The Academic’s Success Guide at Imperial College London provides a robust, academically relevant foundation covering leadership, supervision, management, and academic practice. Although written for new research leaders, the sections on leadership and management contain materials that are relevant to established researchers facing a variety of challenges that relate to that career stage.

Topics include being strategic in your career, recruiting and inducting your research group, performance management, running effective meetings, resilience and time management. You can see a short video explaining how to navigate the whole Academic’s Success Guide here. We have also put together a quick overview of the different topics so you can see them in a little more detail.

The Future Leaders Fellows Development Networkhas a growing series of toolkits and blogs that are relevant to established researchers. They are designed by and for research leaders and contain concerns, quotes, case studies and advice from named research leaders throughout. Most are open access. Topics include Recruitment, Influencing, Building Inclusive Teams, Understanding the UK Research Landscape, Policy Engagement, Applying for Big Bids and Mentoring. 

• View the contents page for the FLF toolkits.
• Their growing list of blogs is here. 

The Leadership Ethos was developed by Dr Nadia Soliman, in consultation with over 200 staff from across the University of Bristol. It is designed to support the development of leadership skills at all career stages, as part of a positive and inclusive culture. The framework is built around seven core behaviours: Lead by Example; Build Trust; Develop Self and Others; Build Teams and Collaborations; Communicate Effectively; Do The Right Thing (not the easy thing); and Enable Innovation.

The interactive Leadership Ethos Gauge helps you identify your strengths and opportunities for development across these seven behaviours, and the accompanying Resource Hub provides tools, information and activities aligned to each area. It offers a clear, behaviour-based structure that can complement other research leadership development resources, particularly for established researchers who want a practical way to reflect on and strengthen their leadership approach.

Prosper PI Network is a sector-wide initiative led by the University of Liverpool and supported by UKRI, designed to enhance postdoc career development and support managers of researchers. Of particular relevance to established researchers is the PI Network, which connects managers of researchers with peers across institutions and provides access to expert-led development events focused on leadership, career development conversations and creating positive, inclusive research environments.

Alongside this, the open access platform offers structured resources to help managers support postdocs exploring careers within and beyond academia, covering areas such as career conversations, skills development, networking and recruitment processes. The PI Network offers a valuable opportunity for established researchers to learn from others facing similar challenges, reflect on their own practice and strengthen the developmental culture within their research teams.

Researchers14 Resources for PIs provides a comprehensive, open access guide for Principal Investigator (PI) development and the development of research teams. Drawing together resources from across the UK higher education sector, it signposts frameworks, reports and practical tools to support leadership in research and the management of researchers.

The guide is structured around key areas including landscape and context, leadership and team development, supporting postdoc professional development, PGR supervision and further personal development for PIs. It connects users to sector-wide frameworks such as the Researcher Development Concordat and the Vitae Researcher Development Framework, alongside toolkits, blogs, supervision guidance and institutional examples of support. For established researchers, it offers a well-curated overview of the broader research leadership ecosystem, helping to situate day-to-day leadership practice within national policy, sector expectations and emerging models of PI development.