Costing Staff Professional Development

Grant funding for staff professional development

NDCN is committed to supporting the career development of all of its staff. This commitment is endorsed by the University being a signatory to the Researcher Concordat and Technician Commitment, and the development of Professional Services Staff is one of the key priorities of the University Professional Services Together programme.

The department aims to provide a supportive infrastructure to enable staff to make use of their entitlement to 10 days of professional development per year. We operate a staff training fund, have launched a new staff development programme (Excel), and provide opportunities to join committees and working groups which give staff the opportunity to experience new activities, networks and responsibilities with the aim of developing skills relevant for career progression.

However, to increase the opportunities for our staff to engage in more development activities and better demonstrate our commitment, NDCN requests that all grant applications should include a budget for the continuous professional development of staff employed on the grant, unless it is explicitly defined as an ineligible cost in the grant guidelines (it is anticipated that there will be a very small minority of funders whose guidelines would specifically exclude this). The research environment of departments is an ever-growing area of interest to funders, and some funders, such as Wellcome, explicitly list continuous professional development as an eligible cost.

Not all requests for a staff development budget will be successful, but it is important that we demonstrate our commitment by always asking.

As a guide, an appropriate budget for non-specific career-based continuing professional development is £500 per year. (This is based on the sum that Wellcome advises for the PI and staff employed in a post of 12 months duration or more, and working on the grant for at least 50% FTE). The budget would cover training that is beyond the University’s standard provision, which is typically free of charge, and attendance at conferences, which typically falls under travel expenses. This could include project-specific specialist skills training relevant to the research project (for example travelling to another institution to learn a new technique, or attending an in-depth course to learn to use a specific research tool), or career-based continual professional development (for example to attend courses or meetings that could benefit the staff member beyond the core science of the research project).

Where possible, specific examples should be mentioned in the justification of resources, especially where the application includes a named postholder. Some boilerplate text to include in the justification of resources is included below.

The success/impact of this policy will be evaluated and where appropriate the boilerplate text updated in response to feedback.

Boilerplate text for justification of resources for research posts

The University is a signatory to the 2019 Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers which defines 10 days of professional development training per year as an allowance for researchers to develop their professional competencies and gain experience to support their future career. A budget of £500 per year is requested to fund the ongoing development needs of the [post holder] in line with this commitment. The use of the training budget will be tailored to the specific development needs of the post holder and will be discussed and agreed with the PI, but could include [provide some examples of training activities relevant to the proposal].

Boilerplate for justification of resources for technician posts

As a signatory to the Technician Commitment, the University supports technicians with their professional development and career progression. A budget of £500 per year is requested to fund the ongoing development needs of the [post holder] in line with this commitment. The specific development needs of the post holder will be discussed and agreed with the PI, but could include [provide some examples of training activities relevant to the proposal].

Boilerplate for justification of resources for Professional Services posts

The University supports the development of Professional Services Staff to equip them to succeed in their role and career at Oxford. A budget of £500 per year is requested to fund the ongoing development needs of the [post holder] in line with this commitment. The specific development needs of the post holder will be discussed and agreed with the PI, but could include [provide some examples of training activities relevant to the proposal].