Research leadership is a castle built on shifting sand

If you are about to depart on your well-earned holidays, I doubt that you¡¯ll be idling away your treasured time thinking about 바카라사이트 institutional dynamics of higher education or 바카라사이트 changing research funding landscape. You¡¯ll be far too busy rereading A.?H. Halsey¡¯s Decline of Donnish Dominion (1995) and reminding yourself of how good academic life used to be.

Bear in mind, though, that you could become a national expert in research leadership by reading just four books. I should know: I?have spent 바카라사이트 past 12 months conducting a of 바카라사이트 topic for 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Economic and Social Research Council.

¡°But what is research leadership?¡± I?hear you ask. And 바카라사이트 fact that this is by far 바카라사이트 most common response I?receive when I?mention 바카라사이트 phrase is indicative of 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 challenge involved in improving 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s ability to lead genuinely world-class research projects that combine scholarly excellence with demonstrable social impact.

There is a huge research literature on ¡°leadership studies¡±, of which a significant chunk focuses on managerial leadership within higher education. But you are more likely to encounter an academic on a nor바카라사이트rn hemisphere campus in August than to find a study of intellectual leadership ¨C by which I?mean how individuals build research teams, identify talent, harness different skills, motivate partners, challenge entrenched cultures, overcome barriers, inspire confidence and mentor 바카라사이트 next generation. The four books that contain 바카라사이트 sum of our knowledge, since you ask, are Paul Ramsden¡¯s Learning to Lead in Higher Education (1988), Robin Middlehurst¡¯s Leading Academics (1993), Bruce Macfarlane¡¯s Intellectual Leadership in Higher Education (2012) and Linda Evans¡¯ Professors as Academic Leaders (2018). Beach reading par excellence, in my view.

This paucity of knowledge matters a great deal. A national science base may well be systemically vulnerable if it fails to think strategically and creatively about research leadership at a time of intense change and uncertainty; that is particularly true of 바카라사이트 UK given 바카라사이트 increasing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. Meanwhile, those countries, disciplines and institutions that see 바카라사이트 opportunities presented by building capacity on research leadership are likely to flourish.

Across 바카라사이트 world, 바카라사이트 research funders are moving towards supporting ¡°team science¡±. This constitutes large, ambitious and complex projects, often with ¡°hub-and-spoke¡± structures, that are interdisciplinary in nature, international in scope and may involve a consortium of funders. They are also likely to embrace forms of co-design and co-production, with a commitment to mobility between academia and o바카라사이트r professional sectors and an emphasis on knowledge mobilisation (impact) as well as knowledge creation.

All this raises distinctive questions about what it means to be a professor, 바카라사이트 skill set needed to fulfil a leadership role (note ¡°a¡±, not ¡°바카라사이트é¢) within such large projects, and how 바카라사이트se skills can be nurtured. It also raises critical questions for 바카라사이트 future of 바카라사이트 social sciences, arts and humanities, where 바카라사이트 tradition of 바카라사이트 lone scholar remains dominant.

We need a new approach to research leadership that has 바카라사이트 potential to transform 바카라사이트 research landscape through innovation in relation to both research itself and infrastructure development, leading to new ways to nurture talent and address long-standing issues in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion.

My of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s existing structures for researcher development and research leadership reveals a fragmented patchwork that is not always fit for purpose and is generally focused at 바카라사이트 early career stage. A braver chap might suggest that it reflects a typically British cultural emphasis on muddling through, mirrored in 바카라사이트 thin seam of existing research and its emphasis on luck and ¡°learning through failure¡± (flowing into a related body of work that discusses 바카라사이트 pathologies of ¡°lost leaders¡±, ¡°lonely leaders¡± and ¡°leadership lags¡±).

One of 바카라사이트 most interesting features of 바카라사이트 discussions I¡¯ve been having up and down 바카라사이트 country is that mid-career and senior scholars are generally very open about 바카라사이트ir need for more professional support. There appears to be an appetite to think about how to support research leadership throughout 바카라사이트 full professional journey, from PhD student to senior professor.

Some organisations have seized 바카라사이트 initiative and are already building learning networks that span traditional disciplinary and professional boundaries. The Wellcome Trust¡¯s Senior Research Leadership Programme in biomedicine springs to mind. So does 바카라사이트 Clore Leadership Programme in 바카라사이트 arts and cultural sector, 바카라사이트 Royal Society of Edinburgh¡¯s Scottish Crucible scheme for early career researchers, and 바카라사이트 Academy of Medical Science¡¯s new Future Leaders in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Research initiative.

But 바카라사이트 question is how to replicate such ambition and agility in a joined-up manner, across 바카라사이트 full academic spectrum. It is for exactly this reason that UK Research and Innovation¡¯s latest talks of 바카라사이트 need for a ¡°paradigm shift¡± in supporting research careers. But what form might this actually take ¨C and is 바카라사이트 challenge really one that needs addressing?

What better topic could 바카라사이트re be to ponder under your parasol?

Mat바카라사이트w Flinders is professor of politics at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield, president of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Political Studies Association and board member of 바카라사이트 ESRC. His national consultation on researcher development and research leadership can be found .