Ongoing work and progress

Main aim:

Adapting the Personal Development Review (PDR) form and guidance to research staff, in order to enable better engagement and productive career and development conversations to take place between research staff and their line managers.

Progress (March 2023):

Members of the network organised consultation with postdocs and academics within their schools to identify the main issues with the current process, and suggestions for improvement. There is a strong support to include planning and reporting on the use of the 10 career development days as part of the process, and focus the conversation on career and development and not on research progress. Further consultation with People & Culture is planned to align with other initiatives and processes. A new form and guidance for postdocs and managers will be developed, with the aim of piloting the new resources for the September 2023 PDR.

Main aim:

The 'Postdoc Life' series of online information sessions will aim to highlight some of the internal and sector developments and initiatives relevant to postdocs and research staff, in order to help them better understand and navigate their direct (Queen's) and wider (UK Research and Innovation sector) environment. This is a need that was identified by the recent Research Staff survey (Sep 2022). When possible, sessions will be recorded and made available on the PDC website.

Progress (March 2023):

Sessions are being organised approximately once a month from January, with topics including internal funding schemes, personal development and recognition in higher education teaching, export control and governance, open research, narrative CVs, quality outputs and citations etc.

Videos are available on the Information sessions and related content page.

Main Aim:

Bringing together research staff interested in organising community-building events for their peers as a new Postdoc Society. 'Postdoc-led' activities will provide networking opportunities amongst postdocs, ensure the provision is fresh and relevant to postdoc needs, and enable members of the society to develop their leadership and management skills.

Faculty societies previously existed, but were affected by the pandemics and stopped functioning. The introduction of the PDC enabled the creation of a more central and diverse group, which should be more sustainable and promote cross-faculty interactions.

Progress (March 2023):

After a couple of meetings facilitated by the PDC, a group of approximately 20 postdoc volunteers was assembled and is now meeting regularly autonomously. They are developing a programme of activities including social and networking opportunities for all research staff. The PDC is providing budget and administrative and advisory support to the group. The Postdoc Society has its own webpage and Twitter account (@QUBPostdocSoc), and has organised a Pizza networking event, a Pub quiz night, a wellbeing event, and are working on a writing retreat and postdoc showcase.

Main aim:

Ensuring research staff are welcomed in their School, Centre, or Faculty (postdoc induction, buddy scheme, meeting with a rep...) and provided with appropriate opportunities to network with peers, present their research (symposium, seminar...), receive feedback on their research and discuss good research practice (journal clubs, group meetings, networks...) and other initiatives promoting a positive experience.

Progress (March 2023):

Most PDC representatives officially feedback to their School or Centre via a School Board or Research Committee and organise a range of activities to promote a supportive culture for postdocs. This includes welcoming/buddy schemes for new postdocs, postdoc symposia, postdoc away days, regular coffee mornings, journal clubs, support networks, social events etc.

Main aim:

Complement existing one-to-one support for fellowship proposals' development by introducing additional training and mentoring from Fellowship Academy members (current fellows at Queen's).

Progress (March 2023):

Fellowship training: A programme of 6 workshops and writing sessions is being piloted from November 2022 to May 2023 to guide a small group of participants with the development of a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship proposal that they would submit in May.

Mentoring from Fellowship Academy members: Members of the Fellowship Academy have been invited to contribute to supporting prospective fellowship applicants in three ways, as relevant to their own career stage: i) acting as a mentor at a networking session where research staff interested in fellowships will meet them in small groups and ask questions and learn from your experience (event being organised for the end of May); ii) taking part in the internal peer review process (read and comment on draft applications with option for follow up 1-2-1 discussion with applicants); iii) sitting on assessment panels to aid in some internal selection processes.

This work is mainly led by the Research Development team in Research and Enterprise and Fellowship Academy.

Main aim:

Ensure workshop budget is used to provide the most relevant and quality offering researchers need. Following the compiling of overall core workshop provision in the past year and introduction of a few new programmes, this review will focus on feedback and needs, and involve the postdocs from the network in defining future provision by identifying workshops to keep, refresh, or introduce. 

Progress (March 2023):

Existing attendance and feedback data for all the core workshops provided by the PDC and OD (P&C) have been shared with the PDC Reps' Network, whose members also consulted with the research staff in their areas about feedback on the existing core workshops and additional needs. The existing provision receives positive feedback but could be supplemented by courses on grant writing, collaborating with partners (including companies), managing difficult conversations, and mentoring and coaching skills. The PDC and OD will investigate options to introduce such topics in next year's programme. 

New workshops already introduced in 2023: 'Time management for productive work and a happy life' and 'Engaged research and impact: Why are they important?'.

Main aim:

Complement the resources available around the maternity leave policy with considerations specific of research staff on externally-funded fixed-term contracts.

Progress (March 2023):

A small group of people have been assembled to inform this project, with P&C already working on updating existing content and moving it to the intranet. FAQs relevant to the case of research staff have been developed and consultation with research staff and their managers is planned. The person leading the group has changed role early 2023 and this work is likely to be delayed as a result.

This work is a collaboration with the People & Culture Directorate and Queen's Gender Initiative.

Main aim:

Helping PhD candidates navigate the next step in their career while providing opportunities to postdocs to gain mentoring experience and creating a culture of support and pastoral care across the different stages of a research career.

This is part of the Research & Innovation strategy's overall goal of embedding support and mentoring 'across the research continuum', with researchers at various stages of career helping each other.

