To celebrate the end of their course some participants joined with Kingston University’s Research Leadership Academy at King’s College London on 25 June 2025.
The Research Leadership Academy is aimed at health and social care professionals, researchers, public involvement members and PhD students in ARCs to learn leadership skills and build their careers. It was originally aimed at participants linked to ARC South London but following the success of the first two years, it has now expanded nationally.
The Academy is led by Prof Cilla Harries, research capacity building theme lead who congratulated everyone on completing the Academy and for committing the time to become a research leader. Participants came from a variety of backgrounds including: clinical researchers, doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and social workers. This year, more than half of the participants were practicing clinicians/practitioners, 28 were PhD students and 13 were patient and public involvement representatives.
At this year’s event participants discussed what they valued from the course including the academics sharing their personal experiences and journeys, mentorship sessions, Action Learning Sets and inspiring lectures.
Feedback was extremely positive and participants valued the opportunities for networking, learning from senior experienced research leaders and mentorship opportunities. Comments included:
Interesting lecturers from a variety of backgrounds with very diverse trajectories into research - all seemed very approachable and willing to share their advice. The Action Learning Sets were also immensely helpful, very inspiring to meet people at different stages of their research development.
Prof Cilla Harris' respectful, inclusive, supportive and caring approach as well as dedication to ensuring the Academy supports talent development and career progression in relation to research.
What I liked most about the Academy was the chance to connect with others at a similar stage, share experiences honestly, and learn from different perspectives. The supportive environment made it easy to reflect on my own leadership style and think more clearly about where I want to take my research.
The mentorship aspect, group learning sets, lectures that demystified research terminology and processes, and career building lectures
Read more about the 2025 Academy
For more information or enquiries
Email: arcshortcourses@kcl.ac.uk