Early Career Researcher Staff Development Programme
Audience
- Academic staff
- Research staff
- Research supervisors
Programme information
The ECR Staff Development Programme has been designed for any research focussed staff who is new to funding, leading and contributing to research initiatives in the UK or is returning to research after a period away.
Delivery
This programme is recommended as an end-to-end programme, and staff who sign up for the full series will gain exclusive access to additional networking and professional development events and activities.
Each individual module is also available on a standalone basis, and you are welcome to attend any element of the programme (excl. cohort exclusive events), subject to availability. Some workshops are delivered twice within an Academic Year, covering the same content. You are only expected to attend one of these.
Information
The ECR Staff Development programme is a series of workshops and self-paced development activities.
Learning objectives and materials are benchmarked against the descriptors found in Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF) 2025. The RDF is recognised across the UK and provides a shared language for researchers to evidence their career and professional development within the University of St Andrews and the wider UK Research and Innovation Sector.
Cohort Exclusives
3 courses - you have to complete all of the following instances:
- Action Learning Sets
- End of Programme Celebration
- Launch Event
- Thursday 3 September 2026
Research Collaborations and Community Building
3 courses - you have to complete all of the following instances:
- Collaborative Writing Toolkit
- Interdisciplinary Escape Rooms
- Networking for Researchers
- Tuesday 8 December 2026
- Wednesday 21 April 2027
Research Funding and Finance
3 courses - you have to complete all of the following instances:
- An Introduction to Research Funding module and Webinar
- Attracting research funding: writing and applying for fellowships
- Tuesday 24 November 2026
- Monday 17 May 2027
- Becoming a Research Fellow: Panel Discussion
Research Leadership
3 courses - you have to complete all of the following instances:
- Research Leadership - Leading yourself and others Self-paced module
- Research Leadership in Action - Video Case Studies
- Ten Days to Change the World - Leading your own professional development
- Tuesday 6 October 2026
Research Outputs and Impact
4 courses - you have to complete all of the following instances:
- Impact Pathways
- Mini-writing retreat
- Thursday 19 November 2026
- Wednesday 17 February 2027
- Monday 14 June 2027
- Navigating the Peer Review Process of outputs
- Thursday 25 February 2027
- Wednesday 21 April 2027
- Publishing your research