PE and Impact – using the RDF to identify and develop the skills required Thursday, 28 February Heather Pateman, Project Manager, Vitae

Vitae vision and aims “to support world-class personal, professional and career development for researchers” Influence effective policy development and implementation relating to researcher development Enhance higher education provision to train and develop researchers Empower researchers to make an impact in their careers Evidence the impact of professional and career development for researchers 2

The RDS and RDF together provide: The Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF) Articulating the breadth of researcher capabilities Developed by researchers for researchers, robust in methodology and validity Articulates the knowledge, behaviour and attributes of successful, world-class researchers Underpinning strategic framework Common framework and universal language for understanding and communicating researcher competencies internationally Beneficial for all researchers irrespective of levels of experience RDS - a strategic statement, endorsed by key organisations International validation in Europe and the US Intro statement (from the video) – The Vitae Researcher Development framework (RDF) provides institutions with a comprehensive statement of researchers’ expertise and competencies to enable a strategic approach to researcher development. Bullet 1) Development was led by Vitae in collaboration with the higher education (HE) sector and other stakeholders.  The framework was developed from first principles using empirical data generated from a series of semi-structured interviews with successful researchers covering a range of experiences, institutions, disciplines and demographics. The final draft of the framework also took into account feedback from 242 responses representing 65 HEIs in a sector-wide consultation process, as well as feedback from non-HE employers. The framework was further validated through trials with researchers and in-depth interviews with 14 senior academics from across the disciplines and institution types. Bullet 5) Researcher Development Statement (RDS) is the strategic statement of the RDF: For policy makers and research organisations RDS endorsed by 34 organisations including research councils, funding councils, QAA etc An evolution of the Research Councils’ Joint Skills Statement (JSS) The RDS and RDF together provide: strategic statement (RDS) operational framework (RDF)

What is a lens on the Vitae Researcher Development Framework Using the RDF, a lens provides an overview of the key knowledge, behaviour and attributes developed by researchers that can be acquired through, or used in, particular areas such as public engagement; knowledge exchange; impact, enterprise, teaching etc www.vitae.ac.uk/rdflenses Two types of lens development: Direct focus - Lenses derived from the Vitae Researcher Development Framework Bridging/mapping - Lenses mapped to existing frameworks, set of professional standards or protocols Researchers How various activities can contribute to their professional development Recognise how their capabilities are relevant to various areas Identify areas for development Use to provide evidence of the transferability of their skills and experiences to other sectors Researcher Developers Encourage researchers to engage in various activities Enable researchers to recognise learning and contribution to their development as a researcher Use to align training and development resources

Impact Lens Group being developed Based on RCUK Pathways to Impact Includes KE experts academics Based on RCUK Pathways to Impact Important to link lenses Encourage consideration of impact At all stages Reference to REF to be made also

PE lens has been developed with the NCCPE and RCUK – looking at the skills developed through taking part in public engagement activities, however when people talk about impact they naturally refer to PE activity – this is not impact in its self – it is a vehicle to demonstrating impact. Consultation finished and final amendments being made

Knowledge Exchange Produced in conjunction with members of AURIL – due to go to consultation shortly Does not bridge to the AURIL/JISC framework but references it and has taken it into account when developing this. There will be some crossover to the PE Lens has that is a means of knowledge exchange but again not explicit.

Using a lens Researchers: Identify how specific areas such as enterprise can contribute to their professional development as a researcher Identify how the skills and attributes they have developed through research can contribute to, or underpin their development in those areas Select areas to develop further Provide evidence of transferability of skills 8

Using a lens Researcher developers: Demonstrate to researchers how specific areas can contribute towards professional development Enable researchers to recognise the learning they have acquired through particular activities Explore how RDF relates to other frameworks and vice versa Provide evidence of transferability of skills Align learning and development resources around a lens 9

And……. The lenses are being built into the RDF planner in the next development phase Next phase of lenses – case studies/events Innovate project – Leeds Developing REF briefings for both UoA and researcher developers re: environment