Working Together: Energy
Working together to target RCUK strategic objectives
Background and aims
RDSO are piloting a new approach to the analysis of research capacity at Bath by investigating the interests, motivations and needs of individual academics, as well as the potential for multidisciplinary working across the university. This approach will involve a series of ‘structured conversations’ and supported events, as well as desk research, in order to assess both existing capability and opportunities for the development of new research relationships and ways of working together.
This project is launching with the aim of establishing a base line of knowledge and expertise at the University of Bath around the RCUK strategic area of energy, with a focus on interdisciplinary and /or multidisciplinary working, and looking for those researchers who would not normally label themselves ‘Energy Researchers’ .
Through these conversations we hope to identify research groups in the academic community outside Bath in order to look at how we can build on existing relationships and initiate new collaborations. We will also identify potential non-academic end users of the knowledge and understanding that could be generated through effective multidisciplinary working, in order to help maximise the impact of energy-related research at Bath.
This project is being developed in partnership with the cross-University Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment (I-SEE) and we will be working with the Institute to ensure that the data gathered is of mutual practical and strategic use.
Anticipated outcomes
- A ‘live’ online directory of competence and expertise within the University of Bath relating to the broad area of Energy. This will complement the new Current Research Information System (CRIS) now being implemented by Katy McKen in RDSO.
- A clearer picture of the motivation and capacity of individual academics, and perceived facilitators and barriers to multidisciplinary working within Bath in this area.
- A better understanding of how capacity in this area can be best linked to academic and non-academic partners outside Bath for the development of compelling research projects.
Contacts
Projects Leads:
- Sarah Jones (Research Development Manager, RDSO)
- Dr Gareth Buchanan (Research Development Manager, RDSO)
Interviews, events and online resource development:
- Karin Silver (Social and Policy Sciences, working in partnership with RDSO)
To arrange to speak to Karin, or to find out more, please contact us via the project mailbox:
working-together@bath.ac.uk