Developing a team narrative CV

Why did you need to develop a narrative team CV? We were applying for a NERC ‘Pushing the Frontiers’ round, and it was the first where they were asking for the new format.

How did you find the process? It was a big change and initially it was hard to get going because it was so different. But I think it’s a brilliant format. It really gave us a chance to think through how we work together as a team, and our approach to research culture and wider engagement. We were a group of six, so it was a logistical challenge to fit everything into four sections on just two pages.

So how did you go about it? Once we'd had feedback on our initial attempt, we brainstormed our ideas for each section and then had lots of emails and calls to drill down into the detail. We tried to be really specific about our examples, to pick the most relevant ones rather than to list everything, and to show how a particular paper or engagement advanced the field or contributed to the wider research environment.

What did you like about the format? It was great to be able to write about our approach to research culture and career development – from how we run meetings to how we support family leave. The format is really useful to capture these important elements of research that traditional CVs don't, and the fact that this now counts in applications incentivises teams to do it better.

Was the feedback useful? Yes, we had feedback from the NERC internal review board, who told us that our first attempt wasn’t really what the research council was looking for and sent us back to the drawing board. But that forced us to rethink and then really get to grips with the new approach.

Did anything else help? We were in touch with research colleagues in other institutions, who were exploring the same issues. This peer support was very useful as there were no examples to go on at that stage. NERC also had useful guidance and its important to follow the specific requirements of the particular funder.

What advice would you give other researchers?

• Start early! The team CV is essential to the application, not an 'add on' – so don’t leave it until the last minute.
• Get feedback. This could be from internal review panels, academic peers, or professional staff. It helps to have an outside perspective to push you to really embrace the new format rather than do what you have always done.
• Make the most of it. The narrative CV is a brilliant way to showcase your wider research contribution.

What about next time? I think we’ll be more confident in the process next time, and of course we’ll have something to work with and can build in more time for reflection and review.

Last thoughts? Overall, I think the narrative CV format is a very welcome development on the research landscape.

Robert Hilton, is Professor in Earth Sciences and Tutorial Fellow at St Peters

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