Progress (march 2023):

The PDC and Graduate School collaborated to deliver the 'What do postdocs do?' workshop in Nov 2022, half of which consisting of small group mentoring discussions with postdoc volunteers sharing their own experience. The feedback was very positive and a second session was organised in February (also well received). Members of the Postdoc Society took part in the second session. In addition, postdoc volunteers shared their experience of preparing for their viva, navigating the PhD, and career events organised by the Graduate School.

 

Main aim of the Supervision Working Group:

Identify means to enable and recognise contributions of postdocs to the supervision of undergraduate and master taught students, in a way that is consistent across the university. This would add to previous work to enable and recognise contributions to the supervision of PhD students (see Assistant Supervisor role).

Progress (March 2023):

The group has identified key areas to focus on based on an initial scoping exercise of current practices and opinions across schools, as well as a survey of postdocs. Recommendations have been drafted and consultation carried out with relevant departments, groups and committees, and approved by PROG in September 2022. A paper was shared with the Deans and Directors of Education Forum, then presented at the Education Committee (Student Experience) in March, which approved the three recommendations put forward. The final sign off by the Academic Council is expected in June 2023.

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Main aim:

Help new postdocs and research staff settle in their new environment and role to improve their experience, ensuring they are aware of the main resources, support and policies applying to them.

Progress (August 2022):

The PDC has introduced a 'New Postdoc induction' online in Mar 2022, and in person in May 2022. They received great feedback from participants (rated 5/5 and recommended by 100%), and will be organised approximately every 2 months (in person) from September 2022. A 'New postdoc welcome booklet' packed with practical information was also developed and will be updated regularly. The PDC now also holds a 'stand' (virtual so far) at all the all staff welcome events, and signposting to these resources is systematically sent to new research staff when they are recruited.

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Main aim of the National Postdoc Appreciation Week Working Group:

Discuss and organise an event/events (and potentially other initiatives) for all Queen’s postdocs to take place during National Postdoc Appreciation Week (e.g., postdoc showcase event).

This is a postdoc-led group and members are fully in charge; the PDC provides insight and support as required by the members.

Progress (September 2022):

A one-day Postdoc Showcase event was organised for the 21st Sep at the Malone Golf Club. The showcase included 15 oral presentations by postdocs, 4 external guest speakers (and panel discussion) on the theme of 'Resilience and Innovation', in addition to presentations on internal progress for postdocs, a poster session (~40 posters) and plenty of networking. The event was attended by 80-100 people and received very positive feedback (rating 4.7/5 and recommended by 100%).

More than 60 profiles of research staff were shared on social media and the PDC website, as well as displayed in the poster room during the Showcase.

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Main aim of the Work-Life Balance Working Group:

Identify and develop good practice guidance and advice for postdocs and their managers, in order to mitigate current issues that affect the work-life balance of postdocs (e.g., linked to working hours and other working patterns, time off, communications and “always-on” culture etc.), and improve research culture as a result.

Progress (December 2022):

The group identified the main issues that may affect the work-life balance of postdocs, and discussed recommendations, advice, and examples of good practice for postdocs and their managers. These, as well as signposting to relevant university policies, have been drafted and released as a webpage on the PDC website: Work-life policies and tips for research staff and their managers.

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Main aim:

Identify and comprehensively regroup and advertise Learning and Development opportunities relevant to postdocs across Queen's, as well as identify and fill gaps in the provision.

Progress (August 2022):

relevant opportunities were collected from multiple departments around Queen's and added to the PDC website, both as a list of core workshops and in thematic development pages. A gap analysis was carried out, highlighting that additional provision around leadership development, career progression (academic or not) and supervision. New core workshops were introduced as a result by the PDC and Organisational Development (see details below).

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Main aim of the Leadership Working Group:

Shape a new Postdoctoral Leadership Programme, providing input on the content, format, selection process and potential additional resources to enable postdocs to develop their leadership skills.

Progress (December 2022):

The content, eligibility criteria and application process have been designed by members, who also were involved in selecting participants. The new Postdoctoral Leadership Programme took place in Riddel Hall on 21 Jun and 5 Jul 2022 (the second session was moved online due to COVID. The feedback for this first iteration was very positive, with a rating of 4.6/5 and 100% of participants recommending it. Notably, all respondents felt that learning from the course could be applied to their current and future roles, and potentially other aspects of life. Further feedback was collected 6 months after the programme, in order to assess longer-term benefits. The consultation suggests it had been beneficial to participants, who reported increased confidence, putting themselves forward more for initiatives, contributing more in meetings, paying more attention to their development and how they engage with people.

The programme will thus be maintained as part of the PDC core offering.

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Main aim:

Help individuals develop their career in a personalised manner, notably providing feedback on application and interview preparation.

Progress (September 2022):

Alice in the PDC now provides one-to-one meetings to research staff. In 2021-22, she has spent more than 60 hours personally supporting research staff, in 35 instances. These included feedback on CVs and job applications, interview preparation or other topics, and was provided via meetings, mock interview panels, or by email.

Feedback demonstrates that such support is helpful, with 100% of respondents having received interview preparation feeling more prepared to attend their real interview, and 100% of respondents having received support with their CV or application feeling it was improved as a result. All respondents recommend it and have rated interview preparation and job application support 5/5.

This new offering is added to other personalised support (career discussion with consultant for participants of the 'Developing Your Research Career' programme), and fellowship support from the Research Development team (one-to-one meetings related to funding applications, proposal feedback and fellowship mock interviews).

Main aim of the Career Options Working Group:

Showcase career options to postdocs in a range of disciplines, notably by linking with postdoc alumni and/or other contacts with careers in and out of academia.

Progress (August 2022):

Career Insight Interview series organised and hosted by members of the group: monthly online sessions in which two professionals share information on their role and personal experience navigating their career post-PhD (open to all). 

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