Vitae Podcast

Would you like to know the secret to high output, high quality, scholarly writing? As a busy researcher do you feel like you never have enough time to get to your research, particularly the writing part? If so, then this podcast is for you. Podcast hosted by Vitae and presented by John Igoe, Vitae Digital Development Manager.Share your own time management and writing tips and join the conversation on Twitter (@vitae_news)

The Vitae Research Staff Conference 2012 focused on the role of research staff and research staff associations in leading and supporting sector change. Research staff associations represent the interests of research staff and their colleagues by interacting with institutional management and administration, informing institutional policy, and facilitating the organisation of training activities and career development session for other researchers. Research staff associations can be crucial agents in embedding the implementation of the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers (‘Concordat') and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Research Environment.Research staff are well placed to inform, represent and develop the skills and knowledge base of research staff colleagues in the areas that matter most to them. Research staff associations are in a unique position to co-ordinate the responses of research staff to policy changes that affect their working conditions, profes

This podcast explores how staff supporting researcher development can best support their institution in returning on the environment criteria in the upcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment, and in developing impactful research leaders of the future.REF is the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. It will replace the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and will be completed in 2014. A key component of the REF, carrying a weighting of 15%, is to provide a research environment with ‘vitality and sustainability'. This includes elements such as professional development and implementing the Concordat principles.The podcast was recorded during the 'Preparing for the REF' Vitae event held in Manchester on 11th July 2012.For more information on REF, please visit www.vitae.ac.uk/ref.

Brought to you from day 2 of the 2012 Vitae Researcher Development International Conference, this podcast executively summarises many of our conference activities, from plenary speakers to workshop leaders, to the experiences of our conference participants, the engaging final keynote and closing thoughts from Vitae's Director. Podcast programmeIntroduction to the podcast - Michael Duignan, Vitae'Research staff: professional development, career development and impact' day 2 plenary speakers- Elizabeth Wilkinson, Head of Postgraduate Career Developer, University of Manchester- Dr David Finger, National Podstdoc Association, USIntroduction to day 2 workshops - Michael Duignan, Vitae Snapshot of the participant experiences - variousFinal keynote - 'Happiness Research and happier researchers', Nic Marks, Founder of the Centre for Well-beingClosing thoughts, key points and messages from day 2 - Ellen Pearce, Director, Vitae

Brought to you from day 1 of the 2012 Vitae Researcher Development International Conference, this podcast executively summarises many of our conference activities, from plenary speakers to workshop leaders through to our special interest sessions and dedicated research strand.Podcast programmeIntroduction to the podcast - Michael Duignan, VitaeConference aims and objectives - Ellen Pearce, Director, Vitae'Comparing international strategies for developing researchers' - day 1 plenary speakers- Dr Bob Sowell, VP of Programs and Operations, Council of Graduate Schools - Prof Shelda Debrowski, Higher Education Researcher, University of Western Australia- Prof Takehiko Kitamori, VP of Human Resource Development and Internationalisation, University of Toyko- Martin Hynes, Chief Executive, European Science Foundation Introduction to day 1 workshops, special interest sessions and research strand - Michael Duignan, Vitae Closing thoughts, key points and messages from day 1 - Ellen Pearce, Director, Vitae

The podcast provides an insight in to the Vitae Connections event held in May, for those who develop the skills of researchers to come together and learn more about how to integrate experiential learning theories and techniques in to their provision in the development of researchers. Dr Janet Wilkinson and Paul Toombs, two of Vitae associate trainers, of whom delivered the session provide an overview of what happened on the day, complimented by key take home messages, hints and tips exclusively for our online listeners to consider. In addition the final part of podcast, is dedicated to what our participants will take away from the day and do differently to make a difference within their institution.

