Enterprising researchers' programme

Enterprising Researchers' Programme

This programme is split into two parts:

• Early Career Enterprising Researcher one-day workshop delivered online with substantial resources.
• Action Learning Programme for Experienced Researchers, a suite of workshops delivered online and face to face.

 

Early Career Enterprising Researcher Workshop

Why is this programme relevant and why now?

Careers take different shapes, and the traditional view of a researcher’s career is constantly being challenged. Whatever the field of research you work in you will want it to ultimately have value by creating social, economic, or cultural impact.

This workshop aims to explore how impact can be enhanced by employing creative thinking techniques; proactively seeking out opportunities to collaborate with new partners; gaining influence and research uptake and impact; and extending careers outside academia. Innovation and enterprise skills are considered key attributes of a researcher, but we may not often recognise these in ourselves.

Given how quickly the research environment and funding landscape is evolving, it is increasingly important that researchers are confident in the language of enterprise and business and industry sponsors. This workshop helps the researcher increase their awareness of these issues; and identify and build on their entrepreneurial thinking and skills.

What’s covered?

• The Global Research Environment
• Future Proof your Skillset
• Generate Ideas
• Innovation and Impact
• Knowledge Exchange in the context of a university setting
• Networking

Who is it for and what does it cost?

Designed for early career research students and staff, participants are being funded to access the programme via the Universities Innovation Fund. The funding includes attendance at one of the 1-day virtual workshops and access to all online materials/support.

 

Action Learning Programme for Experienced Researchers

This is a suite of workshops aimed at experienced researchers. The full programme of interdisciplinary action learning sets is split into 3 days.

• Day One (hybrid) - mapping and making the most of the internal and external research contexts; forming Action Learning Sets around key challenge areas; building personal and group resilience and skills; planning to work on proposals across the researcher network
• Day Two (virtual) - Action Learning Sets present vision, objectives, research questions, methods, target funding sources; challenges encountered across disciplines and how these can be overcome; tips for successful grant applications.
• Day Three (face-to-face) - Scoping funding, mapping and identifying gaps for support, pitching to experts in 'Dragons' Den'; next steps for proposals and to continue the action learning network; key learning on research leadership.

Funder – Knowledge Exchange Innovation Fund (KEIF)