Principal investigators (PIs) have a tremendous influence over their postdocs. One survey found that 67 per cent of postdocs turn to their PIs for career advice.
This stands to reason – PIs are well positioned to guide the development of their researchers’ careers, to set the tone for workplace culture, and to act as mentors. Managers of researchers can act as “gatekeepers” of a postdoc’s time and buy-in from managers can make or break postdoc career development opportunities.
Yet circumstances can often act as blockers to this role. PIs are time-pressed, with pressure to deliver against required outcomes of their research. This can leave little time to devote to people management.
Shifting gears
PIs are increasingly asked to take on more and more functions (as indicated in the Concordat to support the career development of researchers), against the backdrop of an ever-more challenging research environment and increased competition for reducing funding. But supporting the development of others comprises a distinct skillset that requires time to develop and get right.
Even putting time-restraints aside, this can be quite an ask. To quote from Luke Allsopp, a lecturer at the National Heart and Lung Institute, in Imperial’s excellent Academic’s success guide:
The gear shift to being a PI can be daunting. You’re all of a sudden steering the rudder. It’s far more like running a small business than I expected.
Managers of researchers are rarely trained to be managers, and don’t always have the knowledge of careers beyond academia that postdocs may need.
For these reasons, supporting PIs is just as critical for promoting a healthy research culture as providing resources direct to postdocs themselves. Given their complex priorities, they can be a tricky audience to engage.
So how can institutions make headway on this critical piece of the research culture puzzle?
Getting development right
The role of a PI is unique, existing within the specific context of academia. Generic management and leadership development programs designed for other sectors may not adequately address the distinct challenges faced by PIs.
Therefore, resources and programs should be specifically tailored to address the unique concerns and needs of PIs in academia. This means understanding the pressures they face, the academic environment’s intricacies, and the specific skills required to effectively support their postdocs’ career aspirations.
This doesn’t necessarily mean a completely different set of resources – many of the same leadership, team-building and psychological skills at play in other managerial settings do apply. Rather, it’s about placing these resources in the context of the academic world and giving PIs the space and community within which they can directly apply insights to their actual experience.
To encourage PIs to engage with development opportunities, it is essential to frame these programs in a way that highlights the direct benefits to their research and careers.
There can be a misconception that investing time in management and leadership development is a burdensome obligation that solely benefits postdocs or institutions.
But this far from the case. Researchers participating in career development show no decrease in time to completing their PhD degrees or in levels or quality of research output. In fact, supported staff are more productive.
To quote from an interview Prosper conducted with Elizabete Carmo-Silva, Senior Lecturer and Group Leader at Lancaster University and Prosper PI Network participant:
It’s important to recognise that a person that is happy and feels engaged with their position will deliver a better job… experiments are probably going to run better if they feel motivated and they feel they are developing.
Far from being seen as an unsuccessful reflection on their manager, postdocs that move beyond academia can become sources of research funding, increase impact through research collaboration and improve academic performance.
Recognise and reward the role
Connected with the problem are legacy structural constraints regarding how PIs are incentivised.
This is changing, in welcome ways. Part of this change is top-down. UKRI is placing an increased emphasis on people management and leadership skills in their funding calls. REF 2029 is set to increase the weighting given to research culture (albeit to a mixed reaction in terms of what this will mean, and how it will be measured).
Development of research staff is being seen as an integral outcome of funded projects and UKRI will be assessing grant applicants on how they will “support the career and professional development of their team members for a broader range of roles across the research and innovation system.”
Higher education institutions are in turn evolving to match this impetus, with universities beginning to include staff development within their recruitment and promotion criteria. But more needs to be done – and institutions need to deeply consider how they can build these new priorities into their incentive structures.
This relates back to the previous benefits point – for both PIs and institutions themselves. Leadership and management, fostering a positive, inclusive work environment: these things are no longer “added extras”. They are critical requirements for strengthening research funding applications and career progression.
Collaboration and community
Encouraging PIs to connect with their peers can be incredibly beneficial, allowing them to share experiences and solutions to common challenges. This peer-to-peer learning can very impactful, as it directly addresses real-world issues faced by PIs.
The Prosper PI Network was launched in September 2020 with the aim of creating a cross-institutional community, to empower managers of researchers to support the career development of their researchers by sharing best practice and providing peer support.
This year we’ve taken the step of opening the network up to all higher education institutions across the UK. Any PI (or aspiring PI) from any institution can attend any session, regardless of career stage and discipline – and we’re also putting the sessions themselves on a reciprocal footing, inviting HEIs to lead sessions for the network.
You can find out more and join the PI Network here. The PI Network is a cross-institutional forum for PIs across the sector, with free sessions and workshops led by a range of institutions.
