Dr Who? What skills and qualifications make an eresearch professional and how do you get them?

Dr Ghulam Murtaza¹, Dr Anastasios Papaioannou¹, Miss Peta Scot¹, Miss Kathrun Unsworth²

¹Intersect Australia, Sydney, Australia
²Australian Research Data Commons, Clayton, Australia

Background

Most eResearch Analysts (eRAs) come from a research/academic background. Research experience is important for the role, however, other specialised skills and knowledge are necessary and may not be acquired as a researcher. This transition may be challenging and is further complicated by the absence of a structured framework that outlines the skills and professional development (PD) requirements.

Method

To address the gap of skills definition for eRAs, a PD framework was developed. The first component of the framework describes six generalised skills including Research Methodology, Engagement, Project and Data Management, the eResearch Landscape and Training/Teaching. Secondly more specialised skills are described such as Statistics, Surveying tools, etc. The framework also incorporates different capability levels from Awareness to Advanced providing pathways to acquire a deeper knowledge. Furthermore, different types of materials and courses/certificates are provided in each category for individuals to choose their level of engagement.

Results

Initially, the framework was implemented by individually identifying and improving upon key gaps. Next, to capture the gaps at a team level, we designed and ran a survey with a plan to provide team workshops and presentations on the topics identified. The time allocated for PD varies and is managed via check-in sessions with management to monitor progress. External engagement around linking the framework with the broader eResearch community is underway.

Conclusion

This presentation will discuss the framework components, the implementation process, the internal progress and improvements, as well as utilisation by the broader community.

Biography:

Ghulam Murtaza

Ghulam Murtaza is eResearch services manager at Intersect Australia where he manages a team of eResearch Analysts based at its member universities. He has been working in the eResearch sector for more than six years where he has worked across multiple universities to help them build their eResearch capability and capacity. Ghulam Murtaza is a Systems and Networks researcher by training where he has used Machine Learning techniques to improve the energy efficiency of sensor platforms. He has more than 15 years of experience in cross-disciplinary research.

Anastasios Papaioannou

Dr Anastasios Papaioannou is the eResearch Training Manager & Lead Research Data Scientist at Intersect. Anastasios holds a Ph.D. in Computational Biophysics with his research focus being on Data Science, Machine Learning and computational methods in applied medicine and biology. With over 8+ years of experience as an Academic Tutor and eResearch Instructor and 10+ years of research experience, Anastasios works collaboratively with universities to help researchers enhance their skills and find solutions to their research challenges and problems.

Peta Scott

Peta Scott has been the Intersect eResearch Analyst at the University of New England for almost three years. Peta has a broad research background spanning environmental science, mental health, higher education, learning analytics and behavioural economics. Peta has expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, practices, and software.