ARDC Skills Summit

The Challenge

Creating and developing communities around skills training is an important activity for the ARDC and the research sector. There are many opportunities for the cross-pollination of training ideas and sharing of best practices, but these are usually channelled through more discrete and smaller networking groups. 

Our commitment to investing in an annual ARDC Skills Summit recognises the need for the broader community to come together to share best practice and guide the development of a national data and digital research skills strategy. Our annual ARDC Skills Summit is a key activity in our Skills and Workforce Development Program. 

The Response

The Summit provides a vibrant forum for skills communities to network, exchange information, share new initiatives, celebrate success and work together on common challenges.

The Summit brings together stakeholders involved or interested in developing an Australian research workforce composed of both digitally skilled researchers and research support professionals.

Its annual program is designed in partnership with the trainer community and aims to engage our attendees and encourage the sharing of expertise and experiences. It focuses on:

• active participation in discussions
• tackling challenges
• formulating recommendations 
• making decisions on future directions for skills training and trainer communities.

In addition to the Summit, the ARDC hosts monthly National Skills Forums for digital research skills trainers and practitioners to have public, sector-wide conversations.

Target Outcomes

The annual ARDC Skills Summit is consolidating community involvement and shared responsibility for the development of, and response to, a National DDR Skills agenda while providing:

• opportunities for dialogue and sharing on topics of importance to trainer communities and the wider sector
• an open space for issues and challenges to emerge, and potential pathways for addressing those challenges
• a forum for highlighting emerging technologies: platforms, tools, methods.

Past ARDC Skills Summits

We’ve held Skills Summits in: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Read about some of our previous national skills summits and watch recordings:

14 June 2024

Powering Research Through Skills: Highlights from the ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit 2024

Exploreabout Powering Research Through Skills: Highlights from the ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit 2024

1 March 2023

Digital Research Skills Trainers Convene at the 2023 ARDC Skills Summit

Exploreabout Digital Research Skills Trainers Convene at the 2023 ARDC Skills Summit

17 November 2020

ARDC’s eResearch and Data Skills Summit Helps Turn Challenges Into Results

Exploreabout ARDC’s eResearch and Data Skills Summit Helps Turn Challenges Into Results

Also watch a retrospective by Kathryn Unsworth, Manager, Skilled Workforce Development, ARDC, on the aims, speakers and learnings of ARDC Skills Summits from 2019 to 2024:

Who Will Benefit

While the annual ARDC Skills Summit benefits trainer communities directly, there is a positive trickle-down effect for researchers. Highly skilled and engaged trainers catalyse higher quality training for researchers.

The Partners

Our partners vary from year to year. Several months before each Skills Summit, we call for Steering Committee members to:

• help with program design and development
• contribute ideas on session formats
• provide pointers to appropriate speakers 
• facilitate sessions during the Summit. 

These committee members come from a range of organisations, including national infrastructures, training service providers, institutions and other research performing organisations.