Workshop by Justin Hutchence (Research Staff Development Manager, University of Reading) and Christos Petichakis (Educational Developer, University of Liverpool) at the Vitae event 'Preparing for the Research Excellence Framework: Researcher development, the environment and future impact' on 11 July 2012 in Manchester www.vitae.ac.uk/preparingfortheref

1. Creating a thriving research
environment
Dr Justin Hutchence, University of Reading
Dr Christos Petichakis, University of Liverpool

2. Participants should be able to gain
from this session:
• A better understanding of what a thriving research
environment may look like in the context of the REF
• Ways in which HEI central services can support units of
assessment in developing a thriving research
environment
• (Unless already discussed in the earlier parts of the
event, the presenters will explore the limits and
challenges faced when sharing good practice amongst
competing institutions)

3. What does a thriving research
environment look like?

4. Elements of a thriving research environment:
Researchers making explicit plans with their advisors at the outset of their
appointment were more productive and satisfied with their experience than those
that had not (Davis, 2009)
Those who do not actively plan their career tend to be less engaged and take less
advantage of opportunities on offer (CROS 2009/11)
Researchers are provided with information and advice about different careers
within and outside academia (Mellors-Bourne and Metcalfe 2009)
Tackling isolation as it impacts on ability to perform effectively and on research
productivity (Moss and Kubachi, 2007)
Addressing the ambiguity of RS status in terms of employment and role (Nerad and
Cerny, 1999)
As well as: mentoring, collaborative opportunities, interdisciplinarity, quality
professional development, annual review, provision of research intelligence, strong
publications/funding

5. Thriving environment in research
groups
Ability to deliver project
on time
Creativity
Develop
researchers
Doing “good”
research
A team that
functions well together
Demonstrating
Impact
Networking

6. What can central services do to support
a thriving research environment?
a. Which central services
b. Processes they can facilitate/coordinate
c. Policies that may impact on the processes

7. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Research & Enterprise
Development
– Facilitating links with
business, social enterprise
and other outside
organisations
– Supporting funding
applications
– Facilitating impact
– Promoting
interdisciplinary research
– IP support and advice

8. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Finance
– Clear, understandable and
reliable financial
reporting which can easily
be interrogated
– Information management
and research intelligence
gathering
– Procurement

9. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• IT Services
– Provision of specialist support if needed
– Research data management services
– Portals to facilitate collaborative research
– High Performance computing
– Reliability and security

10. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Quality Assurance for
Research
– Code of good practice
for the conduct of
research
– Auditing research groups
– Research governance
and ethics

11. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Development and Support
– Research Leadership – Developing PIs as career coaches
– Research Group management – Skills training for research staff and
PhD students
– Mentoring
– Research planning and review
– Engagement with national initiatives
e.g. concordat implementation, RDF,
Vitae resources, HR Badge

12. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Human Resources
– support for Principal Investigators in managing
their staff
– rewards and promotion for PIs & RS
– Redeployment
– Policy review and transparency
– Diversity and equality
– Attraction and retention of high
calibre researchers

13. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Library
– Provision of postgraduate
study rooms
– scholarly infrastructure
and content to support
world class research
(journal subscriptions and
archives)
– Training provision on range
of research topics
– Institutional research
repositories

14. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Facilities management
and infrastructure
– State of the art research
facilities
– Equipment and technical
support
– Access to worldwide
research networks

15. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Social dimension (facilitating
rich exchange of ideas and
opinions)
– Annual researcher conference
– Poster day
– RC Yes competitions
– Researcher forums
– Enterprise schools
– Alumni networks

16. Central support for a thriving
research environment
• Learning and Teaching centre
– Research led teaching initiatives
• Research content
• Research processes
• Research methods
– Supervision
– Peer assessment, peer review,
critical thinking, reflective
practice, teamwork

17. Not so “central” support for a
thriving research environment
• School/Departmental administration
– Aspects of induction
– Health and Safety
– HR matters
– Finance support
– Protect research time

18. Institutional Policies that may impact
on the research environment
• Management of permanent, fixed-term and
open-ended contracts
• Diversity and equality of opportunity
• Role evaluation scheme (HERA)
• Redeployment policy
• Policy on research ethics

19. Promoting Equality and Diversity
• Training staff on equality and diversity – see
examples of practice (Equality Challenge Unit)-
http://www.ecu.ac.uk/our-projects/REF
• Examples and case studies on handling complex
cases for reduction of required output
– Scenario presented
– Scenario analysed and rationale of decision offered
– http://www.ecu.ac.uk/documents/ref-
materials/complex-circumstances-examples

20. What support do we need from Vitae

21. Feeding back key workshop outcomes
1.
2.
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