Aidan Wilson1, Jacky Kwun Lun Cho2, Heela Popal1,2, Shaun Grady3, Maria del Mar Quiroga4, Pat Loria5
1Intersect Australia, Sydney, Australia, 2UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 3Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, Australia, 4Melbourne Data Analytics Platform, The University of Melbourne, 5Queensland Cyberinfrastructure Foundation, St Lucia, Australia
Biography:
Aidan Wilson is Intersect Australia’s Digital Research Services Manager, where he supervises a team of Digital Research Analysts, and manages Intersect’s Researcher Skills Training Program. Aidan has been heavily involved in training delivery and systems since he joined Intersect in 2015.
Prior to this, Aidan was a linguistics researcher working in the field of Australia’s Indigenous Languages, focusing in particular on the verb morphology of Traditional Tiwi, and other languages from the top-end, one of the most linguistically diverse regions on Earth. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9858-5470
Jacky Cho is a program manager with Research Technology Services at UNSW, focusing on infrastructure and governance for research data storage and management. He is also a lead for the ResTech community program, which upskill and engages research communities to make the best use of research infrastructure both at UNSW and nationally. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7591-100X
Heela Popal is a Digital Research Analyst (DRA) at Intersect Australia based at the Research Technology Services (ResTech) at UNSW. As a member of the community team at ResTech, Heela schedules and coordinates Intersect trainings. Heela has a PhD in the discipline of Government and International Relations from the University of Sydney and has been a sessional academic prior to the role of DRA at Intersect Australia. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6042-4643
Shaun Grady is a Senior Health Informatician within the Data Sciences platform at Hunter Medical Research Institute and manages the Data Sciences Research Training Program. Shaun has been developing and delivering research training across Australia since 2019, and is now focusing these efforts on providing training opportunities for researchers in the Hunter New England area and regional NSW.
Shaun is originally a Radiation Therapist by training with specific research interests in role development, clinical process improvement and utilisation of health data.
Mar is a Senior Research Data Specialist at the Melbourne Data Analytics Platform, where she works with researchers across all faculties and domains to bring the benefits of data-led methods to their fields. She is currently leading the HASS Taskforce, an exciting initiative that aims to empower and inspire researchers in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences to embrace the potential of digital methodologies and create communities of practice and peer support.
Pat is the Executive Manager of Skills Development at Queensland Cyberinfrastructure Foundation.
Abstract:
This session brings together leading organisations to share and discuss solutions and experiences addressing key challenges to effectively raise awareness of and deliver researcher upskilling through training programs. Attendees of this session, consisting of representatives from organisations that currently, or plan to, deliver researcher training programs, will gain actionable insights and strategies to develop or enhance their respective programs.
This solutions-oriented session will consist of various interactive formats: breakout sessions; Q&A; open discussion; following brief presentations around the topics below. The exact format for each discussion will be dictated by the preferences of the participants.
– Workforce: Strategies for developing and sustaining a skilled workforce focusing on recruitment, training, retention and succession planning, and Fair Work practices.
– Training Content: The benefits and challenges of tailoring bespoke training material versus the adoption of off-the-shelf resources.
– Infrastructure and Delivery: An overview of systems necessary to deliver and maintain training quality across modalities, formats, and scales, from in-person workshops to online self-paced courses.
– Evaluating and reporting Success: Methods and metrics to support continual evaluation of training program success, to inform improvement efforts and demonstrate value to senior stakeholders for sustained support.
This collaborative format is designed to encourage the exchange of insights and experiences dedicated to advancing researcher training across the sector and aligning with national best-practice approaches.
The discussion points will be synthesised into a report on key considerations of effective digital research upskilling, to be published after the conference and presented at a future skills-related forum.