Researcher Development

The Research Development Framework (RDF) is a national initiative developed by Vitae in consultation with the research councils.

The RDF statement sets out the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of effective and highly skilled researchers appropriate for a wide range of careers. It is endorsed by all major research universities in the UK including the research councils (RCUK) , Universities UK (UUK) and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) . It provides a language by which researchers can talk about their work and is also a tool to aid continuing professional development.

As such it is now recognised as the tool for supporting researcher development; it builds on and replaces the joint skills statement that was developed by the research councils some years ago. There are four main domains:

  • A. Knowledge and Intellectual Capabilities
  • B. Personal Effectiveness
  • C. Research Governance and Organisation
  • D. Engagement, Influence and Impact

RDT map all our courses to the areas of the RDF and this forms the framework for the skills analysis in Skills Forge (what is this?).

A document mapping the existing JSS to the RDF is available to download here.

Last Updated: 17 February 2011 | RDT rdt@york.ac.uk

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