IrishRSA
IrishRSA | Irish Research Staff Association
For more information, visit IrishRSA.org
The Irish Research Staff Association was set up in December 2006 under the banner of the Association of Research Contract Staff to provide help, advice and a voice for this group of workers nationally. More specifically, many contract researchers feel that there is no voice to represent them and that many of the problems that are unique to them have not been properly identified and addressed. By 2013 it was recognised that many of these same problems also extended to the wider research community as a whole. The decision was therefore to launch the international project ICoRSA to better reflect the wider membership.
Our association was set up by, and is run by Researchers on an entirely voluntary basis. IrishRSA will strive to equally represent research staff at all stages of their careers. We strongly welcome comments or questions and can be contacted at irishrsa@gmail.ie.
VISION: Nurturing communities of Irish researchers
IrishRSA supports the development of Irish HEI research staff associations
(RSA) by:
- facilitating communication between the RSA and
- sharing of best practices of research careers
IrishRSA plays an important role in the Irish research enterprise by enhancing the productivity and experiences of Irish research staff, postdoctoral scholars, and early-career researchers, who together are the lifeblood of the Irish research enterprise.
MISSION: Providing a global voice for research staff and postdoctoral scholars
Researchers are a highly mobile part of the Irish research enterprise. Policy concerning research careers in Ireland is determined through a variety of policy stakeholders. These consist of:
- Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (FHERIS)
- Irish University Association (IUA)
- Higher Education Authority (HEA)
- Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
- Irish Research Council (IRC)
At present, there is no voice representing research staff in Irish policy determining research careers in Ireland. The Irish Research Staff Association (IrishRSA) will provide this collective voice, advocate on behalf of research staff and postdoctoral scholars, and inform policy stakeholders on best practice research policy; both national and international. The mission of IrishRSA is to expand its network among existing Irish university researcher associations, as well as reach out to other national RSA (e.g. UKRSA) as well as the International Consortium of Research Staff Associations (ICoRSA), of which IrishRSA is a member. Importantly, IrishRSA wants to sow the seeds of formation of new university associations and technology institutes where RSA do not yet exist.