Research Staff Forum

The Research Staff Forum has been a long-standing group, chaired by the Vice-Principal for Research and Innovation and attended by research staff reps and PIs from Schools across the University. The original focus of the group was to support the University's commitment to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and has evolved over the years to become an important space for addressing researcher employability, recognition and policy development.

The format is that of an open forum, in which representitives and research staff from across the University are welcome to book their place and view agendas beforehand.

Meetings and events

Open to Forum Reps, all research staff and those who manage/support research staff:

The next Open Forum Meeting will take place in person on Monday 21 October 2024, 2pm to 3.30pm, in the Parliament Hall.

To submit an item for the agenda, please contact your local representative or email the Research Staff Forum team directly (research-staff-forum@st-andrews.ac.uk).

The minutes of the previous meeting and the Key Messages are available in the 'Agendas, papers and minutes' section.

New Concordat

In December 2020, the University became a signatory to the Researcher Development Concordat, which has three main principles:

  • Environment and culture - Excellent research requires a supportive and inclusive research culture
  • Employment - Researchers are recruited, employed and managed under conditions that recognise and value their contributions
  • Professional and career development - Professional and career development are integral to enabling researchers to develop their full potential

These principles are underpinned by obligations for the four key stakeholder groups, fundersinstitutionsresearchers and managers of researchers, to realise the aims of the Concordat.

Going forward the Research Staff Forum will play a vital role in informing the actions that will build on these principles.