Hello Everyone,
Welcome to this February 2020 issue of the Sussex Researcher.
What a packed month of planning and organising January has been! We are delighted to be moving into February where the programme of events available to support you is really starting to take off.
Whilst we believe everything in the newsletter is interesting, and also hopefully useful for you, we particularly want to highlight:
- Our first RSO monthly lunch of 2020 which will take place between 12:30-14:00 on Tuesday 4th Feb in the Meeting House.
The session will be totally informal - providing you an opportunity to get away from the office / lab, meet with some of your RS community peers in a neutral, friendly environment, and have some lovely (free) food!
Hayley will be bringing a subset of her library of books on the themes of careers, motivation and well-being / positive psychology for you to browse. If you would like any particular books brought along - get in touch and we'll see what we can do.
Do come along, whether you've registered or not - the registration is simply so that we can get the appropriate amount of catering in.
As always, do get in touch if there's anything that you'd like to talk about / get put in place to help you make the most of your time while you're here at Sussex.
Best wishes,
The Research Staff Office Team (Hayley Cordingley and Alex Aghajanian)
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Workshops & Events - Spring term
- Preparing for leadership & management
- Improving your academic writing & communication
- Personal effectiveness
- Research skills development
- Understanding the academic context
- Mental health & wellbeing
- Community events
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Research Staff Office Events
RSO Monthly Lunch - Tuesday 4th February, 12:30-14:00
Boost your resilience and manage stress in the research environment - Tuesday 11th February, 10:00-13:00
Pitch perfect: public speaking, networking & engaging - Tuesday 25th February, 10:00-13:00
Social media bootcamp: strategy, sharing & connecting - Tuesday 25th February, 14:00-17:00
RSO Monthly Lunch - Tuesday 3rd March, 12:30-14:00
Introduction to Coaching Skills for Principal Investigators and Research Managers - Wednesday 4th March, 14:00-17:00
Introduction to REF2021 - Tuesday 10th March, 13:00-14:00
Thinking Strategically About Your Research - Wednesday 18th March, 14:00-17:00
Informing and Inspiring the Public Through Outreach - Wednesday 25th March, 10:00-13:00
Using Your Emotional Intelligence to Support and Manage Others - Thursday 2nd April, 10:00-13:00
RSO Monthly Lunch - Tuesday 7th April, 12:30-14:00
Supporting PhD Students: Practical Tips - Wednesday 29th April, 14:00-17:00
RSO Monthly Lunch - Tuesday 5th May, 12:30-14:00
How to Create an Effective Podcast: An Introductory One-Day Workshop - Thursday 4th June, 09:15-17:15 |
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Events organised by other teams
Advancing Scholarship Workshop - Wednesday 12th February, 14:00-16:30
High quality research and a healthy research culture - Thursday 13th February, 14:30-17:00
Using reference management tools - Zotero - Monday 17th February, 14:00-16:00
Overcoming Perfectionism and Imposter Phenomenon - Tuesday 18th February, 13:30-16:30
Using reference management tools - Mendeley - Thursday 20th February, 11:00-13:00
Using reference management tools - Endnote - Tuesday 25th February, 14:00-16:00
Introduction to Open Access publishing - Tuesday 10th March, 14:00-15:30
Managing Mental Health at Work - Wednesday 11th March, 09:15-12:45
Finding Balance - In the mind-set - Thursday 12th March, 13:30-16:30
Finding Balance - In the mind, body and emotions - Thursday 12th March, 13:30-16:30
Managing your research data - Wednesday 18th March, 10:00-12:30
How to Edit Your Own Writing - Wednesday 18th March, 14:00-17:00
Understanding publication metrics - Tuesday 24th March, 14:00-16:00
Intellectual Property for Research workshop - Tuesday 31st March, 10:00-15:30 |
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Featured Event Boost your resilience and manage stress in the research environment Tuesday 11th February, 10:00-13:00 Do you have trouble dealing with stressful situations when working within your research environment? Do you encounter feelings of anxiety when preparing for an upcoming challenge? If any of that relates to you, then come along to this workshop created and led by Dr Sarah Robins-Hobden - a Chartered Psychologist, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and member of the British Psychological Society’s Special Group in Coaching Psychology. Designed to introduce you to a variety of techniques to help you better identify, manage, and recover from stress, the workshop will allow you to formulate a personal action plan taking into account the nature of your specific research environment and need for balance in your life. During this session you will:
- Identify the origins and outcomes of stress and resilience
- Analyse your own responses to stressors and challenging situations
- Practice and evaluate a range of stress management techniques
- Create a personal action plan for handling adversity and boosting your capacity for resilience
Sign up now and secure one of the limited spaces that are still available!
