Developing future research leaders : designing early career researcher programmes to enhance track record

How do leading researchers become research leaders? What are the paths they took to leadership? What can the next generation learn from the current generation of research leaders? This paper describes a mixed-methods project conducted to investigate research leadership in Australia. We present an ‘average’ career path for a research leader and our findings on how these researchers developed their groups and their careers in a highly competitive environment.While we acknowledge the factors that influenced the careers of the current generation of research leaders may not necessarily apply to the next generation, understanding the path they took may provide useful insights for those institutions looking to provide effective development and support for researchers and the research leaders of the future.