RESEARCH STRENGTHENING:
A Development Program for ECRS & MCRS
In 2011, Professor Lisa Adkins and Associate Professor Maryanne Dever presented an excellent series of five highly practical 90-minute workshops designed to provide professional development, research training and support for probationary staff, Early Career and Mid-Career researchers across the Faculty in line with the University’s research strengthening priorities.
These workshops were recorded and have been gathered here, along with the accompanying power point documents, as a continuing resource for academic staff in the Faculty of Education and Arts and in particular new staff, ECRs and MCRs.
It is well worth investing the time in listening to this excellent series, in which the presenters share strategies for research planning, such as how their research planning needs to be strategically aligned with performance appraisal, probation and promotion requirements, the dictates of ERA and the shifting research environment locally, nationally and internationally. This knowledge will support staff in moving toward grant readiness by enhancing their understanding of how a research career is built and maintained.
The 5 modules on this web page are:
Workshop 1 - Research planning: 1, 3 and 5-year plans
Workshop 2 - Planning for ERA success
Workshop 3 - Demystifying the ARC as a funding body
Workshop 4 - Effective SSP programming
Workshop 5 - Building and maintaining a research profile
You can progress through the modules sequentially or pick up on particular topics in any order.
- Research planning: 1, 3 and 5-year plans.
This workshop will focus on the role of strategic planning in individual research careers. It will offer a set of practical approaches for individuals to assist them in on-going research planning and goal-setting and in managing research time more effectively. It will also address some of the common myths concerning research, planning and time management. - Planning for ERA success.
This workshop will address the significance of rapidly changing external research environments and the impact of these on individual and collective research efforts at the institutional level. In particular, it will address the need for individuals and teams to understand how their research contributes to wider research agendas and how their research planning needs to be strategically aligned with these agendas. - Demystifying the ARC as a funding body.
This workshop is designed to offer insights into the ways in which the ARC funding schemes operate, particularly with respect to the different stages in its grant assessment processes. It will also consider key statistics, funding patterns, and strategies individual researchers can use to learn more about what fundable projects look like. Presenters will include current or recent members of the ARC’s College of Experts for Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA) and Social Sciences (SBE). It is timed prior to the commencement of the Writing the ARC DP workshops. - Effective SSP programming.
This workshop stresses the importance of planning for SSP leave and considers how SSP can be more effectively integrated into an overall research program. The workshop also looks at how significant advance planning for SSP can be used to enhance SSP goals and open up additional career development and networking opportunities. The session will also consider the differing advantages of re-locating for SSP and staying put. - Building and maintaining a research profile.
This workshop examines what is meant by a ‘research profile’ and outlines strategies for building and maintaining a research profile and for developing grant readiness. It is directed particularly towards those at the probationary and ECR stages, but it is also useful for those at subsequent career stages who seek to become more effective and focused in their research efforts.
Please note that some specifics about funding criteria, ERA and Faculty processes may be different slightly from year to year.
