Alumni Profile – Dr. Bryony Vince-Myers

Research and career:

Current job title:

Research Associate

Give a brief overview of your current role and responsibilities:

I’m a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the Co-Production Futures Inquiry at the Universities of Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool – a two-year Research England-funded national inquiry which aims to propose measures to address the barriers to participatory and co-produced research within UK universities and the higher education sector. I lead on research and project coordination, including data collection, analysis, dissemination, reporting, and stakeholder engagement. Alongside that, I am also a Research Associate in the Participatory Research Network at the University of Sheffield, where I lead on key initiatives to strengthen the research quality, visibility and impact of the network, including training and mentoring schemes, funding development, impact reporting, and the network’s online presence.

Describe your journey from your PhD to your current role:

After submitting my PhD in October 2024, I was awarded a three-month Publication Scholarship from the University of Sheffield to develop key aspects of my thesis into a publication. Alongside this, I continued my existing part-time role as a Research Associate in the Participatory Research Network at the University of Sheffield, funded by Research England’s Participatory Research Fund. In February 2025, I started a role as a postdoctoral Research Associate on the Co-Production Futures Inquiry, a joint Inquiry between the Universities of Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool, also funded by the Research England PRF. My time is now split between these two complementary roles.

In what way did your experience with the WRDTP prepare you for your current career?

The methods training I undertook as part of the ESRC 1+3 transformed the trajectory of my research. As well as conducting research on local and everyday peacebuilding in South Africa and the UK, a large part of the work I do now is methodological and aims to improve the conditions for doing participatory and co-produced research in UK Higher Education. This research interest was initially sparked as a result of the Social Research Methods Master’s at the Sheffield Methods Institute, which I built on through my engagement with the Participatory Research Network at Sheffield throughout the PhD.

What advice would you give to current or future WRDTP postgraduate researchers?

Try to make the most of the opportunities available to you through the WRDTP – there are some great networks, events, placements, and funding opportunities out there. Also, try to find yourself a support system in your cohort – the support and reassurance from my fellow PGR colleagues was invaluable. Aside from that, and more generally, try not to compare your own progress on the PhD with that of your colleagues. Everyone’s PhD journey looks completely different, including what milestones we reach and when we reach them (this also applies to the post-PhD career trajectory!). Oh, and don’t work on the weekends!!