RCEN@Warwick
Launch of RCEN@Warwick: Enhancing Research Culture Funding Call 2026-2027
Nurturing a Supportive and Collaborative Research Culture at Warwick
Research culture impacts everybody involved in research at Warwick.
Together, we support an inclusive, collaborative and thriving research environment. We are committed to empowering colleagues across all roles and career stages, and we particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups. Applications are encouraged from a diversity of roles, including research professionals, postgraduate researchers, early career researchers, technical professionals, and academic staff, including teaching-focussed colleagues.
Introducing RCEN@Warwick
This year, alongside the Enhancing Research Culture Funding call, we will be launching a new platform: RCEN@Warwick.
RCEN@Warwick will provide a convening space for colleagues from across the University who are committed to improving the quality, reach, and impact of research culture work through community and connection. This aligns with Warwick’s research culture strategy and its shared vision of a thriving research community in which people are supported to be their best as they deliver excellence in research which changes lives and society for the better.
RCEN@Warwick is not intended to replace existing governance structures, committees, or strategic groups. Instead, it acts as a bridge between community-led ideas and evidence, and the existing channels through which change is shaped and embedded at Warwick. By connecting colleagues into strategic activity already underway, the network aims to help reduce duplication and strengthen collective progress. The network will play an active role in testing and advancing activity linked to Warwick’s research culture roadmap and action plan. By piloting approaches, and identifying opportunities and challenges emerging from across the community, RCEN@Warwick can help support the delivery of current priorities while also informing how these continue to evolve over time.
Key Dates
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Call opens: 25 June 2026
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Application deadline: 31 July 2026
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Funding confirmation (Research England): August 2026 (indicative)
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Review panel: Early September 2026
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Decisions announced: Late September 2026
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Earliest project start date: Mid-October 2026
New for 2026-2027
This year, we are funding two distinct types of activity (up to £10K):
1. Communities of Practice
Funding for groups of colleagues who come together around shared interests or challenges in research culture, creating ongoing spaces for and collaboration and support.
2. Task, Finish and Sustain Groups
Time-limited, action-oriented initiatives focused on addressing a defined research culture challenge, with a clear plan for delivering tangible outputs and sustaining impact (changing business as usual at Warwick) beyond the funding period.