Researcher Skills Forum 2022

The Researcher Skills Forum 2022 has now taken place, but you can catch up on video and slides here.

Starting your literature review
Monday 21st March   2 – 3pm

This session will help you develop strategies to search a range of information sources for your literature review, starting with planning your search. It will split into subject groups and Subject Librarians will highlight key resources for your School’s subjects. This session maps to the RDF’s sub domains of Knowledge base (A1) and Cognitive abilities (A2).

View recordings of breakout rooms : School of Applied Sciences and DLTE, Schools of Engineering and Computing, Business School.


How to market yourself online as a researcher
Tuesday 22nd March   10.30am – 12pm

In this session, learn how to build and optimise your online profile, from ensuring your social media accounts portray the best version of yourself to successfully engaging with the media to increase the visibility of yourself and your research.   

  • Ross Burns is Head of Communications at ENU with overall responsibility for all aspects of the University’s corporate, internal and external communications.
  • Phil Moar is Senior Communications Officer with a focus on strategically growing the University’s social media channels.
  • Professor Lis Neubeck will share her own experiences of marketing herself and her research on social media.
  • Nick Bibby is director of the Scottish Policy and Research Exchange, which helps academics and policymakers work with each other. He has a professional background in journalism and communications and now works with scholars at all of Scotland’s universities, helping them promote their research beyond the academy. 

This session maps to the RDF’s sub domains of Knowledge base (A1), Professional and Career Development (B3) and Communication and Dissemination (D2).

View recording at: How to market yourself online as a researcher


How to keep your research data legal
Tuesday 22nd March 2 – 2.30pm

What research participant personal data are you collecting? Are you planning surveys or interviews?
Diana-Leigh Watt, the University’s Information Governance Manager, will discuss how to process personal data for research projects in a way that complies with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and UK-GDPR. This includes completing governance documents, where required, for Data Protection compliance purposes.

This session maps to the RDF’s sub domains of Knowledge base (A1), Professional Conduct (C1) and Research Management (C2).

View recording at: Keeping your Research Data Legal


Careers using a research degree
Wednesday 23rd March   1.30pm – 3pm

What kind of careers can a research degree lead to? We have three confirmed speakers who will share stories of their career journeys so far, and share tips for current research degree students. Each speaker will speak for 15-20 min, with 30 minutes for a Question & Answer session.

Confirmed speakers are:

  • Lucy Johnston, Senior Research Fellow, School of Health and Social Care
  • Dr Sonja Rueckert, Associate Professor, School of Applied Sciences
  • Professor Richard Whitecross, Professor Head of Law, Business School

This session maps to the RDF’s sub domain of Professional and Career Development (B3).

View recording at: Careers using a research degree


Get writing with The Conversation
Thursday 24th March   10.30am – 11.45am

The Conversation is a news analysis and opinion website written by academics and funded by more than 80 UK and European universities. Working with an editor, researchers write short pieces that deliver academic expertise directly to the public.

In this session we’ll take you through what The Conversation is – our origins and aims; what we do and why. We’ll also hear from a Napier researcher about their experience publishing with The Conversation.

We’ll look at why you should communicate research to the public, what writing for The Conversation involves and what the benefits are for academics and universities. We’ll give you tips on style and take a look at the life cycle of a story from pitch to publication.
Benefits of attending:

  • Find out how to join a community of academic authors taking their expertise outside the academy
  • Understand what makes a good story and the types of articles your expertise could generate
  • Meet one of The Conversation’s editors and learn how we commission articles
  • Learn about the experience from a researcher’s perspective.

This session maps to the RDF’s sub domains of Knowledge base (A1), Professional and Career Development (B3) and Communication and Dissemination (D2).

Resources:
The Conversation – Edinburgh Napier Overview 20-21

View recording at: Get writing with The Conversation


Getting involved with Public Engagement with Research
Friday 25th March   11am – 12.15pm

In this workshop we will introduce you to the world of public engagement with research – helping you learn about the benefits of engaging with people beyond the academy. We will talk about some of the approaches often used to connect with different publics, and you can find out more about the support available to you as a researcher.

This session maps to the RDF’s sub-domains of Engagement and Impact (D3) and Communication and dissemination (D2).

View recording at: Getting involved with Public Engagement with Research
PowerPoint Slides


Sessions have been mapped to Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF). The RDF aims to help you whether you are a member of research staff, studying for a PhD or continuing in your academic career.