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Professor Buckingham announced as chair of strategy group supporting development of research staff

JBuckingham

Brunel Vice-Chancellor Professor Julia Buckingham has been announced as the new Chair of a national strategy group set up to support researchers in UK Higher Education.

The Concordat Strategy Group, which includes members from the HE sector, funding councils and charity organisations, establishes principles and standards for employers of research staff and defines responsibilities of researchers.

Professor Buckingham said: “It is vital that university researchers are given the support they need from the institutions that employ them, and it’s something that I and Brunel University London hold very dearly. I am delighted to be given such an important role in ensuring that is the case across the sector.”

Over the next year the Concordat Strategy Group, consisting of 23 representatives from  stakeholder organisations and supported by the activities of non-profit professional development programme Vitae, will review progress in implementing the Concordat principles and how it will evolve to ensure it continues to support the UK higher education sector.

Since 2008, the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers has been a critical agreement in improving human resources management of hundreds of thousands of researchers and researcher careers within higher education in the UK.

Currently, 100 UK universities hold the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award, which recognises progress in implementing the principles of the Concordat.