Tell us your views on external appointments

Are you a UCL researcher and/or a research-active staff member from any discipline and career stage, that has experience with an external appointment, or has an interest in applying for an external appointment?

These external appointments might include (but are not limited to):

• Board or Council member positions with research funders
• Advisory Body, Board or Group member positions with research funders
• Committee member positions with research funders
• Non-executive directorships
• Board of Governors or Committee member positions associated with research organisations or research institutes
• Members of government scientific advisory committees
• Chair or Trustee roles in the third sector related to research or private non-profit research organisations

If so, we want to hear from you!

The Research Culture team are running a series of focus groups with UCL researchers and research-active staff who:

1. Are currently undertaking an external appointment and/or have experience with previous external appointments: to understand your experiences and what you gained from it, what worked well, the process of obtaining an external appointment, and what you wished you knew to prepare you for the role; or
2. Have an interest in undertaking an external appointment: to understand the barriers that may be preventing you from applying for an external appointment and what knowledge and skills development you would appreciate, should you be successful.

This will feed into wider development work to create a new learning and development programme to prepare researchers and research-active staff at UCL with the knowledge and confidence to apply for external appointments alongside their current UCL role, and to equip them with the necessary skills to perform in these roles.

The project is being delivered as part of the UCL Research Culture programme ‘Enabling collaboration and team science,’ funded by Wellcome’s Institutional Funding for Research Culture, in alignment with the Research Culture Roadmap, to help UCL develop a healthier, more inclusive and sustainable research culture.

Register for a focus group

Focus groups will be held on Microsoft Teams or in person, running from Monday 10 – Friday 28 February 2025. There will be a limit of up to 10 people per focus group, lasting up to 1hr 30 minutes, to enable everyone the opportunity to contribute. The deadline to sign up is Friday 7 February.

We welcome honest and open discussions during the focus groups, and anything shared will remain anonymous.

Contact

If you have any accessibility requirements or queries about the focus group, please contact researchculture@ucl.ac.uk