BGS Vice President Research and Academic Affairs: self-nominations sought

BGS Vice President Research and Academic Affairs: self-nominations sought
Closing Date: Friday 26 May 2023

Role

The Vice President Research and Academic Affairs plays a vital role within the British Geriatrics Society, leading its work to promote research into ageing and older people’s healthcare and the application of evidence-based knowledge to clinical practice across the continuum of care. The BGS aims to strengthen research opportunities, skills and impact through its research community and through the reputation and reach of its academic journal, Age and Ageing.

The VP Research and Academic Affairs chairs the Research and Academic Development Committee (RADC), setting and delivering a workplan, in line with the BGS’s Strategic Plan and its overall mission of improving healthcare for older people. Responsibilities for different parts of the workplan are shared out between Committee members according to interest and experience.

The VP Research and Academic Affairs is supported by the BGS Scientific Officer, who helps to convene the RADC and to coordinate ongoing projects.

The VP contributes to the overall governance and strategic direction of the BGS. Although they attend Board meetings, they are not a charity trustee.

This is a great opportunity to take on a strategic role in the BGS, developing your skills in leadership, communication and influencing and giving you an opportunity to connect academic work with clinical practice. It would provide an ideal springboard into other national roles in research or roles bridging clinical and academic work.

You are…

A geriatrician or senior health professional with substantial research or academic experience and a member of the BGS

Able to think strategically about the BGS’s role in promoting research and academic endeavour in the field of ageing and older people’s medicine and healthcare.

Interested in further developing the BGS’s role to promote the value and profile of research and to strengthen links with research funders, academic institutions and the BGS’s academic journal, Age and Ageing.

Comfortable chairing meetings and drawing on the skills and experience of different professions.

Keen to take on a leadership role in the BGS and contribute to its mission.

Able to win and keep the respect of the BGS research-active community and with sufficient time and ‘bandwidth’ to undertake the role.

Through this role, you will be able to...

Promote better understanding of the importance and value of research in contributing to the evidence base on ageing and older people’s healthcare.

Drive the research agenda related to older people’s health and healthcare, seeking to influence the funding strategies of research councils and other research commissioners to address research gaps.

Use the BGS’s networks and channels to promote and disseminate research findings and evidence to support research impact, and thereby to improve clinical quality and practice and to influence policy and commissioning.

Help build research expertise and capacity among multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and promote academic and research career pathways.

Promote quality in the delivery of research including clinical trials, advocating for equity of inclusion to enable older people to participate in research and for findings to be generalisable to this population.

Gain experience chairing the BGS Research and Academic Development Committee and acting as a Board member of the BGS.

Duties

Job Purpose

To contribute to the delivery of the BGS’s Strategic Plan and its strategic objective on research by developing and delivering a workplan with the RADC.

To promote and facilitate research relating to ageing and age-related diseases and to encourage the involvement of BGS members in the research process.

To chair the Research and Academic Development Committee, including working with the BGS Scientific Officer to prepare for meetings, and between meetings to motivate committee members to complete work taken on.

To attend and report to BGS Trustee Board meetings and advise on matters relating to academic affairs; and to work with fellow Vice-presidents to promote connections between research and clinical practice (including through the BGS’s Special Interest Groups), research and professional education, and research and policy.

To oversee and contribute to the process for developing and awarding BGS grants and prizes relating to research, including the joint BGS/Dunhill Clinical fellowship, Rising Star (Research) awards, Research project grants and other relevant research-related awards.

To highlight the development of research skills and capacity by promoting careers in research or in combined roles, advocating for academic positions and encouraging junior doctors and other healthcare professionals to develop their research expertise.

To maintain a close and productive relationship with the BGS’s independent academic journal, Age and Ageing, and to optimise relevant synergies between the journal and the BGS research community.

To oversee communication of information about research opportunities and developments through the BGS Research Hub on the website and through other channels such as the BGS newsletter and e-bulletin.

To plan and deliver research-related content for the BGS’s national meetings and to oversee the research abstracts process.

To represent the BGS and liaise with other organisations such as the NIHR, Association of Academics in Geriatric Medicine (AAGM), RCP, Dunhill Medical Trust and other relevant academic and third sector bodies.

To pursue opportunities for the BGS to support age-related research initiatives led by others, bringing to bear the BGS brand, network and research community as appropriate.

To work with the CEO and Scientific Officer on initiatives to support the research community across the four countries of the UK and to increase its visibility, pipeline and access to funding.

Term

The Vice President Research and Academic Affairs will serve for three years, taking office in November 2023, when the term of office of the current Vice-President, Dr Emily Henderson, ends. This is a voluntary, unpaid role, although travel costs and other expenses will be covered (in accordance with the BGS expenses policy). You will receive a free place to attend a BGS national meeting each year.

Time Commitment

The VP Research and Academic Affairs attends:

Research and Academic Development Committee (4 meetings a year, chaired by the VP; 3 held virtually)

BGS Trustee Board (4 meetings a year; 2/3 in person including an awayday in July)

RCP/BGS officer meetings (2 meetings a year, held virtually)

The time commitment will not normally exceed 2.5 days per month, but this can be spread unevenly. It is not expected the VP Research and Academic Affairs will attend all the Board and RCP meetings.

How To Apply

Please send a CV of no more than 3 pages with a statement of no more than 2 pages, setting out how you would approach the role. The closing date is 26 May 2023, and your application should be sent to Jo Gough via J [dot] Gough [at] bgsorg [dot] uk Interviews will be held in early June via Teams.

If you would like to discuss the role, please contact Jo Gough, who will put you in touch with the BGS CEO, Sarah Mistry, or the current VP Research and Academic Affairs, Dr Emily Henderson.