Researcher Development in a Rapidly Changing World – A Strategic Approach for Navigating Disruption

What is new? The rapidly evolving research landscape, driven by technological advancements, shifting institutional priorities, and increasing accountability, has disrupted traditional approaches to researcher development. Higher education institutions (HEIs) and research management administrators (RMAs) must navigate these complexities while ensuring research excellence, sustainability and global competitiveness. In this dynamic environment, RMAs and researchers have become co-creators, jointly responsible for shaping researcher development. A structured researcher development framework (RDF) is essential for systematically addressing researcher capacity challenges and aligning institutional objectives with national and global research priorities. However, existing RDFs often lack the contextual adaptability required for diverse institutional settings. This paper presents a structured roadmap for RMAs to develop a contextualised RDF that is responsive to institutional realities while maintaining global relevance. What was the approach? Causal layered analysis (CLA) was used to guide the phased process of developing a contextualised RDF and to explore and analyse systemic, cultural and structural challenges in researcher development. From this process, a structured roadmap or blueprint for RDF development emerged, based on five key components – the 5Cs: collaboration, co-creation, contextualisation, consultation and consensus-building. This roadmap provides RMAs with a structured approach to developing institution-specific RDFs systematically. What is the academic impact? The study contributes to research management and administration (RMA) by providing a replicable model for RMAs developing contextually relevant RDFs. Additionally, it highlights the role of RMAs in shaping research ecosystems and emphasises the importance of balancing global best practices with local institutional and national priorities. What is the wider impact? The implications of this study extend beyond a singular institutional setting. The phased model presented here offers a replicable strategy that has the potential to be adapted by RMAs in various higher education contexts, particularly in resource-constrained environments. Future research will focus on developing evaluation instruments to assess the effectiveness and impact of RDFs across diverse academic contexts.