RDF 2025 Planner Guidance - Useful links for users

Using the Planner

The planner is designed to support you, no matter what stage of your career. It allows you to:

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Understand your strengths

The framework breaks researcher development into accessible areas, helping you recognise capabilities you already have, as well as those you may not yet have noticed.

Keep track of your progress

As research careers rarely follow a straight line, the planner acts as a living record of your learning. It enables you to track your development over time, giving you a big-picture view of how your expertise evolves.

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Build confidence in your professional identity

By giving language to the skills you use every day, the planner helps you articulate your strengths - useful for CVs, applications, appraisal meetings, and development conversations.

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Support conversations and decision making

Whether you’re preparing a discussion with your supervisor, thinking about future roles, or planning your next steps, the Planner gives you a grounded sense of where you are and what options lie ahead.