Whether you’re preparing a PhD proposal, applying for a grant, or considering the next stage of your research career, it’s important to think carefully about your training and professional development. Fiona Hughes explores the key issues.
Why training and development matters
A successful career in research requires a wide range of skills beyond subject expertise, so taking a holistic approach and planning your personal development is important. As well as developing technical and methodological knowledge, researchers can benefit from taking opportunities to build skills in areas such as leadership, project management, communication, collaboration, supervision, and public engagement.
Taking time to identify your development goals and consider how you will address them shows that you are thinking strategically about your career. It can also strengthen funding applications by demonstrating that you have considered how you will make the most of the opportunities available to you.
What should a training and development plan include?
You don’t need to map out every activity over the coming years. Instead, try to outline the key skills you want to develop, how you might be able to gain them, and any costs involved.
“Where do you want to be? What do you need to do to get there? Is that formal training? Is that mentorship? Is that having a go at supervising master’s students?” Dr Melissa Oldham, SSA-funded research fellow and Deputy Research Lead at the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change
Your training plan should reflect your own goals, experience, and research interests. Here are some areas to consider:
- Research methods and analytical techniques
- Statistics, data science, or programming skills
- Leadership and management training
- Patient and public and involvement and engagement (PPIE)
- Science communication and knowledge exchange
- Teaching and supervision experience
- Grant-writing and research funding skills
- Mentoring or coaching
- Conference attendance and networking
- Placements, secondments, or collaborative working
Is paid training always the answer?
Many universities and research organisations offer a wide range of free or subsidised training, workshops, and professional development programmes. Professional societies, including the SSA, provide opportunities to build networks, develop new skills, and engage with the wider addiction research community.
You can also look for (and let others in your network know you are looking for) on-the-job opportunities to gain experience. This might be through:
- leading projects
- supervising students
- volunteering for committees
- taking on leadership responsibilities
“There are a lot of skills involved in becoming a research leader, and you can acquire the necessary techniques through training or through experience. So, identify what you need to do to develop your leadership skills. Maybe it’s training or mentorship. Maybe it’s volunteering to lead specific projects or to supervise students.” Dr Rob Calder, Chief Executive Officer of the SSA
Some of the most valuable learning comes from applying new skills in real research settings.
Building a career in research
Identifying areas for training and development doesn’t highlight your shortcomings. A thoughtful training and development plan demonstrates your commitment to continuous learning and helps lay the foundations for a successful career in addiction research.
by Fiona Hughes
The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility.
