Research Staff Working Group

The Research Staff Working Group shall oversee the delivery of the Concordat Action Plan to support the Career Development of Research Staff:

• to recognise the crucial contribution that research staff make to our internationally excellent and world-leading research.
• to monitor and review the University’s on-going application of the Concordat to support the career development of researchers.
• to receive reports on the action plan projects identified in the Concordat and oversee the renewal process of the HR Excellence in Research Award.
• to receive recommendations from Research Staff.
• to benchmark the University’s performance against other institutions (e.g., through tools such as CEDARS), and where necessary initiating amendments to the Concordat action plan.
• to ensure appropriate channels are used to engage with Research Staff (e.g., via RSWG representatives, L&D Manager, Associate Deans for Research Innovation & Impact)
• to oversee the professional services support for research staff, including recruitment, induction, appraisal, retention, training, and career development activities, ensuring a fair and consistent approach across the University.
• to highlight issues related to Research Staff within the University, proposing University-wide solutions.

• Chair - PVC for Research & Innovation (or nominee - Biagio Lucini)
• Director of Human Resources (or nominee – Brian Knaggs)
• Head of Swansea Employability Academy (SEA)
• Equality & Diversity Representative
• Communications Officer REIS
• Learning & Development Manager
• Research Librarian
• Recognition & Reward Representative
• Recruitment & Selection Representative
• Minimum of two Researchers from each Faculty
• Trade Union Representation
• Reports to: Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation)

• Meetings to take place twice per academic year (minimum), preferably 2 weeks ahead of a Research Innovation, Impact Committee (RIIC).
• Frequency of meetings to be reviewed at least annually.

• Tenancy of the research staff representative membership is for two years
• Membership to be reviewed every two years, with new membership to commence at the start of the new academic year (September)
• A maximum of 9 Research staff representatives (3 from each Faculty)
• Associate Deans for Research Innovation & Impact to nominate representatives per Faculty, voluntary applications for consideration are welcome.

• Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (Jonathan Bradbury)
• Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science (Gareth Jenkins)
• Faculty of Science and Engineering (Perumal Nithiarasu)

• Staff interested in being considered as a representative to email the group coordinator: j.l.home@swansea.ac.uk

• Research staff representatives are entitled to attend the RSWG, their Faculty Councils and the Research Innovation, Impact Committee (RIIC).
• Research staff representatives are responsible for canvassing opinion amongst their colleagues in their Faculties and networks. Any issues or concerns should be raised in the group or emailed to the group coordinator: j.l.home@swansea.ac.uk
• Research staff representatives are responsible for communicating information on the discussions and recommendations of the group to their colleagues.

There may be occasions where agenda items need to be discussed in confidence. These items will be identified, and Group members are required to keep such matters confidential between themselves and other members of the group.

We define researchers as: ‘Individuals whose primary responsibility is to conduct research and who are employed for this purpose.' This includes all staff on Research grades 7 to 9. Job titles may include Research Assistant, Research Officer, Senior Research Officer, Research Fellow.

We recognise that ‘research staff’ refers to a wide range of staff including those with different disciplinary backgrounds:

• varying levels of training
• a wide variety of different experiences and responsibility types
• different types of contract (fixed or open ended, full, or part time)
• diverse career expectations