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.

Who attends training?

Answer: the best trained people. I was talking to a consultant this week about attendance at RDP sessions. She observed that – from her experience – voluntary approaches to training mean that the people who really need the training don’t go. They do not know what they do not know.

I remeber seeing someone who had just delivered a presentation at his schools research showcase. He had not won a prize -which may be relevant – but he said: Its all bullshit, isn’t it?  Actually, this individual had pretended to know an answer to a question at the end of this talk – and had looked slightly foolish when this became apparent. So I thought ( but disappointingly didn’t say)  ITS not bullshit – but what you said WAS. This chap will not be doing presentation training- though he clearly needed it.

Forms of compulsion have been tried, but are rather a blunt instrument. Some Phd students are not really students at all but experienced professionals for whom the Phd is part of a broader careers strategy. Requiring these to do things appropriate to someone straight from their bachelors is probably not very smart. Nevertheless, you do see such people on the training courses; no matter how good they are they see the need to get better.

Skills of a PhD

This was an article I started but did not finish. I really like the personal stateement which does the job of summarising the skills gained on a PhD very well.

You wouldn’t want to employ a PhD in your business would you?

 

Overqualified, too many years at college – so divorced from the everyday realities of  work, a bit geeky, a bit sad, a bit scary, too intellectual, ignorant of what a deadline is, knowing rather too much about stuff that no-one cares very much about.

 

That’s a bit of a stereotype, but lots of people will have come across a PhD who exemplifies at least one of those characteristics. But are they typical? And if an employer writes them off, is he/she missing out on a really important source of talent?

 

I have been working with Phd students for a number of years now so I have seen them at close quarters.

 

Time management. Three years to write a book. Put like that it seems like a leisurely process. It isn’t. PhD’s face and meet deadlines on an ongoing basis. It might be about preparing a piece of writing for the regular meeting with the supervisor, or preparing a submission to the research ethics committee so you can start your experimental programme. Writing a poster for a conference. If your experiment involves growing some cells in a particular way over a particular period then you have to make it happen and be there to observe and record it. And because cells have a habit of doing stuff in their own sweet and unexpected way you have to be ready to change tack. University labs are open 24/7 so students can come in to look after their experiments which tends to build another key competence: flexibility

 

Resilience would be another requirement for most jobs. One experienced Biology PhD supervisor ( a kind of mentor /  manager) told me that in his field 90% of what he  tries does not work. Think of what that means in terms of resilience, patience and application. You are working through 90% of failure looking to find that 10% of success.

 

Independent: PhD students are self starters. They don’t do a course as such. They have to scope out their area of research, examine how it fits with the existing knowledge, create testable hypotheses and then go and test them.

 

Team player: A lot of the PhD is done by the student. Its THEIR PhD and they have to make things happen. But there is a lot of opportunity for collaboration

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have completed a PhD in pharmacology at Kings College London. My research into specific pathways and processes in inflammation was managed independently, with minimal guidance. Working in a multidisciplinary team environment meant I could broaden my technical skills and share my knowledge and discoveries with others. Formal and informal meetings within the department allowed me to hone my creative and lateral thinking. I embraced any opportunities to work with external collaborators and found that the planning, organisation and high quality assurance of these projects were all second nature to me. 

 

The most enjoyable aspect of my PhD was learning and optimising new techniques. This requires analysis of large quantities of data with relevant computer software and recovering important information. I also discovered my affinity for mentoring; I have given specialist tutorials and supervised fellow PhD students through their projects, giving positive criticism and recommendations.

 

In addition, I have presented and defended my work at international scientific meetings and contributed to several publications. Thus, demonstrating my ability to summarise complex data and develop a consistent argument.

PhD students at Towers Perrin

My colleague John Childs did a visit to this Actuarial and HR consultancy this week. Here are his brief notes. Top line – PhD students very welcome to apply. ( vacancies in the HR practice.