The UK and worldwide Twitter trending Digital Researcher event, was held at the British Library on Monday 20th February 2012 and attended by 116 researchers, 100’s more tuning in as a virtual participant and many Tweeters joining in the discussions online via the #dr12vitae hashtag on Twitter. The event itself provided an opportunity for researchers to think about how they undertake research and to consider whether new technologies could improve their research.For those who would either like a re-cap of the day’s activities or for those who could not join in on the action, we have made the following resources available…

Dr Stylianos Hatzipanagos from King’s College London highlights the importance of the pedagogical approach when using new technologies

Dr Shailey Minocha from the Open University shares her findings on ways digital technologies are currently used in researcher training and development

Dr Sarah-Louise Quinnell from King’s College London talks about her experience using the social media to boost her research

Nora Daly from The British Library gives us an overview of the Growing Knowledge exhibition.

Dr Alisa Miller from GuildHE explains how open source software can be used to develop a virtual research environment

Leadership in Action, is an action packed 3 day intensive course aimed at improving the leadership skills of UK researchers both postgraduate and post doctorate. The following podcast features our November 2011 participants expressing their reasons for coming, things they will do as a result of the skills they have developed and top tips for leadership skill development.Our November 2011 course was based at the Hydro Hotel, Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District.

Vitae Connections is an annual UK-wide good practice event to exchange ideas and good practice and to provide opportunities for collaborations, showcase Vitae’s high quality resources and identify needs from our higher education networks. Throughout this podcast, a wide range of presenters and participants give their perspectives and thoughts about the day and the discussions being held. It includes an overview of the open space environment that was used during the event, details of the information sessions that highlighted the latest Vitae resource developments, a showcase of the successful outcomes from collaborations initiated at Vitae Connections 2010, and participant reflections of the day.

This podcast provides an insight and showcases national, regional, institutional and researcher perspectives on engaging with employers. This is coupled with the sharing of practice on placements and other ways to engage with employers successfully. Throughout the podcast , a wide range of perspectives will be heard from including AGCAS, BBSRC, Brunel University, Cambridge University, CRAC, UKRSA and Warwick University. These perspectives will discuss the wide range of activities that researcher developers can leverage from within their own institutions to engage with employers. The podcast also features a regional Hub survey identifying some of the ways regional institutions are successfully engaging with employers. The podcast closes with a summary of outcomes from the day and ways forward into 2012 from Alison Mitchell, Deputy Director of Vitae.

This podcast is brought to you from the Vitae Researcher Development International Conference 2011, at the Midland Manchester hotel (05/06 September 2011). In the course of this podcast we cover a summary of day 1 of the conference, including some participant interviews, a keynote speech from Ewart Wooldrige CBE (CEO, Leadership Foundation for Higher Education), interviews with some of the winners of the European Commissions HR Excellence in Research award, Researcher Development Framework (RDF) news, and additional keynotes from the main plenary sessions of day 2. Enjoy!

This podcast is brought to you from the Vitae Researcher Development International Conference 2011, at the Midland Manchester hotel (05/06 September 2011).In the course of this podcast we cover a summary of day 1 of the conference, including some participant interviews, an overview from the Plenary session which includes news from the Research Councils UK and news on the Researcher Development Framework (http://www.vitae.ac.uk/rdf). Also in this podcast, an interview with Dr Nathan Ryder on the Vitae Innovate resource, Non-Zero-Sum and an announcement about the 15 Higher Education Institutions selected to recieve the European Commision HR Exellence in Research Award.

The recent Digital Researcher event (DR11) held at the British Library provided an opportunity for researchers and research staff to explore how digital technologies can be used to enhance the research experience. This podcast includes an interview with Aleks Krotoski (BBC Virtual Revolution, Guardian Techweekly podcast), some participant interviews and an overview of this years event.

Jackie Wilbraham (Astra Zeneca) provides an employers perspective on the future of doctoral education.

Dr Debbie McVitty (NUS) speaks on the National Union of Students and the future of doctoral education (with some focus on the Roberts agenda).