British Council Researcher Connect Programmes

Empowering Early Career Researchers Across the Globe

The Researcher Connect programme, run by the British Council since around 2020, delivers professional development workshops aimed at supporting early and mid-career researchers in non-English-speaking countries. It strengthens researchers’ communication skills for international publication, funding applications, and global networking

Programme Structure

•  Delivered through interactive face-to-face and online modules, typically over 2–3 days per cohort .

•  The modular curriculum includes:

•  Know Your Audience, Abstracts, Academic Collaboration

•  Effective Emails, Presenting with Impact

•  Persuasive Proposals, Academic Writing, Digital Researcher

•  Sessions are capped at ~20–30 participants to maximize interaction and personalized feedback

•  Modules are adaptable to the needs of partner institutions.

Global Reach & Impact

•  Since around 2020, 2,000+ early career researchers across more than 16 countries have participated.

•  Delivered in diverse regions—Latin America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe—via both in-person and virtual formats

•  Alumni report improved publication success, stronger funding proposals, and expanded global networks.

TecheSight has been an ongoing delivery partner in the Researcher Connect programme since 2020. Alongside British Council-certified UK-based trainers, TecheSight team have co-designed and facilitated modules focused on:

•  Academic communication strategies

•  Research dissemination

•  Collaborative proposal writing

The leadership has been instrumental in overseeing workshops for over 2,000 researchers from 16+ countries to date.

Key Outcomes

•  Enhanced communication proficiency: Participants report being more effective in writing, presenting, and networking

•  Stronger publication and funding success rates

•  Higher institutional visibility: Researchers are now better equipped to represent their institutions internationally

•  Peer-to-peer networks across participating countries foster long-term research collaboration.