Research role - services in partnership with a research associate
COI research is action research undertaken by services in partnership with a research associate. The research associate must be someone who has access to ethics committee processes to enable ethics approval to be sought and obtained for the research.
The expectation is that there will be only one research associate although exceptions have been made in very exceptional circumstances in relation to specific cases where mitigating factors have justified it. For example, where the issue of access to ethics approcal arises because the research associate chosen by the centre is independent of an institution or where, becuase of the nature of the innovation, the expertise is needed to spread across two people rather than being available within the one person.
The role of the research associate is to build research capability by supporting the teacher researchers. A key requirement of this role is the ability to mentor teachers in their new role. Research associates must have completed post graduate qualifications and have ECE research expertise, particularly in designing and carrying out research projects. In addition, they must commit to working with the COI over the course of three years.