Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the latest issue of the Sussex Researcher. Thanks to those that have put themselves forward as facilitators for the RDP programme, if you're interested in the opportunity to add more teaching expertise to your CV, there is still time to express an interest as an RDP facilitator.
Earlier this month we held our first training and development workshops of the term, including our first successful webinar. There are still some spots left in the remainder of our workshops, so take a look at our events listing and book quickly to grab a place!
Best wishes,
The Research Staff Office Team (Catherine Pope and Alex Aghajanian)
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Featured Event
Where are my strengths? Identifying values and talents to make satisfying career choices
Friday 23rd March, 14:00pm-17:00pm
As a researcher, you acquire a number of skill sets that help you become an expert in your chosen field. However, there are a range of additional talents (the things you are naturally good at) and personal values (the things you love doing) that can add tremendous value to your acquired skills. Identifying these talents and personal values will:
- help you gain confidence in your uniqueness and become aware of your market value
- enable you to articulate how you can assist others with your gifts (and raise employability)
- enable you to make satisfying, self-directed career choices and do what you love
Here is what we will cover:
- Personal values and their impact on career decisions.
- The integration of skills, talents and values into your job search.
- Identifying dependencies that lead to realistic career choices.
- Writing applications strategically.
- The changing nature of work: Diversification; Making yourself ‘indispensable’ at work.
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Spotlight on Dr Lucy Baker
Research Fellow in the Centre for Innovation and Energy Demand
Currently I’m looking at issues relating to ‘embodied emissions’. The term ‘embodied emissions’ refers to the greenhouse gas emissions embodied in goods and services which are then imported in to a country.
Research into embodied emissions calls into question how carbon emissions should be measured. For instance, while China is one of the world’s largest emitters, as the world’s’ largest manufacturing economy, Chinese production now accounts for 20 per cent of the UK’s imported emissions. So in terms of understanding the complex interdependencies between countries there’s a big role for policy and research in this area that looks beyond national boundaries.
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Teaching/Workshop Facilitation opportunities The Researcher Development Programme are looking to recruit research staff to facilitate some of their workshops for doctoral researchers. They are particularly interested in hearing from research staff with teaching experience and/or who are undertaking the Starting to Teach programme. Research staff facilitators are needed for the following sessions, which are usually arranged at cluster level (for sciences; social sciences; arts & humanities):
- Effective Researcher- introduction to studying for a doctorate
- Undertaking a literature review
- Planning, structuring and writing your thesis
- Preparing for your final year
- Preparing for your viva
Research staff will be paid on their existing hourly rate, and will receive payment for preparation and delivery. To give an idea of time commitment- ideally each cluster level workshop will take place twice a term, and workshops are approximately 3 hours long. Workshop materials are already available for all sessions, but may require updating and adapting. A briefing session will be organised for those committing to teaching sessions, to outline expectations around research development programme workshops. We hope some of you will be interested in this interesting opportunity to share your experience with doctoral researchers and further develop your teaching skills. Please follow this link to express your interest and contact Helen Hampson (Researcher Development Officer) with any queries ( H.Hampson@sussex.ac.uk).
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Launch of a University-wide Public Engagement Network Members of the University who have an interest in public engagement are invited to join a new University Public Engagement Network. The group is being established to facilitate connections across the University community: to share ideas, opportunities, experiences and to problem solve together. Academic, research, professional services staff and postgraduate researchers are invited to join. You can sign up to the network through the University lists. If you have any questions about the Public Engagement Network, please contact Katy Petherick ( k.petherick@sussex.ac.uk).
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Early Career Researcher morning session – Dementia research at Sussex On the 25th April 2018, Brighton & Sussex Medical School is hosting a Dementia Symposium with a morning session for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) at the Conference Centre, Bramber House, University of Sussex, Falmer. The focus of the ECR event is to bring together dementia ECRs from different schools within the University of Sussex, in order to give ECRs a taste of all the different types of dementia research that is being carried out and encourage networking and collaboration across disciplines. Registration is at 8.30am where tea/coffee and pastries will be served. Please note that ECRs are only encouraged to book for the morning session, as the afternoon is aimed towards clinicians. The symposium organisers are also accepting ECR poster submissions of dementia research, which will be visible throughout the Dementia Symposium, with a prize given for the best poster. Posters should be sent to Sara Balouch ( s.balouch@bsms.ac.uk) by the 28th March 2018 (portrait; size A0) for marking, but applicants needs to print and bring along their posters during registration.
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Career Management for Early Career Academic Researchers - Online Course
Being an early career academic researcher, whether you’re a doctoral student or research staff, can be challenging: should you pursue further academic research? What skills will help you progress in an academic career? What other career options are open to you?
This online course will answer these questions and more, considering how to manage you career and reflecting on what you want out of a career. The MOOC is a collaboration between the University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh, and University of Sheffield, and has been developed by careers professionals who are experienced in working with research students and research staff.
You will be encouraged to consider different career options, both within and outside academic research, and build your confidence in marketing yourself in applications and interviews.
Course start: 5th of March 2018
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15 minutes to develop your research career Episode 6: The unspoken challenges of research life What barriers do researchers from ethnic minority backgrounds face when pursuing a career in academia? What are the barriers to researchers taking parental leave? What is the significance of gender in the research landscape? Taylor & Francis Group in episode 6 of the 15-minute podcast series spoke to Anna Slater, researcher at the University of Liverpool and co-chair of UKRSA, and Tinu Cornish, Senior Training and Learning Adviser at the Equality Challenge Unit.
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Seven Steps to a Fellowship
Many early career researchers feel that fellowships aren’t for them. There’s a pervasive feeling that they either don’t fit the template or they have to do it all by themselves, or that it’s all down to luck.
What should applicants do to maximise their chances? Kay Guccione of the University of Sheffield explains how to get that elusive funding in just seven simple steps.
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Opportunities
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. |
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Research bursaries
These bursaries support individuals working on small- and medium-scale research projects based on library or archive collections supported by the trust. Bursaries are worth up to £25,000 each.
Deadline for Applications: 3rd April 2018
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New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG)
This supports researchers capable of becoming independent principal investigators and who are ready to take the next step towards that goal within the areas of population and systems medicine. Grants are tenable for three years; however, in exceptional cases applications for longer periods of time may be accepted.
Deadline for Applications: 23rd May 2018
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Independent research fellowships
These provides early-career environmental scientists with five years’ support for developing their research programmes and to gain international recognition. There are no funding limits although applications generally request £500,000 total funding.
Deadline for Applications: 2nd October 2018
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