Vitae in a digital age
Vitae is the UK organisation championing the personal, professional and career development of doctoral researchers and research staff in higher education institutions and research institutes. Vitae brings together experts, policy makers, employers and those working with researchers to develop policy and practice with a view to making real and positive change. Vitae works closely with UK higher education institutions (HEIs) to embed sustainable professional and career development of researchers in the research environment. We play a major role in innovating, sharing practice and enhancing the capability of the higher education sector to provide world-class professional development and training for researchers.
One of our strategic aims is to drive excellence in provision through the development and distribution of high quality learning resources and through practice sharing, informed by the Concordat to support the career development of researchers, the Researcher Development Statement (RDS) and Researcher Development Framework (RDF). This is accomplished by developing resources for use by trainers and other stakeholders working with researchers throughout their careers, and by providing opportunities for HEIs to share information and practice, develop ideas and approaches and work collaboratively.
Vitae also provides resources, advice, information and fora for individual researchers who are planning their own professional and career development. For example:
- a dedicated researchers' portal with information, news and opportunities
- labour market and careers information, including surveys and research
- opportunities to have input to national policy developments and initiatives.
Vitae has developed the Researcher Development Framework (RDF) Planner, an easy-to-use web application that enables researchers to work with the comprehensive Researcher Development Framework to:
- identify their expertise and capabilities
- plan their professional development
- set professional targets
- demonstrate evidence of success.
A number of ‘lenses’ on the Researcher Development Framework have been developed to focus on the links between aspects of the RDF and other professional frameworks. These include the Information Literacy Lens, which links the RDF with the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy, and the Teaching Lens, which links the RDF with the UKPSF.
Vitae support for the digital researcher:
Digital researcher events
Vitae in partnership with The British Library has run an annual Digital Researcher event since 2009. Digital Researcher aims to help researchers make the most of new technologies and social media tools in their research. The events include presentations and interactive sessions on subjects such as microblogging, RSS feeds, social networking and social citation sharing, and provide hands on experience in, for example, exploring the use of Web 2.0 in research, networks and building and managing your own online profiles. See here or Digital researcher online for more information and for workshop podcasts.
Blogs
Vitae also supports the development of digital communities, with a number of blogs where researchers can share experiences, join discussions and find advice:
