Academic development for research and enterprise

Research and Innovation Strategy

Our People Strategy highlights the importance of “bringing together talented people from diverse backgrounds, whereby it creates an inspiring workplace where everybody matters, where they are viewed as individuals and encouraged to develop themselves and their careers” (People Team, 2021). We put research, innovation and knowledge exchange at the centre of everything we do. We support development activities for researchers and academics across diverse roles and at all career stages.

Commitment to career development

We're committed to the career development of all our researchers and academic colleagues, supporting them all to engage in innovation, enterprise, and knowledge exchange.

We're committed to supporting and implementing the principles of the Concordat to support the Career Development of Researchers. The Concordat aims to increase the attractiveness and sustainability of research careers in the UK and improve the quantity, quality, and impact of research for the benefit of UK society and the economy. It's been designed to support the career development of researchers and sets out the expectations and responsibilities of researchers, their managers, employers and funders. Complying with the Concordat ensures our researchers are nurtured and supported in their career development during their time at UCLan.
The University has also signed up to the Knowledge Exchange Concordat (KEC). The KEC facilitates the development, enhancement and transparency of the wide range of knowledge exchange activities performed by universities and other providers of higher education and research. It supports the partnership working with external businesses and organisations that are integral to success. The KEC is being implemented by the sector for the sector, recognising that autonomous higher education providers play a critical role in KE policy and practice. It's developed with the recognition of the needs of relevant external partners, government and funders, and implementation is supported by the UK higher education funding bodies.
The University has held the European HR Excellence in Research award since 2012. The award acknowledges our alignment with the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their Recruitment.

Policy and strategy

The Concordat to support the Career Development of Researchers

The University is a signatory to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, 2019 (commonly known as the Researcher Development Concordat). An agreement between funders and employers of research staff to improve the employment and support for researchers and researcher careers in UK Higher Education. The Concordat has three defining principles covering environment and culture, employment, and professional and career development. For each of these principles, the Concordat outlines the key responsibilities of the four main stakeholder groups: researchers, managers of researchers, institutions, and funders.

All newly appointed researchers receive information about the Concordat, ensuring that they are aware of their entitlement to career development support.
A Researcher Development Steering Group was established in 2019 to oversee the reporting and planning requirements of the Concordat and the HR Excellence in Research Award. Membership of this group includes Early Career Researchers, Mid-Career Researchers, Faculty Directors of Research and is chaired by the Director of Research and Enterprise Service.
The Concordat sets out an expectation that researchers will engage in at least 10 days (pro-rata) of continuing professional development (CPD) per year.
Read our annual report for 2022/23

Researcher Development Framework

Our aim is to boost the quality, scope and capacity of our research activities; invigorating everything we do with evidence-based claims to be world-class. This will be achieved by developing highly skilled researchers, promoting the value of building a research career upon a sound developmental foundation.

Our development approach is based upon Vitae's Researcher Development Framework (RDF), based on five progressive stages of career development for a researcher; along with the Research Development Statement (RDS) which sets out the knowledge, behaviour and attributes of effective and highly skilled researchers appropriate for a wide range of careers. Further details are available on Vitae's website.

Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research Survey (CEDARS)

The University is committed to capturing and acting on the views of researchers and colleagues who support research and enterprise by using the Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research Survey (CEDARS). This survey gathers views on the research environment, working conditions, career aspirations and professional development opportunities for those conducting research. CEDARS is managed and supported by Vitae.

HR Excellence in Research Award (HREiR)

The University of Central Lancashire has held the European HR Excellence in Research award since 2011. The award acknowledges our alignment to the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their recruitment.

The University has retained its HR Excellence in Research award following a ten year review by the UK Excellence in Research Panel.

Ten-year review (2022)

Action plans 2-year review – 8-year review

Two-year review (2013)

Four-year review (2015)

Six-year review (2018)

Eight-year review (2020)

Supported by

How we can support you

Researchers are vital to the future of the University. We aim to provide excellent career development support for all our research and enterprise staff, at all stages of their career. We foster an agile, vibrant research and enterprise community through mentoring, peer support, tailored events and workshops. We also host a number of career stage networks and events.

We have a bespoke mentoring programme for researchers, which complements the organisational mentoring programme run by the People Team. This forms part of the University’s implementation of the Concordat to support the career development of researchers. It also plays a key role in a number of strategic initiatives to support the development of staff across the University.

We pride ourselves on supporting the aspirations of the next generation of research leaders. Our Early Career Research Network (ECRN) is open to all staff at an early stage in their research career, including Research Assistants, post-doctoral researchers, as well as senior staff engaging in research for the first time.

Our Mid-Career Research Network (MCRN) aims to support those in the middle stages of their research career within a structured forum. MCRs (from all levels) come together regularly to share their research and build collaborations with others from different subject areas within the institution.

The College of Professors and Readers (CPR) is a grassroots group operated by its members. The CPR is not affiliated with any of the University’s academic or service departments and as a community agrees on its own activities and ways of operation.

Researcher Skills Development Programme

We deliver a bespoke programme of events and workshops that are tailored to meet the needs of our researchers, whatever their career level.

This includes a comprehensive induction programme open to new and existing researchers/academic colleagues who require information around researcher development, grants and funding, ethics and integrity, open access, impact, working with business, intellectual property, and knowledge exchange.

Working collaboratively and supporting researchers and academic colleagues

We support our academic community with collaborative research opportunities, breaking down the barriers that block interdisciplinary work. Our researchers and academics are encouraged to pool their knowledge and skills, ensuring they have every opportunity to make the next breakthrough.