About the Researcher Hub

Are you one of Oxford’s approximately 5,000 researchers on a fixed-term or open-ended contract?

We are here for your development at Oxford and your career beyond.

Our resources also help inform and support academics and Principal Investigators in managing their research colleagues effectively, and building positive, supportive research cultures across the University.

The Researcher Hub plays a key coordinating role in Oxford’s efforts to meet our commitments to the national Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, signed by the University in April 2021, as set out in our institutional Concordat Action Plan 2025-2030.

          1. Creating a supportive, inclusive and equitable research environment.
          2. Recognising and valuing the diverse contributions of researchers.
          3. Supporting researchers to achieve a range of career goals.

We work with practitioners and leaders across the University who are invested in improving the everyday environments of researchers. The Researcher Hub is part of the Research Environment Programmes Team in Research Services.

Culture change takes time and can be tough, particularly in a large, decentralised University. Our collective work aims to build on what is good at Oxford and to address issues that undermine the experiences of researchers and their academic managers/PIs, and compromises the quality of their research.

We have:

• Coordinated the co-creation of Oxford’s first Action Plan to fulfil the national Concordat to support the Career Development of Researchers 2022-2025 and subsequent current Concordat Action Plan 2025-2030, involving researchers, academics and professional service colleagues from across the University
• Tracked and reported annually on the University’s delivery to the above natinonal Concordat Action Plans, producing an infographic of milestones achieved by 2025.
• Enabled and continued to support the researcher representation framework and researcher representatives
• Developed and delivered termly training for managers and researchers, including The Confident Manager ‘Essentials of People Management in Research’, and ‘Developing Teams’ modules
• Hosted regular welcoming events for new researchers and created a Welcome to Oxford page for researchers with helpful videos and information
• Appointed Careers Advisors for Researchers for 1:1 support for research staff and events
• Created resources like the Researcher's Trailmap and Career Development Review Guides
• Supported researchers in planning and using 10 days of professional development pro rata per year.

We are working to increase the visibility of the University’s commitments and related researcher responsibilities for their career development. 

In collaboration with divisions, the Careers Services, HR teams and Research Services, we are growing and tracking the reach, uptake and effectiveness of the existing provisions for researchers and their academic managers.

We will also continue piloting and evaluating innovative and scalable approaches that enable researchers to develop their careers​.

We are keen to say hello and answer your questions. Please email [email protected]

All researchers employed at Oxford are warmly invited to join activities organised by the Oxford Research Staff Society and to set up a confidential appointment with our highly-experienced careers advisers for researchers, based in the Careers Service.

Dr Ann Gilletti
Societies and Volunteering Coordinator
[email protected]

Ann is the Administrative Officer for the Oxford Research Staff Society (OxRSS) and is its Committee Secretary, and she is a researcher in the Humanities Division. OxRSS hosts social and networking events and is run by researchers at Oxford who volunteer their time.

She supports OxRSS events, manages the budget and communications, and coordinates Committee activities. Please contact her if you would like to know more about OxRSS.

Dr Susan Black
Careers Adviser for Researchers
[email protected]

Susan offers career support to research staff across all the departments, divisions, and colleges at the University of Oxford. Prior to this she spent many years as a researcher in the medical sciences, joining Oxford as a senior postdoctoral researcher within the Department of Structural Biology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine.  Industrial partnership was a core part of her research agenda undertaking long term collaborative projects with Unilever and Merck among others.

While she was a doctoral student, the University of Aberdeen became a signatory to The Concordat to support Career Development of Researchers.  Having seen early in her career the benefits this had for her postdoctoral colleagues and then later herself, this area became a continuing passion.  She coordinates the Narrative CV training team with divisional and departmental colleagues and offers one-to-one careers support across all disciplines and career sectors.

Dr Chris Jeffs
Careers Adviser for Researchers
[email protected]

Chris is a Careers Adviser at the Careers Service supporting research staff. Before his current role, Chris worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the (now replaced!) Zoology Department in Oxford, before pursuing a career switch into the charity sector leading on public engagement, outreach, and career development projects.

In addition to supporting researchers through 1:1 appointments and development workshops, Chris coordinates the annual ‘Careers Beyond Academia’ conference for researchers, running online panel events and a careers fair with employers seeking to recruit researchers transitioning to new career paths.