 

Their business is split into two main areas: Human Capital (Employee Benefit Services, Executive Compensation & Rewards and International Survey Research) and Risk & Financial Services (Life Insurance and General Insurance)

They have announced a merger with Watson Wyatt, but this still needs to be completed, so both companies will continue to recruit separately in the coming  year.

They employ graduates into two main roles – Actuarial Analysts and HR Associates. They expect to recruit 4 graduates into the Actuarial roles – these people would need to be highly numerate, probably studying Maths or a mathematical subject. They are looking to recruit 9 graduates into the HR roles and, although their standards are high (First or 2.1 plus 340 UCAS points), they are much more open about subjects studied – however, they do look for people with strong analytical skills.

 Their selection process is rigorous, starting with a points based screening of forms, an HR telephone interview, an HR face to face interview and an assessment day. None of the 11 King’s students who applied last year got past the application form screening!

They are recruiting an increasing number of PhD students. They do not pay a premium, but expect them to progress more quickly because they have developed their research skills.

They advise people to apply early and not to wait until the deadline of December. Last year they had 755 applicants, interviewed 236, assessed 72 and offered 9 positions.

Starting salaries for 2010 will be up to £33,000.

They encourage and support their staff to pass their professional exams quickly – study materials and leave, tutorials, etc.

The HR graduates both mentioned the importance of Project Management skills/experience - this would clearly be worth covering in detail on the application form and in answer to interview questions.

Filling in a form for Assistant Psychologist Job

Lots of the students in Psychology disciplines talk about the difficulty of getting a job as an assistant psychologist. Here is an example of some instructions for applying for a post.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Job title: – Assistant Clinical Psychologist

PLEASE NOTE: special instructions for completing the application form.

We anticipate a high number of applications for this post, which will make it impossible for us to read long entries in the “Supporting Information” section.  For our initial screening, we will read only the first SIXTEEN LINES of your “Supporting Information”, which must be laid out as follows.

Eight of the criteria below are marked with an asterisk (*).  At the beginning of your “Supporting Information” you must provide succinct evidence to show how you meet these eight criteria (you may not meet them all).  This may be in note form, as long as it is clear.  Refer to each criterion by number, start a new line for each criterion, and use no more than SIXTEEN LINES in total. 

Wherever possible, please give an example of something that you have DONE which illustrates how you have applied or acquired the skill or quality.  For example:

2:  AP on LD team for 6 months; delivered some individual CBT and
psycho-ed group interventions.

5: presented psychological assessment results to medical and nursing colleagues; co-facilitated support group for self-harming adolescent inpatients.

Space limitations will not permit you to list here all of your relevant experience, so you will need to choose the examples that best demonstrate how you meet the criterion.

We will use this initial information to shortlist approximately 40 applications.  If your application is included in this initial shortlist, the rest of your form will then be read thoroughly, including any other text that you have included in your “Supporting Information”, in order to shortlist further for interview.

7 Habits of Highly Effective people

i refer to this famous book a lot in my PhD training sessions. I discovered this today as I set myseef a reading task  (- only one client booked in to see me)

“This work is a synergistic product of many minds. It began in the middle seventies as I was reviewing 200 years of success literature as part of a doctoral programme.”

So – it all started in a litersture review!

World’s first Scientific Journal

is ‘Philosophical transactions: giving some acocunt of the present undertakings, studies and labours of the ingenious and many considerable parts of the world.’

Style guide? “ a close naked naturalway of speaking; positive expressions; clear senses;  a native easiness; bringing all things as near the mathematical plainness as they can; and preferring the language of artisans, Countrymen and Merchants before that of Wits or Scholars.” This was discovered in a biography of Thomas Paine – great supporter of the American and French Revolutions.

