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Join the Agile Researcher Network
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The Agile Initiative is nothing if not ambitious. As well as feeding the best evidence into environmental policy through our own research Sprints, we also want to enable the wider academic community to do the same. We want to create a critical mass of researchers capable of delivering rapid, policy-led research through dedicated training and career development opportunities aligned with the Researcher Concordat.
The UK already has one of the strongest environmental research communities in the world, yet it cannot meet the scale of the environmental challenges that we now face. We need to expand and empower that community, give them the skills to work across disciplines, and react quickly to policy needs. As well as changing the culture so that this essential work is valued in academic recruitment and retention policies.
To achieve this we need you! We offer training in the Sprint approach, summer schools to share experiences and lessons from our Sprints, and other opportunities to learn with us. We are also building our network of interested researchers from Oxford and beyond who may want to work on future Sprints, as well as potential policy partners who have critical questions that they need answers to. Please register your interest and we will get in touch when we have more relevant information or opportunities for you.
Training and career development
The Agile Initiative Research Planning workshop series: April-May 2024
The Agile Initiative at the Oxford Martin School is running a series of interactive online workshops on the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ of the research project design components that underpin Agile Sprints. As part of our ongoing commitment to experimentation and capacity building, these workshops will put our learning to date on the research design and planning of our Agile Sprints into practice. Our series will cover theory of change, co-creation, interdisciplinarity, Equality Impact Assessments, impact, and Sprint leadership and management.
Past Events
The Agile Initiative at the Oxford Martin School ran a one-week residential Summer School at Oxford University between 10-14 July 2023. There were fifty places available in total for UK-based active researchers in the field at post-doctorate, PhD, DPhil and MPhil levels including a limited number of subsidised places). Find out more about the 2023 Summer School
Other Opportunities
There are other opportunities to engage with policy and build your knowledge of interdisciplinary best practice. Please find below some avenues to explore for University of Oxford researchers; if you are based at another university please contact your own institution for similar opportunities.
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Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN)
OPEN connects researchers across the University with opportunities to engage with the policymaking community locally, nationally and internationally.
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The Oxford Networks for the Environment (ONE)
Oxford has research networks dedicated to Biodiversity, Climate, Energy, Water and the Future of Food. They enable research activities and interdisciplinary collaboration to find solutions to these complex, converging challenges.
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TORCH (The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities)
Although based in the Humanities division, TORCH is a hub for intellectual collaboration and cross-disciplinary research projects. It supports and promotes research activity that transcends disciplinary and institutional boundaries.
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Public Engagement with Research Training
This central website consolidates information on Public Engagement with Research training across all Oxford divisions and externally, as well as how to get involved with the “new to PER at Oxford” buddy scheme.
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Oxford’s Researcher Hub
Launched to coincide with Oxford becoming a signatory to the Concordat for Researcher Development in April 2021 it facilitates collaboration among all staff engaged in or supporting research, make existing opportunities more accessible and to create new opportunities for personal and professional advancement.
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The Oxford DTP in Environmental Research (The NERC DTP)
Up to 20 fully funded places per year are available for this world-class training environment for research students across the breadth and at the frontiers of environmental research, which spans the breadth of the Natural Environment Research Council’s ‘Discovery Science’ remit.
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The Oxford Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP
An inclusive and innovative four-year graduate training programme, which aims to equip a new generation of researchers with the skills, insight and knowledge needed to tackle the most important challenges in bioscience research.
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Oxford’s Careers Service
Not just for students, the Careers Service offers career development support to research staff through 1:1 advice by phone or online appointment, and through researcher-specific programmes and workshops.