Research Staff Representation

Research Staff (RS) are defined as researchers employed at the University of Manchester usually supported by research grants from external funding bodies.

It is the University’s aim to have RS Representatives in place in every School/Division/Department across the University, as well as the necessary governance and reporting structures at School, Faculty and University level to make RS representation meaningful.

The role description for research staff representatives can be found here.

If you are unsure of who your representative is, you can check this list.

Faculty RS Rep Forums

Faculty RS Forum meetings take place on a regular basis (3-4 times per year). They are organised by the Researcher Development Team and are attended by School/Division/Department RS Reps and senior leaders within the Faculty. Issues raised in these meetings are progressed, where appropriate, to the Faculty Research Committee/Group and the University Research Staff Strategy Group, with a flow of communication backwards and forwards.

The Faculty RS Forums aim:

• To raise awareness throughout the Faculty of issues of concern and instances of good practice relating to the employment of research staff.
• To provide guidance to the senior management team in the Faculty and the University Research Staff Strategy Group on issues related to research staff.
• To coordinate the activities of Schools based research staff networks.
• To identify and support initiatives for the career development of research staff, including provision of training in generic and transferable skills.‌

How can you become involved?

All Research Staff are invited to actively participate in promoting the interests of research staff and, in doing so, realise benefits for researchers, the Faculties, and The University of Manchester. Please contact the RS Reps in your School/ Division and join the working groups and social gatherings to find out more and to support this important work. See the RS Reps role description for further information on the responsibilities.

How can you contact RS Reps in your School/ Division?

RS Reps in your School/ Division use communication channels including School newsletters, noticeboards, social media, websites and blogs.

Contact us! The Researcher Development team can provide a current list of contacts and to help you to become involved.

RS Reps on Research Staff Strategy Group

The group is convened as a forum for University wide discussions in relation to the personal and career development of University research staff and to develop a University wide strategy for the development of research staff. Research staff reps are:

Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health – Joan Chang

Faculty of Humanities – Catherine Evans

Faculty of Science and Engineering – Emily Matthews