Research Training: Engagement, influence & impact

Researcher Development Framework - Domain D
Research Training: Engagement, influence & impact

1. Working with others

  • Actively works in an inclusive, respectful and constructive way with colleagues, stakeholders and research users.
  • Recognises and acknowledges the contribution of others and own part in team success.
  • Builds relationships in academic and commercial contexts; approachable and interacts constructively with others; manages expectations and resolves conflict.
  • Supervises, mentors and develops the potential of less experienced researchers and colleagues through support and advice.
  • Leads, motivates and influences where appropriate; persuades through listening and convincing discussion.
  • Builds and sustains collaborative relationships and works pro-actively to create and develop knowledge with a range of stakeholders, including researchers, funders and users of research.
Attitude:

  • Respects the inclusive and collegial manner in which researchers conduct relationships within and beyond academia.
  • Recognises the potential for working in sustained partnerships with a range of stakeholders to generate new ideas, insights and maximise the potential for wider societal and economic impact.
  • Respects individual difference and diversity.

2. Communication and dissemination

Knowledge of:

  • Appropriate communication and dissemination mechanisms for different audiences.
  • The importance of engaging in the processes of publication and dissemination of research results and impacts.
Behaviour:
  • Communicates effectively in both written and oral modes with a range of audiences formally and informally through a variety of different techniques and media.
  • Actively engages in publication and dissemination of research results and impacts.

3. Engagement and impact

Knowledge of:

  • Global, organisational, cultural, economic, and environmental contexts, and the wider impact of research.
  • The social and ethical implications of research, and public attitudes to these issues.
  • The range of mechanisms to support knowledge transfer and maximise the impact of research in academic, economic and societal contexts.
Behaviour:
  • Engages with and shares research through research-informed and student-focused teaching.
  • Contributes to increasing public awareness, engagement and understanding of research and associated impacts.
  • Identifies innovative trends, ideas and applications; is enterprising and entrepreneurial within and beyond academia.
  • Works collaboratively with all stakeholders to create, develop and exchange research knowledge to influence and benefit policy development, society and the economy; seeks new outlets and promotes the application of research in innovative ways.
  • Appreciates and works with diversity and difference in research and education.
Attitude:
  • Values the contribution of research to teaching and teaching to research.
  • Recognises the importance of accountability of research with regard to social and economic impacts, internationalisation and global citizenship.

How to use the media to publicise your research

The course is designed as interactive and practical, but as the aim is to instil confidence in interaction with the media, trainees are taken through guidelines, techniques and mnemonics before engaging in practical exercises. 

These include understanding the elements of a good news story, techniques for taking control of the interview, and for handling difficult or aggressive questioning. 

The final exercise is the most exciting and challenging, a filmed TV interview, which is then analysed in playback. The trainers prepare individual interview scenarios, so it is vital they have the names and study interests of each participant before the training. 

Detailed handouts are provided to reinforce the lessons after the workshop has ended. Even if you have no plans to talk to journalists, the communication you’ll gain will help you in any situation where you need to explain your ideas to people outside your field—potential funders, cross-disciplinary collaborators or businesses.

Intended learning outcomes:
By the end of the workshop the participants will

  • know how to identify newsworthy, 'media-friendly' elements in their research
  • know how to 'pitch' their research to the media
  • gain confidence in giving expert comments to the media
  • gain confidence in giving interviews to print media, radio and TV.

Facilitator: Tim Grout-Smith and Lily Poberezhska, Media Players International

Applicability: Suitable for most research students and research staff

Course dates and times: 

  • 18 & 19 November 2021, 0900-1300 UK time on both days on Zoom
  • 26 & 27 April 2022, 0900-1300 UK time on both days on Zoom

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Open Access Publishing for greater visibility and impact (REF, Elements, PEARL, ORCiD, Scopus IDs and other jargon explained)

There is a complex landscape of funder, publisher and institutional policies around Open Access publishing with increasing requirements for authors to use various tools yet there are also great benefits for individuals and research groups to engage and use them effectively for increased visibility and potentially greater impact of disseminated work. This workshop aims to disentangle the policy requirements and provide a straightforward path through the maze of Open Scholarship systems. Session contents include:

