Participant Information Sheet: Networking Workshop and Babcock networking event
Participant Information Sheet: Networking Workshop and Babcock networking event
Title of study: Developing Business-Aware Academics
Researcher name: Dr Jo Bowler
You are being invited to take part in an academic research study. Before you decide to participate in this study, it is important that you understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take the time to read the following information carefully.
Purpose of the research
The Developing Business-Aware Academics (DBAA) project brings together academics, industry, non-profits and policy makers to inspire collaborative and impactful research that addresses today’s most urgent societal and environmental challenges. The project is designing initiatives that will offer doctoral and early-career researchers from all disciplines the knowledge, skills, and networking opportunities to engage effectively beyond academia.
The Networking workshop is a pilot initiative that is intended to prepare participants for connecting with non-academic organisations. This in-person or online workshop will be delivered by an experienced facilitator. Participants will actively engage in practical activities which may include identifying potential collaborations, networks and partnerships for research impact, understanding modes of working with non-academic organisations, understanding how to align collaborations with ethical values, understanding industry R&D, communicating complex ideas with clarity, networking efficiently and effectively, enhancing personal impact, boosting confidence, accessing networking resources and organisations.
The Networking event aims to bring together researchers and industry employees to showcase and celebrate collaborative research, spark new research collaborations and drive innovation and impact. The initiative may include inspirational speakers talking about their personal journeys, panel sessions, facilitated fireside chats, lightning talks, facilitated round table discussions, collaboration pitches, research-industry matchmaking activities, exhibition stands, investor pitches, awards and informal networking
Who is doing this research?
The lead researcher of this study is Professor Alison Truelove. Professor Truelove is an Associate Professor in the University of Exeter Business School. Other researchers on the team include Dr Jo Bowler, Dr Kate Ellis, Rachel Vowles and Dr Felipe Nascimento Rodrigues.
Ethical review of this Research
This study has been reviewed by the University of Exeter Business School Research Ethics Committee and received a favourable review. The review reference is 10665280. The Business School Ethics Committee may be contacted by email via the Co-Director, Steven Boyne, S.Boyne@exeter.ac.uk and Co-Director, Dr Helena Fornwagner, H.Fornwagner@exeter.ac.uk. For any comments or complaints please contact Research Ethics and Governance, cgr-reg@exeter.ac.uk.
Procedures of this study
The pilot initiatives are being tested with participants to assess the effectiveness and suitability of the sessions for inclusion in the wider DBAA programme.
Evaluation questionnaires before and after the workshops invite participants to share their views on how the workshops have equipped them for engaging with organisations beyond academia and their perception of their confidence and capabilities before and afterwards. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected using open and closed questions including some scored on a Likert scale and with free text boxes for further information. Further follow-up questions may be sent to participants by email one month and six months after the workshops to assess the longer-term impacts.
Benefits and risks of taking part
As these are pilot initiatives, we cannot guarantee any immediate direct or personal benefit to participants. However, the initiatives have been designed to support researchers develop the confidence, competence and connections to work with organisations beyond academia that participants may find useful in their career. We anticipate the evaluation questionnaire results will inform future development and refinement of training and development initiatives in business skills, competencies and mindsets for doctoral and early-career researchers that would be of general benefit to researchers. There may be some benefit to society; but this cannot be assured at the start of the research project. If you feel any discomfort or doubt about taking part, you can stop at any time. The well-being of participants is our primary consideration, and you can meet with an experienced member of the research team to discuss your participation before and after the events should you wish to do so.
Voluntary participation and your right to withdraw
Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. You are under no obligation to take part, and you may stop at any time. You will be assigned a unique participant number upon registration. If you wish to withdraw your data after completing the evaluation questionnaire, inform the researcher. The researcher will remove your data and send you confirmation of the removal.
You can request to withdraw your data at any time before the end of the project (June 2027). If you request to withdraw your data once analysis has started, your data will be removed from any analysis in progress and from any future analysis or publication. It will not be possible to withdraw your data once analysis is complete, or the results have been published. Data analysis will start at least ten days after your participation in an initiative.
Media recording and sharing
Photos and videos may be taken during the initiative and may be shared on the DBAA project communication channels including the website, newsletter, social media. If you do not want to be photographed or filmed, please tell the facilitator.
Anonymity
Your participant data will be link-anonymised; your name and contact details will not appear in the evaluation or equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) datasets, but will be linked through the consent form, so that the researcher can withdraw data on your behalf, if required. If you complete the EDI form, some personal characteristics such as age, ethnicity, gender and disability will be linked from the consent form to the evaluation data, to ensure that research findings and outputs are inclusive and accessible.
If a DBAA research partner is delivering the session, an anonymised version of the evaluation data collected during the initiative will be shared with them via a secure SharePoint folder controlled by access permissions. This is so the research partner can learn from the evaluation and work with the DBAA team to improve future iterations of the workshop.
At the end of the DBAA project in June 2027 your anonymised data will be uploaded to the Open Research Exeter (ORE) repository.
The Data Controller for this research is the University of Exeter. You may contact the Information Governance office of the University of Exeter by emailing dataprotection@exeter.ac.uk.
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The Results
Results will be published or presented in academic papers and presentations. If you wish to be updated about the results of this study please email dbaa@exeter.ac.uk.
If you have any questions or you are interested in finding out more about this research you may contact the researcher, Jo Bowler, by email at J.Bowler2@exeter.ac.uk
