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Parallel sessions

Developing and supporting researchers

The parallel sessions detailed below have been identified as falling under the theme "Developing and supporting researchers". Most sessions have this as their primary theme, but for some it is a secondary theme. Please review the description of each session for further information about what it will cover.

For other sessions, see also:

107: Capacity building and managing research in emerging research environments

Prof Adelani Ogunrinade, Vice-Chancellor, University of Lesotho
Prof Ishekumba Kahwa, Head, Department of Chemistry, University of West Indies
Dr Hans Hagen, Senior Manager, International Grants, Royal Society

  • Target Audience: Delegates from research organisations in developing countries and from universities elewhere with a limited research profile
  • UK/International: Not geographically specific
  • Experience Level: Any

This session will focus on capacity building from the perspective of a UK funder, and of institutions in developing countries.

Newly emerging universities and research institutes, as well as established ones, in developing countries face a plethora of problems arising from lack of human and material resources, lack of research infrastructure, lack of mentors and role models often categorised as a 'lack of research culture'. The presentation will focus on how to get things done from scratch, often with little money but a lot of ingenuity and creativity, involving case studies on kick-starting and managing research in these institutions.

The second presentation will address approaches to supporting capacity building, including a discussion of reconciling the different needs and deliverables from the sponsor's and recipient's perspective, which will include support for both research and post-graduate training.

204: Accreditation: Pros and Cons drawing on experience in the US and UK

Michael Bone, Chairman, Association of Research Ethics Committees (AREC)
David Anderson-Ford, Vice Chair, Association of Research Ethics Committees & Chair, Research Ethics Committee, Brunel University
Ada Sue Selwitz, Director, Office of Research Integrity, Kentucky University

This session will compare and contrast the UK and US systems of University Research Ethics Committees/Institutional Review Boards with a particular focus on the issue of accreditation.

In recent years, UK universities have increasingly established research ethics committees to review research undertaken on human participants in both clinical but non-NHS, and non-biomedical projects. But this has been in a haphazard and disparate manner. They may not have any regulatory requirement, and each university determines its composition, terms of reference and standard operating procedures (SOPs). The University sector of AREC is currently producing guidance on SOPs, quality assurance and accreditation, planning to examine the lessons learnt from the NHS model of practice in order to make the system robust and fit for purpose yet responsive to the needs of the sector with its extremely broad interest and fields of activity.

In the US, however, the research ethics committee's composition and operation, and informed consent requirements, are strictly regulated by nineteen federal agencies and Food and Drug Administration policy. In addition, the research community has adopted an accreditation system which is designed to ensure that human subjects research being conducted by institutions meets the highest ethical standards. We will discuss lessons learned about obtaining and implementing accreditation for human research protection programmes.

207: Researcher Development: Comparative perspectives on effecting institutional and national culture change

Dr Tracey Swift, Head of Research Development and Postdoctoral Research Training, Research Office, University of Sheffield
Dr Lucy Lee, Development Advisor, Medical School, University of Sheffield
Dr Robin Drennan, Executive Director, GMSA, National Research Foundation, South Africa

This session will provide a funder's perspective and an institutional perspective on researcher development.

The funder perspective will focus on the dual challange of improving global competitiveness whilst simultaneously developing a new cohort of researchers which better reflects the national demographic in South Africa. This part of the session will explore both strategies and practical tools used in supporting institutions in meeting these twin challenges.

The UK institutional focus will be on three key factors: Consultation, Engagement and Evaulation, which have emerged as being fundamental to researcher development at both university and departmental levels. Using the University of Sheffield as an example, the session will share lessons learned from models applied in two different faculties, Social Sciences and Medicine, showing how an alliance of research administrators is integral to the progression of development programmes across an organisation.

303: Good Practice in Internal Review

Jennifer Shambrook, Co-Director, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina
Steff Hazlehurst, Head of Research and Consultancy Services, Institute of Education, University of London

  • Target Audience: Central, faculty and departmental reserch administrators supporting pre-award activity; those involved in researcher development and capacity building
  • UK/International: Not geographically specific
  • Experience Level: Any

Winning research funding is becoming an increasing challenge for institutions worldwide with competition for limited funds growing all the time. However long-established and experienced they are in winning funding, research organisations need to find ways to increase their prospects of success in this environment. One approach which is widely accepted to be effective is the development of internal peer review of funding proposals before they are submitted to funders. This session examines the key features and functions of successful institutional peer review in different research organisations before going on to focus in detail on one particular model, the peer review group, an approach where each member of the group reads proposals individually before comparing notes and compiling a consensus feedback report to the proposer. The session will consider the conditions necessary to the success of such groups, including the training which may be required.

402: Research Facilitation - different models, different contexts

Prof Chris Marlin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Flinders University
Dr Andrew Fairweather-Tall, Humanities Division Research Co-ordinator, University of Oxford
Dr Chris Ballinger, Research Facilitator, Social Sciences Division, University of Oxford

This session explores the role of research facilitators, who encourage and support researchers in seeking external research funding. The nature, background and role of these research facilitators may vary, depending on the model used by a particular institution, influenced by its context (size, research strategy, national context, etc.). There are nonetheless some common issues for such models, including:

  • the backgrounds of research facilitators (have they been active researchers? are they administrators? do they come from industry?);
  • whether research facilitators work alone or as part of a team;
  • the training and development needs of these facilitators and how these vary from other staff;
  • different models of facilitation (e.g., working with individuals or helping to form teams);
  • the relationship between research facilitation models and institutional research strategy; and
  • the respective roles of the research facilitators and a central Research Office in a university.

405: National and institutional policy perspectives on developing researchers

Dr Iain Cameron, Head of Careers and Diversity, Research Councils UK
Chris Hale, Policy Officer Universities UK
Prof. Laetus O.K. Lategan, Dean: Research and Development, Central University of Technology, Free State

The session will explore a variety of policy and practical issues for institutions, in respect of developing and supporting researchers, both within the UK and internationally. Key themes will include:

  • The demographic challenge - the supply of qualified researchers
  • International mobility and challenges for both emerging and developed research environments
  • Rise of the Tiger Economies
  • Training requirements definition
  • Lisbon and Bologna agendas in the context of the European Research Area
  • Building research capacity and capability, including international comparative perspectives
  • Examples of good practice and innovative approaches to 'whole career' research development for academic researchers, including provision for inter-sectoral mobility and links to knowledge transfer
  • Changing demands on PGR supervisors, with consequences for their training, including:
    • Changing nature of research - basic research versus applied research/blue-skies versus commercial/contract research (and consequences for research supervision)
    • Increasing emphasis on 'value-added' such as broader transferable skills
    • Changing supervisory practice
    • Different formats of research degrees

See also: