Professor or Research Leader

Here you will find some example development objectives that we think will support you at this stage. They have been developed by a working group of diverse, multi-disciplinary colleagues.

The themes were raised by colleagues in a cross-University survey about researcher needs, and are mapped to external benchmarks and sector good practice (e.g. Vitae), plus relevant internal strategies and policies.

The objectives identify some key actions for you to complete.

Staff needs are likely to be different as the research career progresses, but progression is not always linear and different forms of objectives and support may be required at different times. You may want to adapt them to your own needs, in consultation with your line manager, mentor or research lead.

Developing identity as a researcher

Evidence sustained leadership in your own field of research, and in developing and sustaining the research culture at UON. Drive strategic changes to enhance the opportunities for yourself and others through consulting with researchers and senior managers.

Broadening your research knowledge (skills) and experience

Benchmark your achievements and curriculum vitae (CV) against the UON requirements for Grade 10 Professor (requires evidence of significant, internationally renowned, contributions to policy, intellectual, cultural, social or economic life). Identify areas of strength and development needs. Based on this review, develop a plan with specific objectives to address development needs and work towards your continued development within realistic time frames. Write down where you would like your research, outputs, impact and strategic leadership to be in three years’ time, and identify what you would need to achieve this.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Evidence sustained leadership; be a catalyst for improvement in an inclusive research environment. Contribute to strategy-level discussions and action in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and share best practice in this area, motivating others to follow your lead.

Organisational expectations/vision

In Performance and Development Review (PDR) discussions with your line manager, ensure that your objectives include stretch targets aligned with the current requirements for Grade 10 Professor. Identify a network of internal and external peers to support the development of your strategic leadership and subsequent Grade 10 application.

Evidence sustained expert leadership in your research field, making a leading contribution to achievement of the University’s Strategic Plan and supporting the development of others. Seek opportunities to engage with UON training and development around strategic leadership.

Developing networks, partnerships/collaborations

Engage global networks and seek to develop new links and collaborations. Seek opportunities to take up strategic leadership roles at a range of scales. Maintain and develop your Pure research profile. Play a leading role in shaping institutional approaches to research, impact, enterprise or other aspects of its strategic mission. Support colleagues to develop links with fellow researchers and national and international networks. Identify and take the lead on creating partnerships with positive, transformative potential the UON community.

Colleagues and line managers have asked for guidance on setting PDR objectives relating to research. We have provided some example Performance and Development Review (PDR) objectives for colleagues at your stage. Examples can be selected and adapted to suit individual development priorities.

1. Submit at least one output to an international peer-reviewed journal, seeking mentoring/peer support to develop work which has potential to be ‘world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour’ (REF 4*). The PDR process should check that there is progression towards achieving two REF-able outputs every three years as required by the ‘Teaching and Research’ contract.

• Focusing on research
• Delivering high quality performance

2. Submit at least one bid(s) for research/enterprise funding equivalent to direct costs of salary +25%

• Focusing on income and advancement

3. Demonstrate leadership and achievement in one priority area of Faculty/UON vision/mission for research/enterprise

• Focusing on research
• Delivering high quality performance

4. Develop and gather evidence of significant impact linked to a current or previous research project

• Delivering high quality performance
• Achieving social impact

5. Manage performance of Research Centre, Institute or Faculty research environment as per agreed KPIs, objectives and targets

• Delivering high quality performance

We want to empower researchers to explore their strengths and areas for future development. There is information for managers of researchers, to which you can also signpost your manager, to help you underpin discussions about your work as a Professor at UON. Some topics for discussion might include:

• What information do you need to ensure you meet the expectations for Professorship? (Identify what you need to know, or anything that is not clear)
• What guidance and support is available from other Professorial colleagues at UON or externally?
• What mentoring and support would help you to continue to develop as you fulfil the expectations for Professorship? And how might you support and mentor other colleagues to develop the UON research environment?
• How will your Professorial workload allocation be managed in practice? How can you, alongside your manager, enable you to make best use of this allocated time?
• Which roles, activities or projects should you prioritise? How will you ensure that you have a clear plan in place to check and enhance the quality of your outputs as per the requirements of REF?

If you or your manager would like support with these discussions, please contact your research lead, or the lead of a relevant research centre. The following section also provides some examples of good practice in this area.

In this section we have provided some examples of development activities [login required for staff intranet], top tips and good practice. UON colleagues have found these activities helpful, and we hope they will be useful to you at this stage. We will continue to update this section with examples and activities. Please share any feedback, or other examples you have found useful, on this research development feedback form. These fall under four categories, and you can ‘pick and mix’ according to your needs and development objectives:

• Information, policies and guidance for researchers at UON;
• Existing resources via recorded sessions previously held at UON, or offered via development platforms that we have a license for, including LinkedInLearning and SAGE research methods;
• Forthcoming development sessions hosted by the University of Northampton;
• Case studies of support, mentoring and protecting research time for you to develop your own ideas of the support mechanisms you need.

A big part of building our research community is developing supportive links between different individuals and teams. We really want to you to feel supported as you progress your research aspirations, whatever those aspirations might be.

Here, you will find a list of the people/teams/centres who are there to support you. They are a good first port of call for you to seek support and guidance and can signpost you to others if they aren’t able to help directly.

Dean of Research, Impact and Innovation: Cathy Smith

Research Funding & Governance Manager: Paul Bramble

Faculty Research Leads

Faculty of Health, Education and Society: John Horton

Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology: Will Wise

Faculty of Business and Law: Ed Johnston

Research Institutes and Centres | University of Northampton

Make sure that you read the current guidance on UON Professorship carefully. Seek advice from your team, line manager and other UON colleagues about what works in relation to meeting the expectations of Professorship at UON.

Think about which research outputs to prioritise, and make sure you have a clear plan in place to check and enhance the quality of your outputs and impacts.

Consider how excellent practice from your area or discipline – nationally and internationally – might be applied at UON to continue to develop an excellent environment for leading edge research, professional practice/enterprise, or learning and teaching.