Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Employer Engagement Veronica Benson Summer placements 2013 – feedback from employers and students Summer placements update Employer engagement objectives for SEPnet 2 Employer engagement – achievements against milestones 2014

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet summer placements students successfully found placements (27% female) 159 registrations (129 in 2012) = 20% of cohort 44.5 SEPnet funded, 6.5 employer funded 10 large, 19 SMEs, 10 research/HE 14 new organisations plus 25 repeat AMEC, BAE, CCFE, Good Energy, LGC Forensics, Met Office, MRC, NPL, QinetiQ, Selex ES Between 1 and 40 applications per placement Most popular: Good Energy (higher bursary), CCFE, QinetiQ, Ultra Electronics, TWDK Possible reasons: money, relevance to physics, well-known company, science communication

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Summer Placements 2013 Feedback from employers (34 supervisors/28 employers) Positive comments: good way to promote the organisation good background knowledge, can problem solve and apply skills energise staff and drive productivity provide new ideas and fresh perspective

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Summer Placements 2013 Feedback from employers Negative comments: leave applications to last minute should be taught how to write CVs and covering letters interview skills are poor need more knowledge of programming (should be taught C++) should learn data management (focus on what they’re good at) don’t know about SMEs – need to be made more aware

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Summer Placements 2013 Feedback from students: Almost all rated experience 4 or 5 out of 5 Like the scheme because easy to apply to (would not have applied otherwise) Later dates of placement scheme helps Interview experience useful Like participating in cutting edge science Like the creative freedom Provides insight into different careers Most students leave visit to careers service till 3 rd year Southampton PhySoc very proactive and publicises scheme – expectation that good students do placements

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Summer Placements 2013 Feedback from students: What they learned: how to apply physics and practical skills computer programming business awareness and to work independently how to adapt to a structured day to explain what you want and collaborate how long it takes to get things done how to manage uncertainty dealing with real world problems how to work in a hierarchy some problems you can’t solve, some things beyond your control

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Summer Placements projects submitted (59 in 2013) 15 new regional employers including SMEs, Oxford Instruments, Amex, Kurt Lesker Electronics, photonics, energy, research, science communication, manufacturing, aerospace, defence SEPnet partners will fund 29, 11 fully employer funded, 9 part- funded, 6 WP funded (total number: 53) Placements allocated to partners regionally according to budget Each partner also advertises 2/3 employer funded placements (between 5 and 14 advertised per partner) 2 nd round of advertising in April if matches not made Rejected projects asked to fund, be held in reserve, be considered for PhD placements/consultancy

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet 2 Employer Engagement Strategy - Undergraduates Aim To create a strong pipeline of well-qualified, employable graduates from diverse backgrounds who will benefit both industry and research Commitments Increase number of UG placements Develop a broader network of employers including SMEs Develop a broader employability programme 7 out of 9 SEPnet partners to fund placements – between 4K to 10K Recruit 0.5 FTE Employer Engagement Officers at each SEPnet Partner Targets and milestones Carry out an audit of current employer engagement Increase number of industry experiences (eg internships, site visits, employer talks/workshops, employer projects) by at least 30% in 2014, 40% in 2015, 50% in 2016

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet 2 Employer Engagement Strategy - Undergraduates Achievements against targets: Employer Engagement Officers recruited (Oct ‘13 – Mar ‘14) 7/9 audits carried out Increased SEPnet placements by 2 and employer/WP funded by 12 Aim to secure additional 16 placements through eg IOP, SpIN All partners to increase placements by 30% except Soton All partners to increase site visits, talks, promotion of existing activities by 30% 5 site visits to eg Astrium, Thales, CCFE/Open Days at NPL, Diamond 10 employer talks from eg CGG, Thales, Detica, Magnox Engaged with 50 new regional employers EEOs providing support for long-term placements, promoting existing activities and tracking student attendance

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet 2 Employer Engagement Strategy - Undergraduates Objectives for 2014 Individual work plans to address local needs Develop local employer engagement programme Support year long as well as short-term placements Work with PhySoc to organise joint events Track and measure increased engagement Objectives for 2015 All placements to be fully/part-funded by employers/WP – 70 total Establish programme of events/activities Establish industry liaison committee at each partner Develop embedded assessed industry project at each partner Track and measure positive outcomes

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet 2 Employer Engagement Strategy Postgraduate Research Students (PGRs) Aim To create a pipeline of postdoctoral graduates with the employability skills to play a significant role in providing leadership and entrepreneurship and drive innovation in industry Commitments engage with employers, include real-world, problem-solving experiences to broaden employability prospects of PhDs offer internships and other opportunities eg employer mentoring, employer workshops, access to employer in-house training, joint research projects with industry and KE opportunities Targets and milestones track destinations of PhD students to raise awareness of career opportunities deliver industrial placements and other industry experiences eg (e)mentoring support, site visits, work shadowing, pitching to employers: 100% of SEPnet PhD students and 10% of all physics PGRs in 2014; 20% of all PGRs in 2015; 30% in 2016

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet 2 Employer Engagement Strategy Postgraduate Research Students (PGRs) Objectives for 2014 Understand employer engagement needs Develop industry/research institution contacts Pilot site visits, work shadowing, placements, networking events Support GRADnet Summer School Objectives for 2015 Establish Employer Engagement Programme for PGRs through GRADnet 20% of PGRs engaged in placements, site visits, mentoring, work shadowing Track destination of 15% of postdoctoral graduates and develop case studies Organise PGR Expo/regional networking events

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Knowledge Exchange Strategy Aim Engage with employers for knowledge transfer to enhance research collaboration and promote better connected research groups amongst SEPnet partners Commitments Engage with employers for knowledge transfer Focus on impact of research in industry (via KE) Develop a regional programme to help commercialisation of research with potential to attract external funding Foster culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, develop a KE database and exploit collaborative opportunities with other KE groups Targets and milestones Facilitate KE through SEPnet employer network so PhD students can spend time on KE activities with employers Establish SEPnet industry collaborations/projects: 4 by 2014; 6 by 2015; 9 by 2016

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Knowledge Exchange Strategy Objectives for 2014 Each EEO to develop departmental employer databases Each EEO to develop Industrial Liaison Committee or organise an industry/academic networking event EEOs to broker and support industry/research contacts EEOs to support STFC Innovation Partnership Scheme Fellow (if appointed) Objectives for 2015 Establish SEPnet as the first point of contact for industry enquiries Establish dedicated KE webpages highlighting specialist research areas with relevant links to partner websites Develop a series of regional SEPnet KE employer/academic networking events

Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Employer Engagement Veronica Benson Questions?