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Research Culture

Future Actions

Heading

Area

Action

Objective

Action
Environment and Culture Inclusive Research Communities Research Culture Committee Ensure that voices from all stakeholders are heard and discussed, share best practice and influence developments. Develop effective mechanisms for collating and disseminating information on research culture initiatives, new policies and practices and researcher responsibilities. Review of Research Code of Practice.
Research Staff Forum Ensure that researcher voice can influence policy and practice in aspects contributing towards a positive research culture. Develop a proposal for changes to the Research Staff Forum and implement changes to the role and remit of the Research Staff Forum.
Research Culture Comms Raise awareness of research culture and how researchers can get involved, showcase initiatives both internally and externally. Promote Research Culture web pages.
Promotion to funders of projects and initiatives.
Research Culture events Enable researchers to talk about the challenges they face in research culture, reflect on what a better culture would look like, and propose solutions for change. Organise workshops using Wellcome Café Culture toolkit.
Review outcomes from Celebrating Research Culture Conference.
ERCF projects Encourage diverse communities to undertake projects to develop a positive research culture. Showcase 2021-22 projects and disseminate project outcomes, encouraging wider adoption of practices / guidance where appropriate.
Allocate funding for 2022-23 encouraging awardees to produce outputs for wider adoption.
Culture survey Collate feedback on belonging and inclusion, identify areas of strength to build upon and areas that need improvement. Social Inclusion leading on action plan.
Warwick Values work Develop a set of behavioural values that are inspiring and workable. Warwick Story and Values project.
Well-being Bullying and harassment Ensure that everyone at Warwick feels safe and there is an environment where prejudice and socially unacceptable behaviour are not tolerated. Collate case studies of good practice, examples of unacceptable behaviours, and an institutional statement regarding expected behaviours.
Challenging inappropriate behaviour training Encourage and support people to speak out and challenge inappropriate behaviour. Roll out training to more departments / groups. Review training outcomes to assess impact.
Thrive at work survey Collate feedback and identify actions to develop an environment that supports Warwick's community wellbeing. Well-being leading on action plan.
Research Integrity Research Integrity training and awareness raising Provide a supportive environment for researchers, upholding the highest standards of rigour in research. Increase numbers of researchers completing online training.
Offer bespoke training on research integrity / ethics with drop-in sessions.
Responsible Innovation Ensure research and innovation is socially desirable and undertaken in the public interest. Roll out Responsible Innovation training.
Open Research Reproducibility Promote good research practice and ensure research results are robust. Consider joining the UK Reproducibility Network.
Employment Research Careers Recruitment and selection processes Ensure end-to-end recruitment and selection approaches embed inclusive practices. HR leading on review of recruitment and selection processes.
Induction Provide new researchers with an overview of relevant policies and practices and opportunities for networking. New extended induction programme targeted at early-stage researchers (ESR).
Promotion Establish clear academic promotions pathway and transparent framework, and ensure inclusive promotion opportunities. Next step to track promotion progress by grade and by protected characteristics.
Supervision Provide PGR supervision that is supportive and inclusive. Doctoral College is leading on inclusive supervision project.
Leadership Framework Grow organisational capability and talent through excellent management and leadership. HR is leading on development of leadership behavioural framework.
PDR processes Provide opportunities for researchers to engage with managers on career development discussions. HR leading on Objectives Management project.
Workload allocation Develop a workload model that promotes a healthy and inclusive environment. Workload Model Steering Group working with key stakeholders with the aim of developing a workload framework / template with agreed target metrics.
Fixed term contracts To consider the institutional policy / use of short-term research contracts, and if these can be reduced to improve job security. Review of Fixed Term Contract policy.
Focused support for researchers coming to end of FTCs.
Ensure widespread adherence to redeployment policy.
Policy and decision making Ensure researchers, particularly ECRs have an opportunity to contribute to policy development. Ensure ECR representation on University Committees and encourage engagement with departmental Research Committees. Review membership of URC, RGAEC, RCF.
Celebrating success Highlight our diversity and measure success through a wide range of measures. Increased comms to showcase the work and celebrate the ‘good news stories’ of all levels of researcher across all disciplines.
Professional and Career Development Researcher development and training 10 professional development days Provide opportunities, structured support, encouragement and time for researchers to engage in a minimum of ten days professional development pro rata per year. Ensure that this is being supported across all Faculties / disciplines.
Launch of Early Stage Researcher (ESR) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework Ensure ESRs feel able to make confident and informed decisions about their professional progression, and the direction and development of their research interests. Launch and roll out of framework.
Careers support and advice - transition between industry and academia Develop career support for PGR and ECRs that highlights different career paths, including non-academic careers. Introduction of new training and development session: ‘Transferable Skills in Research Careers’.
Develop further options for career support, particularly transition between sectors.
Review of training provision Coordinate research training provision across the University’s research community, including PGRs. Research Operations sub-group work on co-ordination of researcher development / training.
Post-award induction for new PIs Raise awareness amongst PIs of their responsibilities to their research teams and funders through post-award comms and support. Develop post-award training, comms and support.
Researcher Development Impact Evaluation Framework Evaluate professional learning and development programmes available to researchers at Warwick. Develop and roll out framework.