(Episode 166) Reflections on a Career at the Heart of Researcher and Academic Development with Jim Baxter

The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is delighted to share a special episode featuring Dr. Jim Baxter, Academic Development Consultant at the University of Leeds, recorded ahead of his retirement after 36 remarkable years studying and employed at the institution.

Join host Ged Hall as he sits down with his long-time colleague and former manager to reflect on Jim's extraordinary career spanning mechanical engineering research, postdoctoral work, a role as a lecturer, and over two decades shaping researcher and academic development — all at the University of Leeds.

• Hear Jim reflect on changes in higher education since the early 1990s and what these have meant for how universities support their researchers.

• Discover Jim's proudest career moments, including influencing the university's strategic recognition of researchers as people, not just producers of outputs, and designing development programmes that put researcher needs at their centre.

• Learn what Jim believes still needs to change — from helping postdocs develop realistic awareness of their career options, to the sector's ongoing struggle to properly evaluate the impact of researcher development interventions.

• Explore Jim's advice for those still working in the field: develop your networks, be compassionately honest with the people you support, and help researchers navigate the "hidden curriculum" of academic life.

• Get a glimpse of what retirement looks like for someone who has been at the same major research university for 36 years.

Organisations, episodes, etc mentioned in the interview:

• Research Leadership Provision
• Vitae’s History of Researcher Development in the UK: mentions the first GRAD school in 1968. Jim and Ged didn’t go until the early 90s.
• Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT)
• (Episode 109) Tony Bromley Reflects on his Career, the Changes, and the Future in Research Development
• Vitae’s Rugby Team Impact Framework

All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:

1. Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn) and Alix Brodie-Wray (follow Alix on LinkedIn)
2. Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
3. Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
4. Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
5. Research talent management
6. Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
7. Research co-production
8. Research evaluation
9. Research leadership
10. Research professionals
11. Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)

Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social

Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)

If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk