Information sessions and related content

The introduction of the Narrative CV is part of a drive by the Research and Innovation sector to improve Research Culture, notably by recognising the importance of a wider range of contributions by researchers and moving away from using inaccurate and narrow metrics as indicators of research quality. Main UK research funders are adopting the Narrative CV or ‘Résumé for Research and Innovation’ for their funding calls, with UKRI committing to using it across all their schemes by the start of 2024. The Narrative CV aims to shift emphasis away from reliance on limited performance indicators such as funding, impact factors, and citations, and instead allow for a more inclusive and appropriate description of varied career pathways, contributions, experience, and a broader range of outputs. Beyond funding, research institutions are investigating how similar principles could apply to other aspects of research assessment, such as academic progression.

The format for each funder is somewhat different but all Narrative CVs are based on the Royal Society Resume for Researchers, and include headings such as: 'Independent contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies or knowledge', 'Leadership in the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships', 'Contributions to the wider scientific community and research and innovation culture' and 'Impact on the broader scientific community beyond your field and exploitation of research towards wider societal benefit'. it focuses on the impact and significance of your activities and research, not just a list of your achievements.

As the narrative CV format is rapidly being rolled-out across UK funding calls, including all UKRI calls by the end of 2023, all researchers interested in applying for research funding in the future would benefit from this session. It is likely that similar formats and/or principles will in the future apply to academic recruitment and progression, so those with an academic career plan should also become familiar with it.

The video is presented by Dr Evelyn Keaveney MRSB, Research Development Officer (Medicine, Health and Life Sciences), Research and Enterprise Directorate, Queen’s University Belfast. Evelyn has worked in Research Development since April 2020 and has experience with fellowship applications from multiple National funders. Evelyn has helped candidates to success with UKRI, Royal Society Awards and Leverhulme Awards, as well as organising training workshops which can be found on the Research Development Fellowship Training Page. You can contact Evelyn to speak about your funding application ideas and for help to find a funder, and prepare your applications for fellowships in Queen’s. 

Details:

• Chapter 1: Session introduction
• Chapter 2: Narrative CV overview
• Chapter 3: Narrative CV section 1
• Chapter 4: Narrative CV section 2
• Chapter 5: Narrative CV section 3
• Chapter 6: Narrative CV section 4
• Chapter 7: The Narrative CVs are here already
• Chapter 8: Guidance and support
• Chapter 9: Questions and answers - defining academic citizenship
• Chapter 10: A look through the Narrative CV guidance
• Chapter 11: Questions and answers - outputs
• Chapter 12: Benefits of the NCV and why it was introduced

For further information:

• Queen's Narrative CV guidance on the Research & Enterprise intranet
• Résumé for Research and Innovation resources (UKRI)
• Résumé for researchers (Royal Society)
• Narrative CV overview (The University of Cambridge)
• Narrative CV: resources to help you write one (open online course from the University of Glasgow)

Open access (OA) is a way to achieve free access to research. OA literature is available in a digital format online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.

The research sector is increasingly adopting OA publishing as best practice, and most public funders require that the work they fund is published Open Access.

Academics and researchers have seen OA publication raise the profile of their work, attracting more citations by the research community, but also widening their reach beyond academia, including with policy makers and mainstream media.

When planning to publish research, it is important for academics and research staff to follow their funders' requirements and publish OA as much as possible, as well as to consider their options for OA publishing before choosing a journal, as this can have financial implications.

The video is presented by Stephen Gorman, a member of Queen's Open Research Team based in the McClay Library. Stephen is responsible for managing the University's Open Access block grants, Read and Publish deals, and Open Access agreements. A key part of his role is to provide training and support to Queen's researchers on all aspects of open access, including research funders' open access policies. 

Details:

• Chapter 1: Introduction to open research
• Chapter 2: How to make your research Open Access - publishing options
• Chapter 3: Open Access and support available at Queen's
• Chapter 4: The future
• Chapter 5: Questions and answers (other outputs: books, data, code)
• Chapter 6: Questions and answers (OA and inequalities)
• Chapter 7: Questions and answers (the future of academic publishing)

For further information:

• Visit the PDC's 'Research dissemination' page
• Visit the Open Access Team's website

Gaining teaching experience and awareness of good teaching practice in higher education is key to research staff aiming at an academic career. The Centre for Educational Development (CED) at Queen's provides courses to develop teaching skills and supports applications for individuals to become Associate Fellows (or Fellows) of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), which is an internationaly recognised teaching certification listed as desirable criteria in most lectureship job descriptions. In this video, Karen Fraser, Senior Educational Developer in the Centre for Educational Development, describes some of the development programmes and certification routes available, notably via the Queen's Merit Award.

Note: some questions were answered during the presentation, so content does not always fit perfectly within the defined chapters.

Details:

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowship scheme. Overview of the scheme, eligibility and process for research staff to validate their teaching experience and skills for free by becoming AF-HEA through the Queen's Merit Award (QMA).
• Chapter 3: PostGraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching (PGCHET). The PGCHET is a formal qualification, mainly directed at new academic staff on probation, for whom teaching is an essential part of their role.
• Chapter 4: Categories of staff eligible
• Chapter 5: Additional development programmes related to teaching and learning
• Chapter 6: Summary and how to get teaching opportunities as a postdoc
• Chapter 7: Questions and Answers

For further information:

• Visit the PDC's 'Teaching and Supervision' page
• Visit the CED website
• Contact Ben, responsible for organising QMA accreditation programmes (qma@qub.ac.uk)

In line with Queen's work on Research Culture, internal funding schemes were streamlined in 2022, and the application criteria has been widened to all staff involved in research. This enabled inclusion of postdocs and research staff, where previously only academic staff could apply. For research staff, these small pots of money with straightforward applications are a great way to write their first proposals, build a track-record of applying and securing funding, and receiving the budget required to bring some of their ideas to life and develop their career and CV. The internal funding schemes presented at this session fund a large range of activities, including presenting at conferences, organising public engagement activities, meeting potential collaborators, generating preliminary data for a fellowship application and training etc.

Details:

• Chapter 1: Patricia McCrory, member of the Research Development Team, discusses the Agility Fund, which is an internal funding allocation that aims to provide a steady source of internal support for research and innovation activities. Patricia provides an overview of the Agility Fund, the support available and the application process.
• Chapter 2: James Dillon, Senior Research Impact and Engagement Manager, provides an overview of the Engaged Research Seed Fund, outlining the eligibility and application procedure. James provides some examples of funded projects and describes the importance of these activities in the engagement and impact landscape, and the professional development of research colleagues.
• Chapter 3: Chris Browne, Senior Research Strategy and Policy Manager, provides a short overview of the Research and Innovation Conference Fund, including an explanation of the guidance and criteria and application/funding process. This touches on the rationale for having this Fund, why the University wants to promote conference attendance, and the expectations regarding how it will benefit the broader research culture and quality.