Biomed Research industry Skills needs

This is Laura Mackenzies’s useful summary of this report

Findings from the ABPI report:

Skills Needs for Biomedical Research: Creating the Pools of Talent to Win the Innovation Race’, November 2008,  based on a survey of 30 life science organisations within the UK:

 

 

Translational & Biomedical Science Disciplines	Priority at graduate level*	Priority at PhD/postdoc level
Clinical Pharmacology/translational medicine		High
Molecular & translational toxicology		High
Biomedical Imaging / Physics		Medium
“Omics”	Medium	High
Drug metabolism & ADME	Medium	High
Biochemistry	Medium	Medium
Bioscience & molecular biology	Low	Low
In vitro pharmacology	Medium	Medium
Pharmacy	Medium	Medium/High
Medicine	Medium	Medium
Biotechnology & Biopharmaceuticals	High	Medium
In vivo physiology	High	High
In vivo pharmacology	High	High
Toxicology	High	High
Pathology	Medium	High

 

*Columns left blank indicate that little or no recruitment takes place at this level.

 

 

 

Skills & competencies expected of new recruits

 

Examples of the skills and capabilities that are expected of new recruits,  based on a survey of 30 life science organisations within the UK:

§        Understanding of basic experimental design, observation, recording, and

§        testing hypotheses.

§        Ability to plan and conduct a scientific experiment with appropriate controls

§        and analysis of data

§        Demonstration of good, safe laboratory practice, including an understanding of Good Laboratory Practice, standard operating procedures and the impact of health and safety in the laboratory environment (and environmental issues).

§        Basic practical laboratory procedures (setting up equipment, use of pipettes, serial dilutions, basic chromatography and basic chemistry skills)

§        Exposure to molecular biology procedures (such as tissue culture and collection, aseptic techniques)

§        Experience of the handling of live organisms and dissection of organs.

§        Ability to accurately observe and record data (including understanding of the importance of accuracy over speed)

§        Recognition of the integrity of data gathered.

§        Ability to bring aspects of an experiment together

§        Understanding of how errors arise (including use of error bars).

§        Critical analysis of their results

§        Independent and confident interpretation and assessment of scientific experiments

§        Problem solving skills, for example independently solving difficulties encountered in the lab.

§        Application of scientific and mathematical knowledge in designing experiments and interpreting results

§        Critical thinking skills and being able to dispute scientific procedures, data sets and other people’s work

§        Basic report writing and accurate record keeping

§        Ability to develop a project plan and be able to use it as a communication  tool

§        Know how and when to use IT; including Word, Excel (use of spreadsheets for computer modelling), data capture devices, search engines (to effectively research scientific literature).

§        Communication and interpersonal skills

§        Team working, collaboration and problem solving

§        Independent working

§        Data and text mining skills

 

Taken from ABPI report ‘Skills Needs for Biomedical Research: Creating the Pools of Talent to Win the Innovation Race’, November 2008: http://www.abpi.org.uk/Details.asp?ProductID=338

 

 

Time Management

This weeks Monday morning session. Onl 7 students but they get really stuck in to the topic. Much suggesting of ideas to each other. Really like this.

Research in Industry

Students at the Centre for Developmental Biology asked me to talk about the above topic – and my solution was to get an Industry researcher to tell it straight fromthe Horse’s mouth. I thought of MM because he had experience in big pharma and was a senior scientist in a biotech.

I suggested he did not present a power point but just talked us through his CV – i wanted the students to feel they were just in conversation with a scientist.

M had dashed from a City meeting – which was a good intro – Biotech scientists need to talk to potential investors in the business.

M thinks he is too honest and too negative or downbeat in his presentations, but I think the students valued his honesty. I ‘compered’ so I could direct his comments towards things that I thought would be of interest to students.

Not an easy audience but eventually they warmed up and began to ask pertinent questions – -some impertinent ones too – like salaries - discussion of which I squashed.

It was a good showcase for careers advice – none of them knew about me – needless to say.

MM said that when he was a PhD student he would not have come to this talk. He was surprised that the room  was full. “The credit crunch?” ventured one student.

One question which was asked was an obvious one which I havd never considered: students might consider jobs in Industry or Postdocs. But what is the relative number of positions? 50-50?

I have no idea of the answer. I wonder if anybody else does.