The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers
The Concordat is an agreement between the employers and funders of UK researchers. Its main focus is staff who are employed primarily to conduct research. The overarching aims of the agreement are to enhance the research base and to increase the attractiveness and sustainability of research careers in the UK.
In 2010, the University of Salford received the European Commission HR in Excellence Award in recognition of the University’s commitment to supporting researchers and their career development as outlined in the 2010 Concordat Implementation Plan and the resources below. In 2014 the University was one of the first tranche of organisations to receive this award for a second year period following a review of progress against the original 4 year plan, and an updated action plan for 2014-2018.
The University has recently submitted its 8 year Concordat review, detailing the progress that has been made particularly from 2016-2018. An updated 2018-2022 action plan is given below, which aligns with the University’s core strategy and the Research and Enterprise strategy, the aim of which is research excellence and researcher career and leadership development, delivered through a supportive and vibrant research culture which enables researchers at all levels to maximise the quality, impact and reach of their research.
- 2016-2018 Concordat Updated Action Plan
- University of Salford HR Excellence in Research Award - Eight Year Report 2010-18
- University of Salford HR Excellence in Research Award - Two Year Report 2016-18
- University of Salford HR Excellence in Research Award - Action Plan 2018-2022
- Glossary of terms
Researcher development
The University offers opportunities to support researchers to get the most out of their research careers, aiming to continuously improve its provision for researcher career development. Our researchers experience a diverse range of career routes, and the University aims to improve research career development reflecting of this diversity and taking into account the various pathways for the career development of the Salford Researcher. We:
- Provide training in line with the Researcher Development Framework (RDF) and Concordat
- Promote researcher development issues to feed in to strategy at an institutional level
- Provide training opportunities that enable ECRs to enhance their personal impact and that of their research
- Offer a range of events and training to suit specific needs.
Researcher Training and Development at Salford is overseen by the Researcher Development Group who act as an advisory and consultative forum at key stages of the design and development of researcher training aimed at PGRs, ECRs and Academic Staff.
The University delivers many events for researchers across all subject areas:
- Research training for Research Focussed Staff (RFS) is available as part of the University SECRET provision (Senior to Early Career Researcher Enterprise & Training). The programme supports the development and leadership of the researcher staff community.
- Salford Postgraduate & Staff Research Training (SPoRT) is available to all Postgraduate researchers and is a specialist provision to enhance and support the Doctoral Experience.
- Supervisor development As part of the University's continuing efforts to improve our postgraduate research student experience, we provide training for all academic staff who supervise postgraduate research students.
- Researcher almanac for events and training sessions Contributions to the Almanac are welcome from all staff and research students.Research Focussed Staff and PGR Specific Training are available to view by role clicking on the appropriate link.
- The Research Support blog which includes research policy, funder intelligence and also promotes research training events.
- The Research Intranet which contains a range of guidance about research funding, assessment and project management (requires your user name and password)
- An institutional subscription to Research Professional where every colleague at the University of Salford can set up an account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their subject area and tailor searches (requires your user name and password).
- ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher, improves interoperability between the systems you use and ensures you get credit for your work. Find out more about the benefits of ORCID and to register for your ID.
- Internal Support Schemes which include a number of strategic funds available to research staff to support our continued development of excellent research with impact. The funds include the International Conference Fund, the Research Bidding Support Fund and the Open Access Fund and more
There are a number of UK/EU policies which guide the University in enhancing researcher development:
- Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers provides a single, unambiguous statement of the expectations and responsibilities of research funders and institutions with respect to the management of researchers.
- EU Charter for Research Staff
- Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework approach to developing world-class researchers. It identifies the knowledge, behaviour and attributes of successful researchers. It helps them maximise their potential and get the most out of their career by developing these attributes.
- HR Excellence in Research Award which the University is proud to hold and which guides our research career development focus
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