DevSET Showcased at DTP Conference
Pilot Norwich Research Park partnership program Presented at DTP summer conference.
In mid June, DevSET program creator Dr Jodi Lilley presented her program to this year’s BBSRC DTP conference in Norwich. The seminar marked a significant step for the first cohort of the scheme to demonstrate the impact DevSET has achieved for early career researchers. PhD student Valeria Gabrielli, who followed Jodi’s talk, presented her project to expand scientific careers in rural Africa and how DevSET had made her objective a reality.
As Valeria stood before the largest audience she has had yet in her academic career, she confidently provided high level theories of change, precision indicators of program monitoring and a framework with which she could evaluate each stage effectively. Valeria showed how DevSET had helped shaped her project and provided her the means to communicate her approach to stakeholders.
I was honoured to introduce the work we are doing in the JIC international office to help early career researchers across the NRP build these relationships to accelerate the impact of their research.
Dr Jodi Lilley, John Innes Centre
The Professional Internship for PhD Students is a scheme funded by the British Bioscience Research Council (BBSRC) for researchers in the Doctoral Training Program (DTP) such as Valeria. At it’s core the DTP aims to deliver researchers trained in strategically important research areas through the inclusion of a three month professional placement included in their training. These DTP Students either join an ongoing placement program or they may create their own.
While the first DevSET cohort was open to all researchers targeting development impact, it was also designed to complement some aspects of the PIPS objectives. The DevSET organisers provided this through extensive program management training to ensure a throughout project design. For DTP students on DevSET, the PIPS placement provided the perfect trial for the researcher to craft their theories of change and MLE measurement frameworks. One of the five DTP students involved in the first cohort, Jade Doughty mentioned how the program had developed her PIPS project.
‘The DevSET programme brought together our student group and provided us with the tools and knowledge necessary to sculpt our big ideas into a set of feasible, impact-driven, international PIPS placements.’
– Jade Doughty, PhD student, John Innes Centre
As Jodi Lilley concluded in her talk, the goal was not only to make more effective placement projects but to enable more effective and connected program managers. The DTP students and other DevSET members will be completing their projects over the rest of 2017. The full film documentary report will be released later in the year.
Valeria Gabrielli