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Two Suites of Special Workshops and Events.... In response to the feedback you have given us in the Biennial Researcher Pulse Survey, new sector initiatives such as the KEF, and the implementation of the Sussex 2025 strategy - particularly the Phase One Research with Impact work - we are delighted to let you know we are working with colleagues from across the University and beyond to create two suites of workshops and events this Spring.
1) "Engagement, Communication and Dissemination" (ECD)
A subset of the offerings we have been putting in place under the theme Improving your Academic Writing and Communication,these workshops and events are designed to help you to think about, develop skills, and promote yourselves and your research to people outside of your immediate academic/research area.
We are kicking off with three workshops in Feb/March:
Following on from these workshops, Alex Aghajanian from the RSO will lead a panel of events designed to:
- help you put your learnings in to practice
- enable and encourage you to undertake peer:peer interviews (on subjects of your choice), publishing the arising content to our web area and beyond.
Following on from these activities, there will be an opportunity for Research Staff to attend a special event in June:
- "How to Create an Effective Podcast (Video & Audio): An Introductory One-Day Workshop". This is a particularly expensive workshop for the RSO to run, and places are limited at 12, so whilst people are free (and encouraged) to express their interest in attending at any point, acceptance to the workshop will be dependent on applicants completing a short form - explaining why they wish to attend, and what they will do as a result of participating in the workshop. Ideally we would like participants on the course to go on to make at least one podcast that can be accessed from the RSO webpages.
More details on all of this will be forthcoming over the coming weeks.
2) "Business Engagement and Being Enterprising" (BEBE)
A subset of the offerings linked to the theme Understanding the academic context, these activities are designed to help you "skill up" and be able to engage with the world of business more effectively.
Events within the BEBE portfolio that you can register for now:
- We are pleased to help promote Aspects SUCCESS Programme - an entrepreneurial development programme for Social Scientists interested in turning research ideas into a business. The closing date for application is 21st February
- In addition, we are delighted to announce that working together, the University of Sussex (UoS) and the University of Brighton (UoB) were successful in their bid to host the "IP for research workshop" - developed by the government's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and Vitae.
The session will be run on 31st March, hosted at the Moulescoomb Campus of the UoB.
Places are limited (there are only 15 spots for each institution) and registration is open to researchers across the caareer spectrum (whether PhD students or staff), so sign up quickly to secure your space!
Full details can be found at the Eventbrite page
In addition to these current events, we have a series of six seminars planned for April-June, being developed and delivered by a mix of Professional Services and Academic Staff. Provisional titles in the series are:
- UoS Business Engagement Strategy
- Tools to help you thinking about opportunities - 1) the Enterprise Cycle
- Research Commercialisation - Technology transfer
- Industrial collaborative / contract Research (incl KTPs)
- Consultancy Services and Facilities
- Tools to help you thinking about opportunities - 2) You, Your Research and the Business Model Canvas
Details about each of these seminars will be added to the RSO Understanding the Academic Context section of the training and development webpages over the coming weeks, and you will be able to register from there. If you have any queries, ideas or would like to express an interest in these before the registrations go live, please e-mail the RSO.
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Research Staff (RS) Reps Meeting in Jan
We had our termly RS Reps meeting on January 14 th, and welcomed 4 Reps to their first meeting: Johanna Skurnik from Global Studies; Laura Hughes and Ben Towler form BSMS; Takeshi Yoshimatsu from Neurosciences, Life Sciences. A brief update / summary take homes from the meeting were:
- Issues around teaching (expectations, opportunities, recognition, communications…) remain “live”, and as before people in different Schools face different acute issues. Hayley apologised for not following through in terms of organising some meetings, but outlined some specific actions she was planning on taking, and underscored how the issues around RS teaching has been recognised/retained as a matter of import, having its own action (#8) in the new HREiR 2019-21 action plan, located in the Commitment to Research Staff Development area of the RSO website.
- There was a short update regarding mental health and wellbeing support at the University. A central project is underway to improve access/visibility to offerings. In the meantime, please note that the Employee Assistance Programme is available to members of staff. It can be accessed either by calling the helpline on 0800 015 5630 or using their online interface (http://www.eap-carefirst.com/) using the following information: username: lifestyle1234 / password: carefirst
- Reps from different Schools talked about various away-days and winter symposia. Great news was that RS are being included in invitations to these events, are presenting their work, and some are also receiving awards for activities they have undertaken.
- Talk moved to RS-specific summer symposia, and there was some discussion about whether people from different Schools might like to join up and synergise their efforts. This remains under debate.
