Hello Everyone,

With the General Election looming there is a lot of activity from the public sector and Government groups to understand and demonstrate the importance of research and researchers for the UK. This is reflected in the news items in this month's newsletter, which have a bit of a policy theme.

This month saw the Spring Term Research Staff Forum, which had an Impact focus with a very useful and engaging presentation from Christina Miariti, Research Impact Officer, on Understanding Research Impact - her slides are available to download if you missed it.

The University's Research Staff Working Group held their Spring Meeting on 5th February where we discussed the draft 2015-17 action plan for supporting research staff (see below for your opportunity to comment) and recommendations for improvements to research staff appraisals. We will keep you updated with progress in both respects.

Best wishes,

Natalie James (Research Staff Officer, Research and Enterprise)

C.V. and applications workshop for researchers moving towards a career outside academia - Wednesday 11th March: 13.00 - 14.30

Aiming for a lectureship - Friday 13th March: 14.00 - 16.30

Introduction to Open Access Publishing - Tuesday 17th March: 14.00 - 15.30

International Approaches to Support Gender Equality in Research Careers - Workshop for early career researchers - Tuesday 24th March: 13.30 - 16.00

Making the Most of Your Research: IP and Commercialisation - Wednesday 25th March - 14.00 - 16.00

Friday 13th March - 14.00 - 16.30 - Book a place

University of Sussex academic staff that have recently gained their first permanent academic appointment will lead a session to discuss strategies and techniques for securing your first permanent lectureship position.

During the workshop you will:

• Hear the experiences of researchers that have recently secured permanent academic faculty positions at Sussex
• Discuss strategies for searching for opportunities and making applications
• Discuss techniques for preparing for and performing well at academic interviews

Workshop Leaders

Dr Erika Mancini: Erika is a Reader at the School of Life Sciences having joined Sussex in December 2014 from Oxford University.

Dr Matthew Easterbrook: Matt is a Lecturer in Psychology at Sussex, having come back to the institution where he completed his PhD in 2013 and his first postdoc position. He then took a postdoc position at Cardiff University before returning to Sussex last summer.

Dr Francesco Ventrella: Francesco started working at Sussex in 2012 as a Teaching Fellow after finishing his PhD at Leeds. He applied for an Early Career Leverhulme Fellowship to stay at Sussex, and at the end of his first year of postdoc he got his Lectureship at Sussex.

In order to retain it's HR Excellence in Research Award the University must provide a progress report and an updated Concordat Implementation Plan, which sets out how the Institution plans to develop the support for research staff over the next two year period.

The draft 3 page progress report and draft 2015-17 Concordat Implementation Plan is now available to Sussex staff to view (you will need your UoS username and password) and your feedback and comments on these documents are welcomed.

Please email any feedback to Natalie James N.A.James@sussex.ac.uk before Friday 6th March (all feedback will be anonymised).

Following your feedback the report and Implementation Plan will be finalised and submitted for review by the HR Excellence in Research UK awards panel.

Are you a woman in science or do you know one? The Soapbox Science events are starting at the end of May and they are looking for speakers, from PhD students to Professors. The following should give a good idea of what it's about:

"What happens if you put a few scientists on soapboxes on a busy street? we'll tell you what happens: People who don't usually think about science get to hear about it first hand, from scientists who don't necessarily have shaggy beards and odd matching shoes, but who do know how to share their passion for experimentation, discovery and innovation. Soapbox Science is a grass-roots approach to taking science to the public. No fancy festivals; no stuffy lecture-theatres: just some of the UK's top scientists, a couple of silly props, a dash of summer showers, and lots of unsuspecting tourists. It's street theatre with a difference. And we aim to make a difference!"

Further information details about how to take part

The Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology has established a project to build a visual picture of the whole research landscape in the UK to develop a stronger evidence base to inform future strategic decision making and help the UK to maintain and develop its excellence in research.

The UK Knowledge Landscape Tool is designed to gather data from researchers on the disciplines, dependencies and key infrastructure they think make up modern research.

The project is interested in crowd-sourcing a large amount of data which will be analysed to produce outputs such as taxonomies or maps. The more responses the tool has, the better the mappings are likely to be. For this reason, they are inviting all researchers from across the UK to input information into the tool.

Research Councils UK have published a report into the Impact of Doctoral Careers, which highlights the crucial role that those with PhDs play in UK business.

The report contains interesting tracking information which shows the destinations and employment statuses of researchers 7 - 9 years after PhD completion, broken down by disciplinary areas. It also provides information about the value employers place on the transferable skills acquired through academic research.

Key messages from the report include:

• Employers continue to value doctoral graduates' research skills, specialist knowledge and capacity for critical thinking; and that they are key actors in the innovation process.
• Employers interviewed valued the credibility that doctoral graduates could bring to their work, particularly in demonstrating rigor and/or the underpinning evidence base.
• Doctoral graduates play a key role in bringing new ideas, knowledge and perspectives to companies which has a 'spill over' effect on other employees.

Key findings, full report and information by discipline

Sussex Research have launched the fourth round of the Research Development Fund.

The fund is designed to develop activities that will lead to substantive external research proposals. The scheme is intentionally flexible, and will fund activities potentially ranging from the gathering of data to support a specific funding proposal, to the hosting of visiting academics, practitioners, policymakers and industrial partners to develop collaborative projects with Sussex researchers.

Applicants can apply for projects ranging from £5k - £50k. Funds could be used for example to support lab-based work, work related to clinical trials, archival research, literature searches, scoping activities, or web-based research.

Research faculty (research staff grade 7 and above) on fixed-term contracts are eligible to apply as Co-I on bids with a permanent faculty member acting as PI. You may also be eligible to apply as PI depending on the length of your contract and individual circumstances. If you are on a fixed-term contract and are interested in acting as a PI on a bid you should contact Debbie Foy-Everett for further eligibility details. (d.foy-everett@sussex.ac.uk)

Closing date for applications - 5pm Friday 17th April 2015 - Further details and application information

The Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) are offering media training courses for ESRC funded researchers during March 2015.

During these courses, experts in broadcast, print and social media, will teach you how to reach new audiences. The courses are tailor-made for academics, including those with little or no experience of interacting with the media - whether you are in the early stages of your research or already established.

Further information and booking forms

Five fellowships will be awarded to outstanding female postdoctoral scientists to assist them with their research. The fellowships, each worth £15,000 are tenable at any UK or Irish university or research institute to support a 12-month period of research in any area of the life, physical sciences, mathematics and engineering.

The Fellowship money can be spent in any number of innovative ways to enable women scientists to pursue their careers and facilitate world class research - such as buying equipment, paying for childcare or funding travel costs to an overseas conference.

Closing Date for Applications Friday 13th March 2015 - Further information and how to apply

The John Innes Centre (JIC) are actively encouraging Independant Research Fellows to undertake their fellowships at JIC.

They are inviting applications from outstanding researchers who either hold, or wish to apply for Independent Research Fellowships, such as the BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship, or a Royal Society Research Fellowship, to attend and present their work and proposal ideas a conference at the John Innes Centre on 27th April 2015.

After the conference they will select and mentor outstanding candidates in writing Fellowship applications and/or offer the opportunity to move existing Fellowships to JIC.

Further information and applications to attend conference

These grants support early career chemical scientists from the UK and overseas who wish to build relationships and research collaborations in the early stages of their careers by undertaking short to mid-term scientific visits. Grants vary in size depending on the length and location of visits, but are worth up to £15,000 each.

Closing Date: 26th April 2015 - Further information

If you have an article or information you would like included in The Sussex Researcher please send it to N.A.James@sussex.ac.uk