Catalogue of Warwick's Enhancing Research Culture Projects
Discover how academics from across disciplines are shaping and supporting research culture initiatives.
These case studies highlight innovative practices, shared values, and collaborative efforts that are driving positive change within the research community and beyond.
We received Enhancing Research Culture funding from Research England, which we reinvested into our community through an internal funding opportunity designed to be as inclusive as possible, actively encouraging leadership from underrepresented groups within research.
Our projects are led by diverse teams of postgraduate researchers (PGRs), technicians, research enablers, and researchers at all career stages.
Through the call, we posed a simple but important question:
"What are the key research culture priorities of the groups you represent, and how would you use up to £10K or £50K to address them?"
Internal funding guidance was designed to be inclusive, actively encouraging leadership from underrepresented groups within research. Through this call, we also created a platform for dialogue, enabling the sharing and refinement of both our vision for research culture and that of the community.
Comprehensive support was provided to refine initial proposals, fostering alignment with sector-wide priorities and enhancing their potential to deliver meaningful benefits and lasting impact.
To date, we have supported over 100 projects, led by diverse teams that include PGRs, technicians, research enablers, and researchers across all career stages. These projects are helping to shape a research culture that reflects the values and needs of the whole community.
The teams involved are now key champions spearheading the ongoing development of research culture at Warwick, sharing their insights and experiences through our growing communities of practice.
We are capturing the recommendations and outputs of these projects in our Research Culture Catalogue, providing a valuable resource for anyone looking to explore and implement best practices in research culture within their own institutional, disciplinary, or career-stage context
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Re-contextualising failure in academic research culture: Exploring how non-success has been understood and identifying recommendations to improve wellbeing | Dr Nicky Thomas | WMS |
| Building Wellbeing Literacy: Co-creating Learning Opportunities for Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Researchers | Professor Elena Riva | IATL |
| Enhancing support structures for PGRs and ESRs in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: from thesis to monograph, from conference to edited volume | Professor Alison Cooley | Humanities |
| Navigating New Horizons: Enhancing Mental Health Support for Postdoctoral Researchers | Dr Jake Brooks | Engineering |
| Understanding how women conceptualise the impact of menopause on academic careers | Dr Marina Mendonca | Psychology |
| Enhancing the International Researcher Experience in the Faculty of Arts | Dr Nancy Jiang | English & Comparative Library Studies |
| Ambassadors for Better Research Culture: Confronting the researcher mental health crisis in STEM | Dr Amy Godfrey | WMS |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Enhancing WMS’s Research Culture: implementing a community co-produced roadmap |
Professor Kirstie Haywood and Adele Kenny |
WMS |
| Establishing Warwick as a Global Centre of Postdoctoral Support |
Dr Fiona Fisher |
IAS |
| Enhancing the Research Experience of Postgraduate and Undergraduate students in Chemistry and the Wider Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine by Boosting the Cohort Experience and Skills Training |
Dr Rebecca Notman | Chemistry |
| Workshop for PGRs and Early Career Researchers in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: how to work with publishers |
Professor Alison Cooley |
History |
| Ambassadors for Better Research Culture - Researcher's Peer Support Initiative |
Catriona Conway | WMS |
| Celebrating and Supporting Neurodivergent PGR Students |
Lauren Wilkinson |
Psychology |
| Grant Writing Demystified |
Dr Anne Gerritsen |
History |
| Pathways in Research: building resilience and collaborations |
Dr Giulia Lorenzi |
Philosophy |
