Researcher Development Framework

The New Researcher Development Framework is in the final phase of consultation.

http://www.vitae.ac.uk/CMS/files/upload/Vitae_ResearchersSkills_Oct09.pdf

 

It is more comprehensive and detailed than the Joint Skills Statement that it replaces and subsumes.

 

It groups the qualities ‘skills’, ‘competences’ into 4 ‘Domains’

 

The neutral word ‘Descriptors’ is being used in place of the working term ‘attributes’ that people may have seen in earlier drafts. Attributes was itself a response to criticisms of the word ‘skills’

 

The domains re-order the JSS groupings.

 

The new element is that the descriptors relate to growing and changing ‘skills’ throughout the ‘phases’ of a career. Five phases are identified from ‘New Researcher’ to ‘Eminent Researcher’

 

	New R	R	Established R	Advanced R	Eminent R
Professional and Intellectual Knowledge Cognitive Creativity
Personal Effectiveness Qualities Self organising Career
Research Organisation and Governance Conduct Project management Funding and resources
Impact and Influence communicating Teams and leadership Context Application

 

Each box has a brief text and ‘beneath’ this text is a richer array of material derived from the research  process where researchers themselves were describing their job.

 

Vitae and the development team led by Pam de Nicolo describe the RDF as ‘a tool for supporting and promoting personal and professional development’ and seemed less comfortable with the notion of it being an ‘appraisal’ tool – no doubt because of the internal political issues around appraisal.