"Star Researcher": Team Missions to Help You Make Progress Now series will run on Zoom as follows:

Part 1: “Ingenuity”, Tuesday, 25th May 10:00 - 12:30 hours (UK Time)

Part 2: “Perseverance”, Tuesday, 1st June 10:00 - 12:30 hours (UK Time)

Part 3: “Opportunity”, Tuesday, 8th June 10:00 - 12:30 hours (UK Time)

For continuity, to generate momentum, and because you'll work with other colleagues over the period, you should attend the full series, so registration is for all three parts, and not just individual sessions. *** Please make a note of all three dates and aim to keep these blocked out in your diary.

Presented by Dr Adrian West, facilitated by Sophie Brown, Company of Mind

“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination. It’s your place in the world, it’s your life. Go on and make it the life you want to live” Mae Jemison (first African American woman astronaut in space).

A research career depends on a lot more than excellent research - that's just the starting point. You need to make progress now on other fronts too: contacts, profile, credible experience, demonstrating skills, and more. But that can be hard.

The point

Urgent tasks and anxieties take up most of our time and energy.
Important longer term goals seem too abstract and too far-off for action today.
When the future arrives though, we know we could have done more today that we didn't get around to doing.

What actions can you take today well before the future arrives to build that path? You may not be clear what to focus on, how to bring that about, or who to engage. Making progress on distant, uncertain goals is difficult - especially when it's only ourselves who are involved.

Where this comes from

Research Councils occasionally fund an extra year (the 'Doctoral Prize') to foster tomorrow’s Research Leaders. Those who receive the award face the same problem: how do we motivate ourselves to make progress for that future, when we're preoccupied with the immediate demands of research today?

We developed this team programme for that research leadership series (where it runs over six months):

"... the role I’m applying for puts a lot of emphasis on ability to organise and lead groups and I feel as though the course you ran gave me an excellent opportunity to exercise these skills, particularly with working with a group over a prolonged period and keeping on top of organising meetings and such. Also, the opportunity that you gave me to chair the virtual conference/Q&A at the end of the course was one I really enjoyed and I’ve added this to my CV! " Doctoral Prize participant

This "Star Researcher" series is an abbreviated version of that programme, aiming to boost your progress towards long term goals through three, half-day online events running over just two weeks (though teams could carry on afterwards if they wish).

There's no time commitment other than the three half-day events - anything else you undertake is important to you anyway.

What you gain

We'll touch on leadership, opportunity creation, strategy, progressing action and teams, within a framework to help lift your sights and transport you further.

If you have attended any of our nine events this year (“Practical Thinking for Researchers” 1-3; “Working with Difficult People 1-3”; “Getting Organised for Research (and Life)” 1-3) then this is a practical action-oriented chance to put what you have learnt into practice too.

However the main focus is on YOU progressing what matters to you, but within a team striving to make the most progress on their collective goals - like being the staff responsible for your own research group.

***Format

The three consecutive parts of this series are:

Part 1: “Ingenuity” - Online. Tuesday, 25th May 10:00 - 12:30 hours (UK Time)

Part 2: “Perseverance” - Online. Tuesday, 1st June 10:00 - 12:30 hours (UK Time)

Part 3: “Opportunity” - Online. Tuesday, 8th June 10:00 - 12:30 hours (UK Time)

Please complete a short registration form here to register for this series! For continuity, to generate momentum, and because you'll work with other colleagues over the period, you should attend the full series, so registration is for all three parts, and not just individual sessions. .

Please make a note of all three dates and aim to keep these blocked out in your diary.

Comments

“I really enjoyed the sessions you put on. Before, I was feeling a little tired and perhaps jaded of the academic process. But you really opened my eyes to the large variety of possibilities that exist outside of just lab work and writing things up. I was actually free to pursue a lot of these opportunities with a new level of autonomy. Since the session, I’ve done some of these things and am actively exploring new areas of academia which has very much rekindled my interest in this career path.” Doctoral Prize award recipient, The University of Manchester

“Thank you very much for the session yesterday. You really did bring to life the team science agenda we advocate and gave the fellows (some of them for the first time) a taste of professional and leadership skill development. “ Associate Director of Training & Academic Capacity Building Lead, Biomedical Research Centre, UK.

___________________________________________________

Facilitators

Dr Adrian West co-founded the shared virtual reality research group at The University of Manchester. He has held UK and EU research grants, leading both Technology and Psychology contributions, and has also been an expert reviewer in technology for the European Commission. He went on to lead a team of engineers at a U.S. Venture capital funded technology company which was sold off to IBM in 2008. Adrian has been Research Director for The Edward de Bono Foundation which specialises in thinking as a skill and has inspired over 200 cross-discipline innovation teams in academia and industry. His research interest in perception and thinking developed into Company of Mind, which facilitates thinking skills for corporations, Government bodies, and Universities. He is routinely voted best Lecturer by technology students, and by business leaders when he presents on innovation and thinking skills. Adrian's most unusual job has been Chauffeur to, someone he would regard, as the world’s most impressive conflict resolution expert.

Sophie Brown – Adrian is joined by Sophie who co-founded Company of Mind, and held the position of Creative Director at the Edward de Bono Foundation UK. Sophie studied Fine Art at Edinburgh, before moving to larger canvases of Landscape Architecture designing environments, facilitating community involvement and running construction contracts across the North West. She co-designs and facilitates Company of Mind programmes, and develops graphics and techniques for the Canvas of the Mind in the thinking and facilitation arena. She is a contributing co-author of “Business Model You” (ranked #1 in business start up books by The Independent) and “Business Models for Teams” 2017.

Registrations are closed

"Star Researcher": Team Missions to Help You Make Progress Now