3 Day Challenge of Science Leadership Course

This Course, now in its 13th year, enables participants to make significant advances in their leadership journey in just 3 days.

It is designed for professionals working in science – whether in research, education, policy, regulation or implementation.

The Course provides tools, processes and interactive learning experiences that support each of the 6 Science Leadership Challenges.

The 3 days have the following themes:

Thinking Strategically

Providing tools and processes to support creative and strategic thinking about key problems and opportunities. Participants work on a big idea they want to develop.

Influencing Others

Practical leadership tools and strategies for effective communication with people inside and outside your organisation – including using different influencing styles, dealing with difficult conversations and getting buy in when you need it.

Enabling Action

Enabling action comprises sessions on time management (an oft expressed need), developing yourself as a leader, coaching and mentoring conversations and action planning – to identify the key ideas and actions to take back to the workplace.

The CSL course has been run over 80 times since its inception in 2013:

98%

considered they had tools to help them be more effective and productive in their work

91%

agreed the course would benefit their organisation

89%

had a plan of practical actions for their personal development

82%

were more aware of their potential as a leader

96%

said they would recommend colleagues to take this course

90%

better understood what they needed to do to be more successful in their professional life

81%

felt more confident about their ability to lead

The CSL course has been run over 80 times since its inception in 2013:

98%

considered they had tools to help them be more effective and productive in their work

96%

said they would recommend colleagues to take this course

91%

agreed the course would benefit their organisation

90%

better understood what they needed to do to be more successful in their professional life

89%

had a plan of practical actions for their personal development

82%

were more aware of their potential as a leader

81%

felt more confident about their ability to lead

Who Attends?

We’ve worked with over 2,000 scientists from over 150 science organisations including those in academia, research, the government sector, the NGO community, and the corporate sector. Most come from the wider environmental sector – ie Marine, Freshwater, Climate, Nature, Food and Energy.

For example, a recent course had participants from 11 organisations including the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Defra, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Natural Resources Wales, Orsted, South West Water, UK Hydrographic Office, West Country Rivers Trust, Ocean Ecology and Natural England.

The CSL Course can be run both externally and in-house.

External Course:

This is regularly offered 4 times a year – Plymouth (January and June), Wallingford, Oxford (March) and Edinburgh (November). In 2025, it will also be available in Aberdeen (4-6 March).External courses offer the opportunity to be ‘away’ from work, which allows participants to engage with other science professionals from a range of organisations, the chance to discover new perspectives and ways of working with the safety of sharing work and leadership challenges.

In-house Course:

We have run these for a variety of organisations in the UK and internationally. See ‘Working with Organisations’ for more information.

Course Registration and Payment

If you are ready to book your place, you can either:

  1. Book Online – Click the link below, register and pay by card
  2. Book with invoice – Click contact below to reserve your place and get an invoice payable by bank transfer or credit card by phone.

If you need more information, contact us ….

The external CSL courses per year are now booking up quite quickly. If you find yourself unable to book a place on one, you might want to see if your organisation would want to host a course for Barefoot to deliver ‘in-house’.