, pathways to impact, evidencing impact and articulating your narrative of impact. They are supported by resources and local spaces for discussion about research impact. 

These sessions introduce you to intellectual property created as part of your research, how can it be identified and who owns it. They explore routes to legal ownership and protecting your intellectual property once it has been identified, as well as commercialisation pathways once IP has been protected and benefits such as the amplification of research impact.