This training workshop was the first of a series of events designed to assist early career researchers with their career planning. The workshop was planned and delivered in partnership with CRAC: The Career Development Organisation who manages the UK GRAD Programme.

PARTICIPANTS
The event was designed for a group of 25 post doctorate researchers who had recently participated in bilateral partnership programmes managed by the British Council in their own country. Italy's Partnership Programme was represented by Jason Johnson (Bristol Heart Institute), Andrea Bassi (Milan Polytechnic), Luca Bertinetti (ISTEC-CNR, Faenza) and Massimiliano d'Aquino (University of Naples "Parthenope")

WORKSHOP CONTENT
By the end of the workshop participants will have had the opportunity of developing their awareness of, and identified, some personal strategies for:

• Developing and maintaining international networks
  A successful research career in the twenty-first century requires personal mobility between institutions and countries, and also requires the development and maintenance of personal professional networks, and international collaboration. In turn, this requires researchers to have the necessary awareness and flexibility to operate in different working environments.
• Communicating effectively to different audiences
  Communicating effectively to international audiences is a key research skill. It is necessary in a range of contexts -  for publication, for funding, for collaboration, for self-promotion, for dissemination. Different approaches are required in each of these contexts, although some common principles can be drawn from them.
• Getting ahead: exploring routes to, and successfully applying for, international funding Researchers need to be able to identify potential sources of funding, as well as research opportunities suitable for collaboration and securing funding. This also requires the effective drafting of grant applications.
• Working with cross-cultural teams and working in cross-cultural environments. Research requires collaboration, both within institutions and between them. Some of these may be formal in structure, others less formal. Successfully operating in this context requires a range of skills - including communication, negotiation, networking, people and project management. And all such groups are likely to be both international and inter-cultural in nature, requiring further skills - including understanding cultural differences and overcoming barriers to remote working.