More bang for your buck: planning strategically aligned researcher development

Like everyone who supports doctoral candidates, researcher developers are working in a climate of high no-shows and post-pandemic fatigue (Uekusa 2023, Williams 2022). As a sector we are seeking to step up to strategic drivers towards more support for PGRs and their supervisors, (e.g. UKRI New Deal Response 2023), while making informed use of limited time and resources. There is also increased sector enthusiasm for cross-institutional collaboration. Pooling resources offers both strengthened provision and logistical challenges, so those involved must realistically consider how investment in collaboration supports the needs of their home institutions.

Thirteen years on from the end of the Roberts ring-fenced funding (Flinders & Anderson, 2019), how development activity is resourced and facilitated looks different depending on the size, scope, and institutional priorities of a University. In this interactive workshop, two Researcher Developers from different research environments — one a post 92 institution, the other, a Russell Group institution — lead an exploration of the decision-making and resource allocation practices underpinning opportunities for PGRs and their Supervisors.

The workshop uses structured activities and small group conversations to consider how development is designed, delivered, and evaluated — navigating both user-need and institutional drivers — within resource constraints. It offers an opportunity to share process and practice, learn what works from each other, and seek group conclusions on when scalability supports impact.

In particular, the workshop will consider collective leadership in Researcher Development, taking insight from a current collaboration between the workshop leads. Co-facilitating a cross-institutional peer-writing group for the UKCGE Recognised Supervisor award highlights the similar and divergent ways that inter-institutional programming interacts with institutional strategies. Both facilitators have strategic responsibilities for programming within their institutions and this workshop may be of interest to those who share similar responsibilities and are interested in collaborating with others in the sector.