In this post Alex Peden, Senior Research Strategy Manager at the Usher Institute, shares details of a new Research Staff Hub website developed while on secondment to the Institute for Academic Development.
During a six month secondment to the Institute for Academic Development (IAD) a Research Staff Hub website was built and designed. The site went live at the beginning of June.
The development of a research staff website was a key action in the University’s Researcher Development Concordat Action Plan and the site aims to provide a landing page drawing together the resources research staff might need during their employment at the University and increasing the visibility of services that might be useful.
Working with colleagues across the University, the site is designed to present information to a research staff member asking a particular question or addressing a situation, rather than based around the University structure, University services and/or their provision.
Below is an overview of what you can expect to find in a few of the key sections:
This section provides links to information to help you understand your researcher role in the University, what you can expect from your manager, what they expect from you and information on attending the welcome event for new staff. There is also a specific section to help you build your network at University of Edinburgh, both professionally and socially, Community & Networking.
In this section links are provided to the services you might need to call on during your research including the library, digital research services, research data services and research facilities. There are likely to be other resources managed within your school/institute so make sure you get familiar with them through your colleagues and local induction too.
As a member of research staff you are protected by UK employment law. This section outlines some of the key processes and policies you can rely on as a member of University staff, as well as resources you can call on if things aren’t working. The site also links to the University Health & Wellbeing resources that you can use when you need to.
This section provides links to the various University services, including Edinburgh Research Office that offer training, support and services that can help you secure funding for a research project or a new business idea.
During the consultation on the content of the Research Staff Hub, links to resources to help researchers think about their career options and develop themselves was highlighted as a priority. Work is underway to turn some of the excellent HR and IAD in person career development training into bitesize online resources you can access at any time. The site currently links to the existing resources but will be updated as the career development resources are developed. IAD offer 1:1 career consultations, follow the link on the site to book a session.
You can read more about why the Research Staff Hub was created and the design process in this IAD Blog post Research Staff Hub – you said, we did.
If you have any feedback, comments or additions to the Research Staff hub please drop me an email before the end of July 2021 at alex.peden@ed.ac.uk , or email iad.researchers@ed.ac.uk from 1st August 2021.
