This project addresses the skills equivalent of the European Science Paradox through the development of a transnationally-informed training programme, to be designed and delivered by a consortium led by Karlstad University (KAU, Sweden) in conjunction with the Inland Norway University of Applied Science (INN, Norway), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU, UK), the Nova University of Lisbon (ITQB NOVA, Portugal), and the Instituto Politécnico de Santarém (IPSantarém). At present, research skills, largely derived from publicly-funded research degrees and projects, are often not fully utilised by researchers, and, consequently, society at large fails to benefit optimally from its investment. Many researchers struggle to develop their potential within the academy, or to articulate their skills to non-academic employers, and so their potential is not fully realised. Currently, entrepreneurship programmes tend to be targeted at undergraduates, rather than postgraduates or early career researchers (ECRs). There is also considerable variation in how different countries’ HEIs support the professional development of ECRs. Work from the European Research Area (ERA) has highlighted that ECRs are often poorly informed about non-academic career paths and are not equipped with the skills needed to gain rewarding wider employment. While ERA policies to address this through greater innovation-focused doctoral training have been in place since 2011, progress remains slow. Results of a recent large survey on European doctoral programmes ('The European Higher Education Area: Between Critical Reflections and Future Policies', A. Curaj et al, 2015) indicated that in doctoral programmes where training was provided, the mandatory component was focused on subject-specific skills. Transferable skills that might promote personal development or be more useful outside of academia were mostly voluntary, and thus participation was much lower. The survey results also highlighted that many doctoral supervisors did not feel equipped to help their students develop a career plan, especially if that career was non-academic. The focus of the proposed project is the creation of a programme to enhance the skills awareness and employability of a cross-disciplinary cohort of 36 participating researchers, drawn from the partner institutions. The programme focuses on ECRs, but participants will also include doctoral candidates and supervisors, to encourage students to consider these issues at an early stage, and to ensure that supervisors have the tools required to support them. The same participants will attend all training, enabling the development of an international cohort, who will benefit both from the training, and from their interaction with each other. In addition to enhancing the skills and knowledge of researchers, the project adds to the professional development of the support staff involved, through their exposure to the different areas of expertise and methodologies of the other partners. Each partner will design and host their own training event for the full cohort at their home institution (with ITQB NOVA and IPSantarém combining for theirs). The foci for these events will be: o KAU: innovation, value-creation, conflict management. o INN: private and public sector co-operation. o LJMU: personal effectiveness, research impact. o ITQB NOVA/IPSantarém: engaging policy-makers, career development; supervisor/mentor best practice. The programme covers academic and wider careers, benefitting from the transnational nature of the project consortium. While many elements of research support are recognisable across Europe, the focus often varies from country to country, with the result that different areas of national expertise are developed. A transnational project allows the sharing of best practice in these areas, with the creation of a programme stronger than one based on a single, national experience. The intention is that the programme would be embedded in the training provision of the partner institutions. It would be advertised through several channels, including national multiplier events, and be reproducible at other universities after the project’s end, through the dissemination of high-quality course materials. The project’s key objectives are threefold, to: i. create an effective and reproducible skills development programme; ii. enhance the international competitiveness of participating researchers; iii. enhance the reputations of the HEIs delivering the programme. As alumni develop, their HEIs will become known for creating outstanding job candidates.
The TRANSPEER project (2017 – 2020) took as its starting point the pan-European problem of researcher employability. Research skills, largely derived from publicly-funded research degrees and projects, are often not fully utilised by researchers, and, consequently, society at large fails to benefit optimally from its investment. Many researchers struggle to develop their potential within the academy, or to articulate their skills to non-academic employers, and so their potential is not fully realised. TRANSPEER sought to address this issue through a transnationally-informed training programme, developed by a consortium led by Karlstad University (KAU, Sweden) in conjunction with the Inland Norway University of Applied Science (INN, Norway), ITQB NOVA, New University of Lisbon (ITQB, Portugal), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU, UK), and the Polytechnic Institute of Santarém (IPS, Portugal). There is considerable variation in how different countries’ HEIs support the professional development of early career researchers (ECRs). Work from the European Research Area (ERA) has highlighted that ECRs are often poorly informed about non-academic career paths and are not equipped with the skills needed to gain rewarding wider employment. Results of recent European University Association (EUA) surveys on doctoral programmes have indicated that in programmes where training was provided, the mandatory component was focused on subject-specific skills. Transferable skills that might promote personal development or be more useful outside academia were mostly voluntary, and thus participation was much lower. The survey results also highlighted that many doctoral supervisors did not feel equipped to help their students develop a career plan, especially if that career was non-academic. The focus of the TRANSPEER project was the creation of a programme to enhance the skills awareness and employability of a cross-disciplinary cohort of 36 participating researchers, drawn from the partner institutions. This pilot programme focused on ECRs, but participants also included doctoral candidates and supervisors, to encourage students to consider these issues at an early stage, and to ensure that supervisors have the tools required to support them. The same participants attended all four TRANSPEER workshops, enabling the development of an international cohort, who benefitted both from the training and from their interaction with each other. The cohort were surveyed daily during the workshops, to enable support staff to appraise the efficacy of the training techniques and content. A 'career confidence' survey was also run before each workshop and at the end of the programme; this revealed a general positive impact on the participating researchers' confidence in all areas surveyed, although the true impact of the project will only be seen as their careers progress. In addition to enhancing the skills and knowledge of researchers, the project added to the professional development of the support staff involved, through their exposure to the different areas of expertise and methodologies of the other partners. The headline themes of the four TRANSPEER workshops were: • Workshop 1 - INN (Norway): The Career Landscape. Career opportunities and pathways for researchers; partnership working in the public and private sectors; research communication. • Workshop 2 - LJMU (UK): Personal and Professional Impact. Self-reflection and personal management/ effectiveness; wider societal research impact. • Workshop 3 - IPS/ITQB NOVA (Portugal): Widening your Influence and Reaching Others. Developing and maintaining networks; mentoring and coaching; creating impact through research and funding policy. • Workshop 4 - KAU (Sweden): Influence and Innovation. Value creation and innovation; utilisation pathways and instruments; NABC/VCF-model pitching; workplace conflict management and research leadership. The workshop materials produced during the project may be found, together with other resources and outputs, on the project website (www.transpeerdevelopment.org). The programme covers both academic and wider careers, and benefited greatly from the transnational nature of the project consortium. While many elements of research support are recognisable across Europe, the focus often varies from country to country, with the result that different areas of national expertise are developed. A transnational project allows the sharing of best practice in these areas, with the creation of a training programme stronger than one based on a single, national experience. The intention is that the programme will be embedded in the training provision of the TRANSPEER partner institutions, and all materials have been made available for it to be fully reproducible at other universities now that the project has concluded. A range of ongoing career-tracking surveys will add to the continuous improvement and evaluation of the TRANSPEER training programme post-project.