- Finally Hayley mentioned that she is undertaking some work looking at various governance/implementation structures concerning RS issues – with the aim of making them more fit for purpose as the Sector and University context changes. She will be consulting more fully with the Research Staff Working Group on this at their next meeting (scheduled for Feb 11th)
For more details and/or to contribute your thoughts, please either contact the Research Staff Rep in your area, and/or the Research Staff Office. NB if you are based in LPS, Dan Watson (one of the Reps from Global) is kindly in contact with some of your colleagues re helping with representation / linking up on issues together. Please do reach out to him if you are interested.
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Spring 2020 Researcher-Led Initiative Fund now open Do you have a bright idea for an activity to enhance your professional skills and benefit your research community? Open to early career researchers at the University of Sussex, the RLI Fund gives you greater input into your support and development needs. Apply for up to £750 to organise an initiative focusing on:
- mental health, wellbeing and community among researchers
- public engagement
- researcher training and development
Whether you want to host a symposium, set up a journal club, start a social activity or get into podcasting, applying for the RLI Fund can help empower you to turn your ideas into reality. The deadline for applications is Monday 30th March 2020. See the RLI Fund website for more information and to apply, and contact researcher-development@sussex.ac.uk if you have questions or need advice on any aspect of your application.
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Academic Promotions Round - now open! (closes 11th March) The 2020 academic promotions round is now open for applications. The deadline for applications is 5.30pm on Wednesday 11 March 2020. Key points to note:
- All Research Fellows employed on contracts of Grade 7 or above are eligible to apply for promotion through the promotions process. *You don't need to be on an open/indefinite contract, Fixed-Term employees are eligible to apply.*
- Assessment of an individual's suitability for promotion is based on how well the applicant meets the criteria for promotion, as evidenced by the submitted documentation. Availability of funding for additional salary costs is not a factor in the promotion board's consideration of applications. For researchers employed on external funding; if a promotion application is successful and there are no funds available on the grant to cover the salary uplift, the additional cost will be met by the School.
We understand that Organisational Development are finalising the content of their Academic Promotions Workshops, and will be releasing dates shortly; we will circulate information about these to you as soon as we hear about them. The promotions process is managed by HR. Full information about the promotions process for researchers can be found on the HR website here. If you want any additional support / have any queries, do feel free to get in touch with us and we will do our best to help you. Best of luck if you are planning to apply for promotion this year!
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New Wellcome Report on Research Culture A survey of more than 4,000 researchers in the UK and globally, and nearly 100 in-depth interviews, has painted a damning picture of the culture in which they work, suggesting that highly competitive and often hostile environments are damaging the quality of research. Around 78% of the survey’s participants — mostly academic researchers in the United Kingdom — believed that high levels of competition have created unkind and aggressive conditions., and just over half of researchers (53%) have sought, or have wanted to seek, professional help for depression or anxiety. As well, nearly two-thirds or respondents have witnessed bullying or harassment with just one in three feeling comfortable speaking up, with many doubting appropriate action will be taken. “These results paint a shocking portrait of the research environment — and one we must all help change,” says Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, a major research funder in London that conducted the study with market-research agency Shift Learning. “A poor research culture ultimately leads to poor research.”
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Opportunities / External events
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Apply for the SUCCESS Programme to turn your research ideas into a business - Deadline 21st February Are you a social scientist with innovative research ideas that could be developed into a business or social enterprise? The SUCCESS programme is a first-of-its-kind opportunity designed to help social sciences researchers who are employed by the University of Sussex with innovative and marketable research ideas to get the training, support and chance to compete for funding to transform those ideas into a business or social enterprise. The programme includes:
- A half-day’s Business Canvas support session to build your idea (early March 2020)
- A 3-day training bootcamp in entrepreneurial skills led by industry experts. (24th - 26th March 2020, University of Sheffield)
- Ongoing support across the summer to develop your business idea and pitching skills
- The chance to pitch in front of investors to win up to £50,000 in prize money to put toward the development of the business.
