If you're planning to continue your career in academia, it's important to understand which competencies are essential to develop. While effective strategies will differ across disciplines, there are also broader trends and expectations that are valuable for everyone to be aware of.
In line with the recent expansion of the concept of research competence, UiO has developed an assessment matrix (UiO-KVM) for academic careers. Even if you're not applying for a job or promotion at UiO, you can use the matrix to structure and evaluate your own research competence.
The matrix is based on five areas of competence:
- Research output
- Research process
- Teaching, supervision and mentoring
- Societal contribution
- Academic leadership
| Competence area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Scientific qualifications (research output and research process) | Published work, datasets, software, leadership/participation in research projects or research groups, scholarly development work, peer reviews, academic presentations |
| Educational competence | Teaching experience, planning, development and evaluation of teaching programmes, pedagogical training, research supervision, development of teaching materials or new teaching methods, mentoring |
| Knowledge in practice | Relevant courses, dissemination to the general public or specific user groups, participation in public debate, commercial application, patents or licenses, government advisory work, contributions to societal development |
| Qualifications in academic leadership and administration | Leadership of research projects/networks, research and educational leadership, leadership roles in academia, committee work, participation in boards and councils |
| Personal qualifications | Personal qualities specified in the job announcement, how personal qualities have contributed to specific results, your role in research and educational collaborations, contribution to the work environment, collegial attitude and practice |
If you want to learn more about UiO’s assessment matrix and how research competence is evaluated at UiO, you can refer to UiO's guidelines for members of expert committees.
The assessment matrix can be a useful tool both for developing a career plan (which areas should you strengthen?) and for effectively communicating your competence when applying for jobs.
Read more about career planning
Read more about job opportunities
Assessment of qualifications beyond academia
If you are exploring career opportunities outside academia, so-called transferable skills become important.