Supporting our researchers
The world of academic research can be a very rewarding one, with the opportunity to make groundbreaking discoveries and become a world-leading expert in the field of your choice.
It can also be a challenging environment to work in, so we want to ensure that you get the support you need in order to navigate your way through these challenges.
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the University of Sheffield provide our researchers with a wide range of resources. If you choose to undertake research within the Department, you will:
- Have the full support of the Head of Department and your research supervisor
- Be part of the Department's research community
- Be invited to attend the monthly Materials Researchers Forum
- Have access to the online Flock platform to engage with other researchers within the Department
The University also has significant resource to support you through your time with us. Here are some of the support services available:
- Researcher Portal
- Think Ahead - Engineering
- Delivering the values of the Concordat for Researchers
- Planning your Professional Development
- Mentoring for Researchers
- Research Staff Development Committee
- Employment sustainability: A Researcher's Guide (PDF)
- HR Excellence in Research Award
Materials Researchers Forum
The monthly Materials Researchers Forum is run by researchers for researchers, and acts as a supportive community where research staff can share practice and support each other’s career development.
The Forum is for all research staff within the Department who have yet to be appointed to a permanent academic position, e.g. PDRAs, Research Fellows, and experimental officers.
We aim to:
- Provide peer to peer support
- Develop better networks
- Share good practice
- Develop our careers
Also, every researcher is invited to be part of our virtual community - we use Flock software as an informal platform for communication between all researchers in the department. It's a quick and easy way to share news, resources or find out where equipment or expertise is. Flock is free to use (you can download on to your desktop) and the group is shared with any researcher in the department who requests access. This is a great communication tool for our research community and even if you cannot attend the meetings you can benefit from your peers and their expertise.
With this forum, you have a voice! Representatives from the Equality and Diversity Team and the Research Staff Committee attend the meetings therefore we have the opportunity to voice our opinions to the Department and the Faculty of Engineering.