The winner of the Times Higher Education Award 2008 for Outstanding Support for Early Careers Researchers was announced last night. "Finish Up, Move On" or "FUMO", a two day course aiming to help PhD students complete their PhD and enter the world of work, is the brainchild of researchers at Imperial College London. The award is jointly sponsored by Research Councils UK and Vitae, an initiative supporting the development of researchers.
The course has already been a success with students and now runs six times a year, with participants describing it as "really useful, challenging and fun" and "testing transferable skills". It was designed as a new approach to ensure that late-stage PhD students can successfully communicate their skills to potential employers, as well as practising for some of the final elements of their PhD courses, such as the oral 'viva' examination. FUMO is highly interactive and "works well in equipping participants to move on to the next stage of their careers with a deeper understanding of their own career goals", according to Sally Baker, one of the FUMO team.
Dr Alison Hodge, QinetiQ’s University Partnerships Director, and a member of the judging panel, noted that "the standard was such that choosing a winner was very difficult.
"Sussex’s entry, 'Profolio', for example, combined a number of innovative ideas to help PhD students in their career development, from a pendrive pre-loaded with the latest applications and custom-built templates, enabling students to store and manage all their research in an easily portable format, to online profiles to increase visibility for potential employers. I was pleased to see the support that is now being offered to early career researchers, the many and varied approaches that are being devised and the enthusiasm with which they are taken up by the researchers at the early stags of their careers. We look forward to hearing more of the schemes as they mature."
Iain Cameron, Head of the Research Careers and Diversity at RCUK, welcomed the result. "I'd like to congratulate the winners on their extremely well-thought out course which has already had excellent feedback from students who have taken part", he said.
"RCUK are delighted to sponsor this award, which is so important in raising the profile of good practices. We see the need for researcher development as a vital part of maintaining the UK's position as a centre for world-class research and strongly support initiatives such as Vitae, our co-sponsors, who are working towards this goal. Many practices also reflect the RCUK expectations for societal and economic impact by helping researchers develop the research, vocational and entrepreneurial skills that are matched to the demands of their future career paths."
Janet Metcalfe, Head of Vitae, said: "Imperial College's innovative 'Finish-Up, Move-On' hits the spot brilliantly by cleverly combining researchers' preoccupation with completing their doctorate with the importance of thinking about 'what next?' and that of leadership and entrepreneurial thinking. This and the other shortlisted entries for the THE Award highlight the range and quality of the work being done in institutions to support the personal, professional and career development of researchers."
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Notes to editors
Find out more about the awards here.
Shortlist (alphabetical order):
University of Edinburgh: Researcher Development Programme
Imperial College London: Finish Up, Move On
Midlands Part-Time Researcher Project
University of Stirling: Learning Process
University of Strathclyde: Launchpad
University of Sussex: Profolio
The shortlist is available on the THE website.
About the judges
Dr Alison Hodge is the current chair of the Inter-Company Academic Relations Group (ICARG) and University Partnerships Director at QinetiQ.
Professor Bob Burgess is the vice-chancellor at the University of Leicester, Chair of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the Research Information Network, the UUK/GuildHE Teacher Education Advisory Group and the ESRC/Funding Council’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme. He is a member of the British Library Board, a member of the Board and Council of the Institute for Employment Studies and an Academician of the Academy of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences. He is currently chairing the UUK/GuildHE enquiry on Measuring and Recording Student Achievement.
Professor David Delpy is the Chief Executive of EPSRC.
About the sponsors
Research Councils UK
The seven Research Councils are independent non-departmental public bodies, funded by the Science and Research Budget through the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). They are incorporated by Royal Charter and together manage a research budget of around £3 billion a year. Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the partnership between the UK's seven Research Councils. Through RCUK, the Research Councils work together to champion the research, training and innovation they support.
The seven UK Research Councils are:
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- Medical Research Council (MRC)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Vitae
Vitae is funded by the Research Councils and managed by CRAC: The Career Development Organisation. Vitae's vision is for the UK to be world-class in supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers. Vitae will play a major role in innovating, sharing practice and enhancing capability of the higher education sector to provide professional development and training of researchers. Vitae works with people committed to developing the potential of researchers, including national and international organisations, government, funders of research, universities and other employers of researchers, and researchers themselves.
Vitae provides institutions with opportunities to share such practices, develop ideas and work collaboratively. For example, details for some of the entries for this award may be found on the extensive 'database of practice' available via www.vitae.ac.uk, along with practical solutions for further developing provision through review and evaluation.