Some of Scotland’s most talented budding researchers will gather in Aberdeen this week for a prestigious leadership and development programme.
A group of 30 specially selected researchers from across the country’s universities and research institutes will descend on Robert Gordon University (RGU) on Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19 to take part in the ultimate phase of the 2015 Scottish Crucible development programme.
Designed to foster interdisciplinary research collaborations and innovation, Scottish Crucible brings together talented early-career researchers for a series of intensive two-day ‘labs’ aimed at expanding their creative capacity and enhancing the impact of their research.
The programme includes participants from all academic disciplines including life, physical and environmental sciences, engineering, medicine, arts, design, social science and humanities.
It gives them a unique opportunity to broaden their networks by engaging with peers from across Scotland’s research base as well as senior representatives from science, policy, government, media and business.
Now in its seventh year, Scottish Crucible takes place annually with the component ‘labs’ hosted by three different partner institutions each year. The first two workshops for Scottish Crucible 2015 were held at the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Scottish Parliament in April and the University of Dundee in May, with RGU hosting the final ‘lab’ in June.
Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, principal of RGU, said: “We are delighted to host the third phase of this year’s Scottish Crucible which plays a key role in helping to ensure Scotland’s research output is innovative and leading.
“Participants will return armed with a greater understanding of how science can benefit society and how thinking creatively can really make a difference to research, translating it into policy, knowledge transfer and public engagement.”
The RGU hosted ‘lab’ will focus on knowledge exchange and development of research collaborations and feature senior guest speakers from RGU, University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh, Orkney Science Festival and the Oil & Gas Innovation Centre. It will be facilitated by BBC radio science broadcaster, Quentin Cooper.
Dr Ruth Neiland, director of Scottish Crucible said: “Scottish Crucible focuses on key academic attributes of collaboration, interdisciplinarity, innovation and leadership with the aim of inspiring researchers to be more ambitious, creative and innovative in their research and interdisciplinary collaborations.
“We’re delighted to be welcomed to Aberdeen by Robert Gordon University and I’m sure we’ll see some fascinating research ideas and networks emerging from the work Scottish Crucible will undertake over two days at the Garthdee Campus.”
Scottish Crucible is supported by the Scottish Funding Council, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament and Universities Scotland. It is designed for experienced post-doctoral researchers and lecturers in their first academic position and applications are welcomed annually from researchers in all Scottish universities, research institutes and SMEs.
More information on the 2015 Scottish Crucible visit http://www1.hw.ac.uk/scottishcrucible/index.html