1) Best practices for induction in CDTs: insights from the experts

Thursday 30 January 2025, 13:00-14:00
Join us for a one-hour online training session focused on effective Induction activities for Centre for Doctoral Training (CDTs). A panel of experienced CDT coordinators will share their approaches, highlight successful strategies, and discuss common challenges in designing Induction programs. Learn what works well—and what doesn’t—when it comes to welcoming new students and setting them up for success. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end, allowing you to get practical advice tailored to your needs. Members only event - join the network and email us for joining details.
 

2) Getting off on the right foot: key tools and documents for setting up a project

Wednesday 26 February 2025, 12:30-14:00
Setting up a new project can be a daunting task. Should you write a detailed project plan? Focus on a risk assessment? How to go about setting KPIs? Is a project handbook helpful? We'll be hearing about PRISMs' experience of using these tools on research projects, sharing links to practical models and examples, and also reflecting on what to do when the team is resistant to engaging. Members only event - join the network and email us for joining details.
 

3) The REF and HiddenREF for PRISMs

18 March 2025, 13:30-15:00
How should the contributions of PRISMs towards the UK’s research sector be assessed? Currently, PRISMs do not fit neatly into the research assessment structures of the UK. For example:

• PRISMs contribute to the smooth running of research groups, but rarely get their names on the research outputs they enable.
• Some PRISMs are on research contracts and will be counted in HESA returns towards the volume measure in the REF; others on professional service contracts won’t be counted, though they work as closely with researchers.
• PRISMs prepare and write impact case studies, but are not credited.
• PRISMs are pivotal to the day-to-day research culture of their groups, setting both relational and recording norms, but these factors are hard to capture in institutional data.
• Many PRISMs work in interdisciplinary spaces which don’t fit into units of assessment.

Should the UK care more about assessing our work, directly or indirectly? What can we do to engage with current research assessment structures? For example by joining an assessment panel or developing non-traditional research outputs. Join Duncan Shermer of REF and Simon Hettrick of HiddenREF to explore how both of these structures are engaging with PRISMs currently, and how they expect to see this change over time. Members only event - join the network and email us for joining details.