You’ve heard of Research & Development (R&D), but what about Researcher Development?
It’s all too easy to think that once you’ve qualified to postgraduate level, gained experience or have reached a certain age, further professional development isn’t really necessary. And while that’s true up to a point – you don’t necessarily need to undertake formal training and courses, with certification and qualifications – it’s important in these days of fast-paced change to keep up to date with new technology, methodologies, theories and innovations.
Having said that, with a multitude of publications, social media posts and other communications hailing new findings and trends in this, that and the other on a daily basis, it can be somewhat overwhelming to stay ahead of the curve!
My monthly newsletter from the Career Development institute (CDI) popped into my email box today (see above), reminding me about keeping up to date with my own professional development. With regular newsletters, free courses and an invaluable network, membership of the CDI has been well worth the money, not to mention their formal register of career professionals, which means I can reassure my clients of my professional status and adherence to an ethical code of practice.
Most research disciplines and professions have a membership association, institute or society with a website, social media presence, newsletter and/or discussion list, that can assist you with your current personal development or help you to find out more about another profession or career sector. They sometimes even offer recognition of your professional status, for example you can apply to the Royal Society of Biology and the Higher Education Academy (AdvanceHE) for Fellowship status.
Before I became an independent PhD career consultant, I worked for a learned society. These are academic ‘clubs’ which cater for a whole variety of different disciplines, from Biochemistry to Anthropology, Microbiology to Ecology, Physiology to Physics. They are (usually quite wealthy) charities with a very reasonably priced membership fee, whose mission is to support academic researchers with their personal and professional development. Whether it’s organising an international conference, giving out awards or offering members the opportunity to get involved in outreach, policy or other research-associated activities, learned societies can help researchers to develop their careers in all sorts of ways, whatever their career ambitions. In my learned society, I witnessed many of our early career members benefit from the advocacy and informal mentoring they received from more senior and established academics, which helped them to secure permanent positions.
Summer schools are a great source of professional development. Usually organised and hosted by universities or research institutions, they sometimes offer bursaries to attend and cover a wide range of subjects. If you’re a member of a learned society, you might be able to apply for funding to attend these courses. Ones I’ve seen recently include ‘Advanced Proteomics’ at the CRG in Barcelona, the LERU PhD Summer school and there’s a regular programme of courses run by EMBO. More informal lab visits can also be a great way to upskill if you want to learn a particular methodology or technique or make use of facilities that aren’t housed at your institution, with the added bonus of connecting and networking with the host research group.
Many universities offer external online courses, which are either free or very reasonably priced. These can be especially useful if they are centred around programming, bioinformatics, machine learning, AI and other non-wet-lab skills. On the other hand, learning about totally new topics that will help you to transition to a non-academic career sector might include regulatory affairs, quality assurance, clinical trials, patent law, finance, etc. These theoretical courses won’t be enough for you to become a professional, but the fact that you’re making the effort to get an insight into the profession can demonstrate to a potential employer your commitment and interest.
So, the next time you’re developing your research, don’t forget the researcher too!
Related post – Keep learning to keep earning