Head of Profession
The Chief Scientific Adviser (Prof. Robert Watson) has a mandate to challenge and assure the quality of Defra science. As part of this objective, he is defining his role as Head of Science Profession (HoSP) in Defra. He has set up a project team to determine what the role should most usefully encompass - as defined by the Defra Science community itself.
The HoSP project approach has been to firstly build a bottom-up picture of the wants and needs of Defra's scientists and technical specialists. Over the past 5 months we have been gathering evidence from across the science community on what the HoSP role might be (and how this fits alongside the CSA role), and what specific help and support scientists feel they need to deliver excellence in their roles, and progress in their careers.
We need to answer three questions
- Who feels (or would like to feel) part of the Defra Science Community?
- What do they need to succeed in their current role and progress in their careers?
- What do they want from a Head of Profession?
We have taken a two-pronged approach:
- We held a series of brainstorming workshops to generate ideas and to inform the creation of a questionnaire
- We distributed this questionnaire across core Defra and the Executive Agencies to test the top ideas against a broad audience.
We are now analysing these outputs, and using them to inform a strategy and implementation plan. As the project progresses, this page will be updated with findings and, eventually, the developed strategy.
Anyone wishing to contact the project team should email us at HoSP.science@defra.gsi.gov.uk or call on 020 7238 1707.
Page last modified: 2 November 2007
Page published: 2 November 2007