  • Overview of Open Access: its intended benefits and new discovery tools
  • How to deposit your work to PEARL (the university repository) via Symplectic Elements (the university’s Open Access repository) in accordance with University/REF/funder policies yet within the constraints of publisher copyright policies and the possibilities of Open Licences
  • Exploring the profiles we recommend you connect to Elements (ORCiD, Scopus ID, Web of Science ID)
  • Exploring the value of other tools in this arena for maximising access to published research and promoting your work: e.g. Research Gate, Kudos, Publons
  • Using Altmetrics and Library databases to track citation and attention impact of(open) publications and wider considerations to bear in mind when using metrics

 Facilitator: Information Specialists

Applicability: Research students at any stage who have publications.

Course dates and times: 

  • 11 November 2021, 1400-1530 UK time on Zoom
  • 23 February 2022, 1000-1130 UK time on Zoom
  • 19 May 2022, 1400-1530 UK time on Zoom

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Designing an effective research poster

The session will explain why compelling a research poster is an essential job skill for academics. You will receive training on how to put together a compelling poster that will make your colleagues pay attention.

If you have already designed a poster and want to get feedback and feel comfortable to discuss it within the class please bring a copy to the session with you.

Facilitator: Daniela Oehring
Applicability: All research students

Course dates and times: 

  • 26 November 2021, 1400-1530 UK time on Zoom
  • 24 May 2021, 1400-1530 UK time on Zoom

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Postgraduate Research Showcase

The Postgraduate Research Showcase is a platform for postgraduate student presentations. The showcase adopts a balanced approach where a presenter shares their knowledge with the audience and in return, the audience provides valuable feedback on their work.

The Doctoral College invites all postgraduate students to present their research findings and work in progress and to exchange ideas and experiences, showcase the excellent work of postgraduates and share best practices at the University of Plymouth.

We wish to invite all postgraduate students who are interested in communicating their research to join us and participate in this great event.

To register your interest to present, show a poster, exhibition or demonstration please contact researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk.

The successful selection of abstracts will be based on the appeal to both a wider and non-specialist audience.

Enquiries and audience bookings: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk.

Course dates and times: 

  • 26 January 2022, 1400-1600 UK time on Zoom
  • 29 March 2022, 1400-1600 UK time on Zoom
  • 23 June 2022, 1400-1600 UK time on Zoom

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Presenting at conferences

This session will cover the essentials of preparing materials for oral conference presentations from a construction of slides and of the presentation itself to the physical logistics such as working with different sized audiences and different room shapes to tips when using lapel microphones and on throwing one’s voice.

Facilitator: Rich Boden
Applicability: Suitable for most research students and research staff.

Course dates and times: 

  • Dates for Academic Year 2021/2022 to be confirmed

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

An introduction to research impact: Making your mark in the world

The aim of this session will be to see how your research can have an impact in the wider world beyond academia. During the session, we’ll discuss what research impact means to academics, funding bodies and other stakeholders, how it relates to your own research and the importance of embedding impact strategies into your research from the earliest stages.

This workshop will have both a taught and practical component, where we will discuss the potential and real impact of your individual research projects and interests.

Facilitator: TBC
Applicability: Suitable for most research students and research staff

Course dates and times: 

  • Dates for Academic Year 2021/2022 to be confirmed

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Immersive Writing Workshop

This virtual, four-hour immersive workshop hosted on Zoom, will bring together the writing spaces of those undertaking writing for academic purposes.  It will provide participants with a collaborative, supportive and nurturing environment to address any issues around their writing. As well as the opportunity to share experiences and tips, and create valuable, protected time to make progress in their writing. Many acclaimed authors and studies on writing highlight the benefits of social writing experiences, with increased motivation, focus and productivity to name just a few. Whilst the current situation presents challenges in meeting face to face, this session will begin to explore how virtual immersion can also encourage writing.

The session, facilitated by Dr Joe Allison, will start with brief introductions from participants, stating their current situation, airing any specific questions or challenges they are experiencing. Following this,each participant will outline their goals for the session, before going on to spend dedicated time writing. Joe will be available throughout the session for short one-to-one discussions in Zoom breakout rooms if required. At the end of the session participants will report back on the progress they have made, and state what they are going to do next with their written work.

