Are you a scientist who would like to improve their soft skills and competences? Do you want to be both: a great researcher and a leader who successfully acquires grants, manages projects and confidently builds their research team? Apply for the Rising Managers Academy (RMA), a course created by the Institute’s experts and dedicated to researchers.
The RMA consists of ten two-day training thematic blocks, during which researchers develop skills related to grant proposal writing, team management or effective communication of results and achievements to different audiences.
– Recruitment has just started and will run until 23 January. The course is free of charge, but the number of places is limited to one training group. Admission will be decided by a recruitment committee, evaluating, among other things, previous scientific achievements, project experience, including work in an international scientific environment – explains Krzysztof Wilczek, RMA coordinator on behalf of InLife.
The entire course lasts from February to December, and sessions are held on a 2-day training schedule. – These are working days, usually from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The scientists meet once a month in Olsztyn (at the Institute’s headquarters – editor’s note), where they are visited by outstanding trainers who are familiar with the specifics of the scientists’ work – adds the coordinator.
The RMA curriculum is developed using the design thinking method and is aimed at educating academics in the development of soft skills, e.g. team management, communication, leadership, project management, financial management or grant proposal writing. The work with design methods and tools is mainly in the form of a practical workshop, where participants work on a practical design challenge – from the research phase to the prototyping stage. Theory is only an introduction to the practical workshop, with content tailored to the logic of the project work. RMA coaches are trainers professionally linked to the world of science, including Tomasz Cichocki, Piotr Wasyluk, Patrycja Radek.
DO RESEARCHERS NEED COACHING?
Where did the idea for such training come from? There is a lot of trainings available on the market, there is more and more talk about personal development, self-presentation, creating a ‘personal brand’, but corporate trainings do not quite meet the needs of researchers. – Researchers, especially ones working in the life sciences, do not have many opportunities for training in soft skills, and learn the rules for essential elements of their daily work, such as grant writing, public speaking or team management, by trial and error. We felt that there was a lack of leadership skills training on the market that was tailored to the specific needs of researchers. As international and interdisciplinary activities are our daily routine, the course is conducted in English, and we invite academics from all disciplines and research and academic centres in Poland to apply – explains Krzysztof Wilczek.
NETWORKING: MORE THAN JUST A COFFEE CHAT
– The curriculum is subject to evaluation, and we, as organisers, make every effort to ensure that the scientists participating in the RMA get as much out of it as possible. Hence, for example, the idea of individual consultations with the trainers. An additional value of the programme is the opportunity to meet new people. The first two editions of the course have resulted in, among other things, joint publications and jointly submitted grant applications. Participants work in a small group, so they have time to get to know each other, and the tools and methods developed during the course encourage further action. I think this is the best recommendation for us – concludes the coordinator.
HOW TO APPLY?
Send your CV and a cover letter (or a briefing note presenting your academic profile) to: k.wilczek@pan.olsztyn.pl. Recruitment is open until 23 January 2025. Participation in the training is free, places are limited and the first classes start in February.
Learn more about the Rising Managers Academy course here.
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The Rising Managers Academy is part of the EU H2020 (952601) ERA Chairs WELCOME2 project ‘Creating the Centre of Excellence in Nutrigenomics to optimise health and well-being’, implemented at the InLife Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