Application deadline: February 21st 2020 Click here to apply for the Aspect Programme NB: If you wish to participate – you must be available for all training dates. If you would like to find out more about this event, please email Intellectual Property Business Partner, Mr Keith O’Brien ( keo25@sussex.ac.uk)
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Apply to speak at Soapbox Science at Brighton Seafront - Saturday 30th May 2020 Are you a woman* who works in science and who is passionate about your research? Are you eager to talk to the general public about your work in a fun, informal setting? Soapbox Science are looking for scientists in all areas of STEMM, from PhD students to Professors, and from entry-level researchers to entrepreneurs, to take part in this grassroots science outreach project. What is Soapbox Science? Soapbox Science host events across the UK and the world that celebrate women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, Medicine), breaking down barriers and challenging stereotypes about who a researcher is. Soapbox Science events transform public areas into an arena for public learning and scientific debate. No middle person, no powerpoint slide, no amphitheater – just remarkable women in science who are there to amaze you with their latest discoveries, and to answer the science questions you have been burning to ask. *Soapbox Science uses an inclusive definition of ‘woman’ and welcomes applications from Non-binary and Genderqueer speakers. Deadline for Applications: Monday 2nd March 2020 at 11am (GMT)
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Free webinar on growth mindsets & teams - 13th February (10:30-11:00) The mindset we have influences our success; if we believe that through effort we can improve our skills, abilities and knowledge (a growth mindset) we are much more likely to be innovative, resilient in the face of challenges and high performing. If you are interested in cultivating growth mindsets, or simply finding out more about this topic, then register for this free webinar, organised by Bailey & French, in order to:
- Understand the difference between a growth and fixed mindset
- Know what mindset you tend to have
- Understand how having a growth mindset can help you succeed
- Explore concrete ways you can develop a growth mindset individually & as a team
When: 13th February 2020
Time: 10:30am - 11:00am (UK)
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The Impact of Campaigning Article by Emma Rundle - University of Exeter Emma Rundle at the University of Exeter wrote about the impact of campaigning and how that can inspire Early Career Researchers, through sharing the success of Laura Coryton’s campaign against ‘luxury’ tax rate paid on all period products. "The impact of Laura’s petition could be seen across the world with women from India to the United States protesting against tampon tax, even Obama was talking about it. Canada were successful in removing its tampon tax following an online petition and new EU VAT rules will allow the UK to stop taxing sanitary products from January 2022."
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Sector initiatives to know about...
Understanding the Academic Context:
Bite-size briefing #3
According to the Biennial Pulse Survey, researchers at the University are quite knowledgeable about some sector initiatives, but are unfamiliar with others - some of which are quite important for academic research careers. So over the next few newsletters, we thought we would give you some "bite-size briefings" to help familiarize you with the 13 initiatives you were asked about in the survey.  4) European "HR Excellence in Research" Award recognition
- As outlined on the relevant Vitae web pages, having this award indicates EC recognition that the institution is committed to implementing the “European Charter for Researchers” and “Code of Conduct for the recruitment of Researchers” principles - it indicates that the Institution is committed to being a supportive and positive environment for our researchers.
- Having the award is something our funders look for, and is important for our REF environment statement.
- The University has held the HREiR Award since 2013, and our University documentation is available on these web pages.
- To retain the award, the University needs to review and report on its action plan every 2 years.
- In the UK, members of Vitae (which the University of Sussex is) can go through a simplified process compared to the process non-member institutions and other EU institutions have to go through.
- As mentioned in issue 55 of this newsletter, our 6 year renewal was due in November this year, and one of the things the RSO/RSWG have been working hard on over the last few months was reviewing and updating the old action plan, preparing a report, and (consulting with the RS community and University Stakeholders) developing a new 2 year plan for submission. We submitted our documentation 4 days ahead of the deadline
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Research Funding
If applying for funding, remember to check funders' eligibility criteria carefully and discuss the opportunity with your host institution/department prior to preparing any applications.
Do look at Research Development webpages for guidance around applications
For more information about ECR Fellowships, check out our new webpage:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/research/researchstaff/funding/fellowship-opportunities |
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Save the date: European Research Funding event – Visit by the UK Research Office (UKRO)
20th March 2020 Further details on the programme to follow, if you have any questions about the event please contact your Research Development Officer
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Clinician scientist fellowship
This enables clinician scientists to develop a clinical academic research career through a period of postdoctoral training. The fellowship is tenable for five years.
Deadline for Applications: 16th April 2020
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Advanced clinician scientist fellowship
This provides clinician scientists with the opportunity to develop independence and leadership in their field of academic research. The fellowship is awarded for a duration of up to five years.
Deadline for Applications: 16th April 2020
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Future leaders fellowships
These enable early-career researchers and innovators to transition to or establish their research or innovation independence in any area supported by UKRI. Fellowships are tenable for up to seven years with a compulsory review in year four.
Deadline for Applications: 30th April 2020
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Sir Henry Dale fellowships
These support postdoctoral researchers who aim to become independent scientists leading their own groups addressing an important research question within their scientific remit. Fellowships are tenable for five years.
Deadline for Applications: 12th May 2020
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