Make a commitment to yourself and kick-start your writing for 2021.

Facilitator:  Joe Allison

Course dates and times: 

  • Dates for Academic Year 2021/2022 to be confirmed

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk


Practical Writing Surgery

The virtual practical writing surgery will address specific issues participants are experiencing in their academic writing, discussing ways to overcome these issues, as well as outlining critical elements of academic writing. It will introduce practical hints, tips and strategies for participants to use in relation to the process of writing and offer guidance on ways participants can improve the quality of their work, further exploring how these might be interpreted in specific disciplines.

Discussing the shared experiences of all participants will provide a rich environment from which everyone will all be able to learn. The session is facilitated by Dr Joe Allison, who has more than fifteen years of experience in supporting and developing writing in higher education. This professional expertise is backed up by the personal experience of wrestling with his own doctorate over a seven-year period.

Facilitator:  Joe Allison

Course dates and times: 

  • Dates for Academic Year 2021/2022 to be confirmed

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Academic Writing Group

This writing group will provide an opportunity for academic writers to come together on a regular basis, to share their writing experiences,and provide mutual encouragement and support. Writing is often poorer for being an isolating experience. Sharing this experience and virtual space with a community of like-minded writers, all with similar needs, expectations and challenges, offers a number of potential benefits. Not just the commitment of meeting up and dedicating this regular time to your writing, but also discovering what there is to be learned from others, and the possibility to build peer support through writing partnerships.  

If you feel that your writing is stuck in a rut and you are in need of new impetus, then join this new virtual writing group and work towards your writing goals alongside others. The group will be facilitated by Dr Joe Allison. Joe has over fifteen years of experience in supporting writing in higher education and is passionate about making writing a more positive experience for others.

Facilitator:  Joe Allison

Course dates and times: 

  • Dates for Academic Year 2021/2022 to be confirmed

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Presenting to an audience

The aim of this session is to enable participants to gain confidence in their presentation skills and improve their presentation performance. The session provides an overview of presentation skills and experiences for face-to-face and online audiences. The session also gives participants an opportunity to consider and improve their own presentation skills.

Participants are invited to practice a short presentation during the session and are encouraged ahead of the session to prepare a 3 minute presentation with slides on their research subject.

Facilitator:  Sarah Kearns and Terri Rees

Applicability:  Suitable for most research students and research staff.

Course dates and times: 

  • 7 December 2021, 1330-1600 UK time on Zoom
  • 16 March 2022, 1330-1600 UK time on Zoom
  • 16 June 2022, 1330-1600 UK time on Zoom

Bookings and enquiries: researchskills@plymouth.ac.uk

Online training through LinkedIn Learning

All students and staff to have access to LinkedIn Learning, a continually growing and evolving library of training videos and tutorials covering a wide range of software, technologies and business topics. Students and staff members can take advantage of free 24/7 access to the entire library of training; this includes:

  • Over 5,000 online courses with over 245,000 videos
  • Vast array of subjects and software presented by carefully selected authors, classroom educators, best-selling authors, and recognised authorities
  • Rich features including bookmarking videos, chapters or courses for future reference, create collections, make notes and undertake knowledge checks
  • Use Learning Paths where industry experts teach you the knowledge and skills to start your career
What you can do:
    • Manage information in your personal profile
    • Keep track of your course history and recent activity
    • Bookmark your favourite courses or videos
    • Earn certificates of course completion and share these on your LinkedIn profiles
    • Access from a range of devices
    • Create collections

Getting Started

  • Any University of Plymouth Student or Staff member can access the LinkedIn Learning online training materials. 
  • View a quick tour on Navigating the online training library.
  • View the Frequently asked questions.
Learning
  • Take tutorials to help with coursework.
  • Learn techniques for your own projects.
  • Build technical skills to enhance your CV.

Teaching
  • Assign tutorials for project or course work.
  • Incorporate individual LinkedIn Learning videos or courses in your curriculum.
  • Provide tutorials to supplement a teaching.

Professional development
  • Take tutorials to boost your productivity.
  • Explore new technologies on your own.
  • Enhance your C.V. with LinkedIn Learning.