Brought to you from day 2 of the 2012 Vitae Researcher Development International Conference, this podcast executively summarises many of our conference activities, from plenary speakers to workshop leaders, to the experiences of our conference participants, the engaging final keynote and closing thoughts from Vitae's Director. Podcast programme Introduction to the podcast - Michael Duignan, Vitae 'Research staff: professional development, career development and impact' day 2 plenary speakers - Elizabeth Wilkinson, Head of Postgraduate Career Developer, University of Manchester - Dr David Finger, National Podstdoc Association, US Introduction to day 2 workshops - Michael Duignan, Vitae Snapshot of the participant experiences - various Final keynote - 'Happiness Research and happier researchers', Nic Marks, Founder of the Centre for Well-being Closing thoughts, key points and messages from day 2 - Ellen Pearce, Director, Vitae