Investment in more support for researchers

During the spring, a workgroup with representatives drawn from, among others, GIO, the University Library, and the Communications Office, met to discuss the various kinds of support that Professional Services offers researchers. As a result, some new activities specifically aimed at researchers have been developed and other, already ongoing activities, have been included in the researcher support programme.

“We have put together a smorgasbord of activities for researchers based on what we know is needed. The idea is that this will be a complement to our other efforts that will hopefully help us reach even more researchers. Our goals include research staff receiving support in writing great abstracts, communicating about their research to laypeople, and succeeding with their publications, just to name a few,” said Lina Färm, Research Communications Officer.

The background to this investment is that university staff who work with research support have found that they do not reach all the university’s researchers; they see that they need to do better at marketing themselves.

“We meet with researchers regularly to provide advice and support around our various areas of expertise. Some have wanted us to offer our presentations or workshops more openly, to all researchers. This was an idea that we decided to move forward with,” said Lina Färm.

More drop-in activities

Some new activities will start this spring but even more will be offered in the autumn term. Workshops in writing abstracts as well as concise academic writing are planned for the spring, and GIO recently held a seminar where the latest updates from Horizon Europe were presented; they will also hold an informational meeting about networking. The activities are held mainly in English and many will be given digitally and as drop-in activities. 

Katharina Nordling, Librarian, said that the University Library has a session planned for the spring, which will be about how researchers can use the Scopus programme to see how their research is used. In the autumn, they are planning a series of presentations about publishing.

“We want to show that the University Library wants to be an active part of the support available around researchers' and doctoral students' publications, and we want research staff to be aware of the support we offer. Our presentations will be about everything from suggesting ways to find the right journals to publish in, in order to be available to as many readers as possible, and how to keep tabs after publication on what happens with one’s research.”

Services can be tailored

Mats Dolatkhah, Research Advisor at GIO, says that their planned activities will mix together different areas within GIO to let researchers know about what kinds of support are offered. 

“It is important for those of us who work in research support to inform our target audience about the support that is available. These informational meetings are an introduction to various support functions and services, which can then often be tailored based on specific needs within, for example, a research group.”

Upcoming activities spring 2022

• 10 May Workshop on concise academic writing(Academic Communication)
• 18 May Networking and consortium building: experiences and reflections on participation in EU framework programmes (Grants and Innovation Office, GIO)
• 30 May Presentera din forskning på hb.se: forskarprofiler och projektsidor (Kommunikation)
• 8 June Find yourself in Scopus (Library)
• 14 June Autumn Writing Retreat Information Session(Academic Communication)