We launched Researcher Realities in May 2023. It is an annual event featuring a mix of online and in-person sessions. Information about Researcher Realities and the 2026 event, can be found below. Researcher Realities is an umbrella initiative that invites conversations among and across the research community about the hows of research – the lived realities of being a researcher. This includes conversations about the contexts and circumstances that inform decisions, what to do when things go wrong, how to navigate challenges, what success looks like, and much more. To shift the focus from outputs and outcomes to research processes supports our ambition to create and foster an open, transparent, and inclusive research environment. These conversations are envisioned to allow best-practice sharing, championing unheard and underrepresented voices, and building community. We encourage these conversations in different formats and settings, including an annual event (you can check the recordings from annual events can be found here, pop-up in-person events, and curated blog series). Researcher Realities 2026 Programme - Tuesday 17th March 2026Session 1Unsuccessful funding applications: What next?Time11:00 - 12:30DescriptionEver had a funding application rejected? You are not alone. In the context of success rates for competitive schemes that’s actual the most likely outcome. It’s an outcome that can lead to a variety of responses. While might find it easy to bounce back and pitch the project to a different funder, others might feel stuck or paralysed and don’t give it another go for years. Join our panel to hear different approaches to handling rejections. SpeakersModerator: Dr Anna Pilz, Research Development Manager, ERO Panel: Dr Edoardo Ponti (School of Informatics, CSE) Prof Sukanya Krishnamurthy (School of GeoSciences, CSE) Dr Ingrid Obsuth (School of Health in Social Sciences, CAHSS) Booking LinkComing soon! Session 2Rescue SupervisionTime13:30 - 14:30DescriptionIn the 2024 UKCGE Research Supervision Survey, 57% of research supervisor respondents noted that they took on at least one doctoral candidate that was previously supervised by someone else (UKCGE 2024). This panel discussion will include supervisors from different disciplines who have at some point in their supervisory journey taken on a PhD student that was previously supervised by another supervisor or group of supervisors. Broadly defined as “rescue supervision,” supervisors take on students previously supervised by other supervisor(s) for a wide and diverse range of reasons, and the shift in relationships and projects can be simultaneously exciting, challenging and rewarding. This panel will broadly discuss the experience of rescue supervision, what the supervisors have learned from their experiences of undertaking rescue supervision, and what might be helpful to know to build strong relationships within the new supervisory team – between both supervisors and their research students. SpeakersModerator: Dr Lindsay Randall, Academic Developer, AQSPanel:Prof. Laura Jeffery (School of Social and Political Science, CAHSS)Prof. Patrick Hadoke (School of Neurological and Cardiovascular Sciences, CMVM)Prof. Jamie Pearce (School of GeoSciences,CSE) Booking LinkComing soon! Session 3Navigating implicit knowledge Time15:00 - 16:30DescriptionImplicit or ‘tacit’ knowledge refers to intangible and often unarticulated knowledge that is acquired through experience and practice. It is knowledge that is embedded in practices, norms, and values. Tacit knowledge can play a significant role in shaping research cultures and influencing the career trajectories of researchers. It can also perpetuate inequities and create barriers to entry, make it more difficult for people in academic and professional services roles to work together, and make the workings of the institution feel opaque and inaccessible. In addition, not all tacit knowledge is helpful, and incorrect or outdated assumptions or beliefs can be hard to repair. This panel will bring together researchers at different career stages, each with their own experiences of navigating implicit knowledge, to discuss how to make tacit knowledge more visible for themselves and others. SpeakersModerator: Dr Emily Woollen, Senior Researcher Developer, ERO Chair: Prof Jen Ross, Associate Dean (Research Cultures), CAHSS Panel: Dr Omar Alfituri, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Regeneration and Repair (CMVM) Dr Nini Kerr, Senior Lecturer, School of Health and Social Sciences (CAHSS) Dr Augusto Rocha, Lecturer, Business School (CAHSS) Prof Rob van Glabbeek, Personal Chair in Computer Science, School of Informatics (CSE) Booking LinkComing soon! This article was published on 2026-01-26
