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Prosper Institutional case study
University of Huddersfield
The University of Huddersfield is a part of Prosper's 'Early Adopter' focus group of HEIs, and has been engaged in Mode 1 delivery of Prosper (Portal promotion, self-directed postdoc participants - see more information about modes of delivery here) since January 2024.
The case study here looks at some of ways the institution has been promoting Prosper to its researchers, and how it has been weaving the Portal into its wider researcher development offering.
Many thanks to Alison Monkhouse, Academic Researcher Development Manager at the University, who led the promotion of Prosper and helped us put this case study together.
A PDF version of the case study can be downloaded via this link.
One of the main benefits of Prosper for us is that it's there as a resource that people can tap into in their own space and their own time.
I've heard from postdocs here that they like having that independence in terms of their own development - and that it's great having the Portal as a reliable source of information for them to explore
Alison Monkhouse, Academic Researcher Development Manager, University of Huddersfield
Case study conducted
May 2025
Background and context
The University of Huddersfield (UoH), established in 1992, serves as a vital anchor institution within the Leeds City region. The university is comprised of five academic schools: Applied Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Business, Education & Law, Computing & Engineering, and Human & Health Sciences.
While UoH has achieved TEF Gold status for its teaching and learning, it is also actively focused on growing its research activity. UoH currently has approximately 540 full-time equivalent (FTE) academic and research staff, with around 80 FTE dedicated to research-only contracts and 460 FTE on teaching and research contracts.
How was Prosper used?
Alison Monkhouse is Academic Researcher Development Manager at the University, working within Research Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (RIKE), a central service providing cross-institutional support for research development and funding, managing the research environment (including staff training and development), ensuring research governance, and fostering strategic partnerships and business development.
RIKE's researcher development activities are structured around five core themes: research practice, leadership, identity, career, and impact.
Alison first learned about Prosper during its launch to the wider sector in September 2023, at the Vitae conference. Having recently started her role, Alison was exploring new avenues for research staff career development at Huddersfield.
Prosper immediately stood out as a potentially valuable resource, one that fit with RIKE’s ‘your research career’ theme.
While Huddersfield didn't have the immediate capacity to run a Prosper cohort, Alison was keen to promote the Prosper Portal as a self-directed resource for their research staff.
Through Alison, Huddersfield got involved with the Prosper Early Adopters focus group – a network of HEIs working together to shape Prosper and share practice.
Prosper introduction session
In an early example of the Prosper Exchange, Prosper collaborated with Huddersfield to deliver an online hour-long "Unlocking Postdoctoral Career Potential with Prosper" session for University staff on 19th March, 2024.
11 attendees received an introduction to the Prosper model and a comprehensive walkthrough of the resources and functionalities available on the Portal Feedback was very positive – to quote a few of those who attended:
I’m impressed with the purpose of Prosper and the magnitude of the resource.
Attendee feedback
Great to have this resource. It's useful to be able to have some independence with my development, but also to know what areas are going to be useful to spend time on.
Attendee feedback
Promotion of the Prosper introduction session posted to the Researcher Connect Teams space – a network for researchers at Huddersfield that Alison has been building
Promoting Prosper
Following this successful introductory session, Alison has continued to signpost to Prosper on an ongoing basis, weaving it into broader development communications.
Prosper content is now a dedicated block on the researcher development pages within the RIKE staff channel:
Alison has been building a community for Huddersfield researchers called “Researcher Connect”, which has a dedicated Microsoft Teams space where researchers can connect with each other, the RIKE team, and learn about development opportunities. At the start of the 2024-25 academic year this was used to promote Prosper and the Portal:
Alison promoted Prosper via a mailshot to RIKE Associate Deans in June 2024, and has featured Prosper in the RIKE newsletter:
She also arranged for Prosper to be featured in the March 2025 edition of Huddersfield’s “Training Collective” newsletter:
In 2024 RIKE piloted an ECR mentoring scheme, which is running again in 2025. Alison has signposted Prosper to those on the programme – to quote a member:
The Prosper Portal looks widely applicable indeed and I’ll share it with my line manager and other postdoc colleagues
University of Huddersfield ECR mentoring scheme member
Incorporating Portal resources into sessions
Alison has also actively incorporated Prosper resources into other existing staff development sessions.
Every month, Alison runs a “Reflections for Researchers” session where Huddersfield researchers are encouraged to connect and engage with development exercises.
In June 2024, she used a Prosper Portal resource on “emotional timelines” to inform an exercise for that month’s session:
Future plans
Huddersfield's initial approach has focused on promoting Prosper and the Portal to raise awareness and encourage self-directed engagement among research staff.
Future plans aim to build upon this by integrating Prosper resources into regular development sessions, in a similar vein to the "Reflections for Researchers" session in June 2024.
Alison will explore integrating Prosper and the Portal further into its ECR mentoring programme, drawing on the benefits of peer-to-peer and face-to-face mutual development.
Inspired by a connection made at Prosper’s Practice Exchange event in February 2025, Alison is also exploring collaboration with the institution’s student and PGR-facing careers team, recognising the significant overlap in development models and the potential for shared learning and resources.
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