The brief
Nature Masterclasses Online (NMO) has been developed by Nature Research to provide professional development training for researchers.
Following Shift’s previous work to support the development of new courses to be launched in 2021, Shift was commissioned again to support the development of NMO’s 2022 courses.
The approach
A mixed-method approach was used, involving:
- Stage 1: 20 qualitative interviews with early-career and mid-career researchers based globally to explore the tasks, and their pains and gains related to potential course areas.
- Stage 2: an eSurvey to validate the results of stage 1. An online survey was sent to potential purchasers and end-users of NMO courses, to test content for topics set to be launched in 2022. The survey had a global reach. Following data cleaning, a final sample of 485 respondents was used for analysis.
The value
Shift worked in close collaboration with Nature Research throughout the project, providing a report at the end of each methodological phase, as well as data tables and access to Q Reader files. Regular meetings took place to ensure insight was shared continuously, and to enable Nature Research to meet tight deadlines and launch courses on time.
