Research Culture and Environment here at Manchester
28 Oct 2024
Building better research cultures together
Good research culture is an integral part of how we work together here at Manchester.
It is the way that we collaborate, communicate, and interact with each other; the behaviours, attitudes, and values that shape how our research is developed, conducted, and used; and the mechanisms by which we support research and recognise and reward that work.
Vice-President for Research, Professor Colette Fagan explains: “We all have an essential role to play in this. You as individuals, through your commitment to a conscientious, considerate way of working, and the University, faculties, and schools through support and development provision.”
Facilitating a research culture that is creative, collegial and collaborative has been built into the themes of Our Future Research and Discovery strategic plan, our Statement of Research Contribution Expectations and our academic and research promotions criteria. Still, we need to continuously reflect on, and develop, the research culture we work in – there’s always room for improvement.
Starting in this academic year, Associate Vice-President for Research, Professor Melissa Westwood will be taking a lead, on behalf of Research Strategy Group, on initiatives to enhance our institutional research culture and environment by collaborating with colleagues across the University to amplify the great work already taking place locally.
We will focus on four themes, drawn from the Vitae’s Research Culture Framework, that address how we work with each other: support, openness, trust, and collaboration. Our priority areas are:
- Supporting diverse and rewarding careers
- Enabling open and impactful research
- Upholding the highest levels of responsible and ethical research
- Building collaboration and interdisciplinarity
More detail on our work under these themes, and information on how you can engage with support and resources can be found on our new Research Culture and Environment Hub.
Melissa has been Associate Vice-President for Research since 2018. In this role she has led on many initiatives to enhance research culture for our PGRs, research staff, fellows, and methodologists.
This has included strategic leadership of the Researcher Development Concordat and the HR Excellence in Research Award which have enhanced the recognition, visibility, career pathways and development opportunities for research staff.
As Director of Manchester Doctoral College, she worked to enhance the PGR experience, including improving support and development opportunities for PGRs and their supervisors across the University. Melissa also led on an Office for Students and Research England funded project to enhance provision and resources for wellbeing and mental health amongst our PGR community.
Melissa said: “The University of Manchester has always been a great place to do research. I have enjoyed working in a truly collegiate and collaborative research environment during my time at Manchester, and I am looking forward to working with teams across the University to identify and share the many examples of positive research culture we have, as well as working together to address areas we need to improve.”
Colette added: “I know that Melissa will do a great job of bringing everyone together to make Manchester an even better place to do amazing and impactful research. She will continue her work with Research Staff Strategy Group and the Fellowship Strategy Group and will have oversight of PGR strategy.
“I am also delighted to welcome Professor Elly Cartwright to the role of MDC Director, building on her role as Head of Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and academic lead for research staff in FBMH.”
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