Coproducing an academic career development programme to train future leaders in environment-health research with a focus on research culture and EDI across multiple institutions
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
With the emergence of new capabilities such as artificial intelligence, alongside remote working and the cost-of-living crisis, the needs of early career researcher (ECR) training are fast evolving. PhD students and ECRs increasingly face mental health challenges, driven by isolation and career uncertainty. This paper offers a critical reflection on the creation of a joint academic career development programme (JACDP) between multiple partners, which offers additional, tailored opportunities to support young researchers in universities and governmental public health institutions.
Our experience suggests that the success of a multi-institutional programme requires a deliberate collaborative and co-productive approach at all levels. In addition to sharing the different expertise in each institution to build a varied training programme, involving young researchers in planning and delivering the training and social activities, tends to increase relevance and peer participation, and to help them develop leadership and time management skills. It is important to continually review the activities, engagement and future events provided, to embed clearer evaluation within the programme, and to reflect on the accessibility of the training provided.
Our programme contributes to a positive research culture by providing relevant tailored and diverse academic and research training to develop future public health leaders while aiming to maximize inclusivity and recognising the value that PhD students and ECRs can bring to multi-partner research collaborations.
Our experience suggests that the success of a multi-institutional programme requires a deliberate collaborative and co-productive approach at all levels. In addition to sharing the different expertise in each institution to build a varied training programme, involving young researchers in planning and delivering the training and social activities, tends to increase relevance and peer participation, and to help them develop leadership and time management skills. It is important to continually review the activities, engagement and future events provided, to embed clearer evaluation within the programme, and to reflect on the accessibility of the training provided.
Our programme contributes to a positive research culture by providing relevant tailored and diverse academic and research training to develop future public health leaders while aiming to maximize inclusivity and recognising the value that PhD students and ECRs can bring to multi-partner research collaborations.
Date Issued
2025-08-27
Date Acceptance
2025-05-21
Citation
Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 2025, 12 (3), pp.133-148
Start Page
133
End Page
148
Journal / Book Title
Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal
Volume
12
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2025 Kerry A. Broom, Dimitris Evangelopoulos, Stephanie Wright, Anastasia Ioakeimidou, Ruthie Parsons, Helena Rapp-Wright, Rose Tweedie, Angela Lewis, Kirsti Hornigold, Matthew D. Wright, Liz Ainsbury, Frédéric B. Piel. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY), which permits use and redistribution of the work provided that the original author and source are credited, a link to the license is included, and an indication of changes which were made. Third-party users may not apply legal terms or technological measures to the published article which legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. If accepted for publication authors’ work will be made open access and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license unless previously agreed with Exchanges’ Editor-in-Chief prior to submission.
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Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-08-27