| Enhancing International Researcher Experience within English and Comparative Literary Studies |
Dr Nancy Jiang |
English |
| Publishing your first research article |
Dr Erin Gorsich |
SLS |
| Identifying and targeting cultural barriers to clinical academic progression and retention |
Dr Joshua Odendaal |
WMS |
| Cultivating a shared research culture in a new School of Education |
Professor Emma Williams |
SELCS |
| Enhancing inter-cultural awareness among international postgraduate researchers and their research supervisors at Warwick |
Dr Maryam Masood |
WMG |
| Empowering Minds: Navigating Mental Health in Academic Research |
Dr Ehsan Ghadim | Chemistry |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Ambassadors for Better Research Culture, Gibbet Hill programme 2022-23 | Dr Cerys Currie | WMS |
| Towards a Warwick STEM R&D People and Culture Hub: Empowering People's Voices | Professor Georgia Kremmyda | Engineering |
| Enhancing the PhD experience in Chemistry by boosting the cohort experience and skills training |
Dr Reinhard Maurer |
Chemistry |
| NextGen PostDoc - Creating sustainable high quality postdoctoral training at Warwick |
Dr Fiona Fisher | IAS |
| Enhancing WMS’s Research Culture through Co-Production and Active Community Engagement |
Professor Kirstie Haywood |
WMS |
| “Mind the Gap: moving from experience to action” |
Dr Elizabeth Fullam |
SLS |
| Publishing your first research article |
Dr Erin Gorsich |
SLS |
| Supporting History ECR monographs |
Professor Anne Gerritsen |
History |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Enhancing the Postdoc Research Culture with a User-Centred Design Approach |
Professor Peter Scott |
IAS |
| ECR CPD Framework and Researcher Development one stop shop |
Manus Conaghan |
LMD |
| Health GRP ECR symposium Event |
Professor Lawrence Young |
WMS |
| ECR conference 2022 |
Roxanne Douglas |
English |
| Warwick Postdoctoral Society of Chemistry: Speed Networking Event |
Marta Pereira Da Silva Neves |
Chemistry |
| IDIERI Conference |
Dr Rachel Turner-King |
Education Studies |
| ECR Conference: The McDonaldization of justice and the disappearance of fair trial? |
Professor Jackie Hodgson | Law |
| Reimagining Research Culture | Dr Elizabeth Fullam | SLS |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Addressing Challenges that Impede the Progression and Retention of Early to Mid-Career Female and Female-Identifying individuals in Academia |
Dr Talar Moukhtarian | WMS |
| Building a diverse, supported research culture across multiple disciplines in SCAPVC |
Professor Yvette Hutchison |
SCAPVC |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Addressing social mobility issues in STEM: Cross-Faculty Research Culture Partnership |
Dr Craig Carnegie |
WMG |
| ECR STS Global |
Prof Elena Korosteleva |
IGSD |
| Understanding self (neurodivergent researchers) |
Dr Tara Schiller |
WMG |
| Supporting Neurodivergent PGRs |
Professor Olympia Palikara |
Education Studies |
| Research practices as sites of research culture: The barriers to, and enablers of, research identified through creative workshops that support researchers to explore research problems |
Dr Harriet Richmond |
LMD |
| Creating localised and institution wide forums for RTProfs |
Dr Sarah Bennett |
SLS |
| Supervisor Success: Supervise & Support |
Dr Claire Bastie |
WMS |
| The IEL Collective Mentoring and Professional Development Scheme: Research and Impact Writing and Publications Workshop |
Professor Celine Tan |
Law |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Mediation Mindset for PhD Supervisors |
Dr Jane Bryan |
Law |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Data Science for Social Good UK 2022 (DSSGx) Summer Programme |
Dr Lyudmila Grigoryeva |
Statistics |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Addressing Social Mobility Issues in STEM: A National push for sharing best practice through a Midlands Network |
Dr Craig Carnegie |
WMG |
| Inclusion in the research environment: research programme for care-experienced, estranged and asylum seeker students |
Dr Ellis Ryan |
WP |
| CUWiP |
Dr Susan Burrows |
Physics |
| Towards More Inclusive Practices: Supporting Female PGRs and ECRs with Caring Responsibilities |
Cagla Karatepe |
Applied Linguistics |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Inclusive Mentoring to promote under-represented groups in STEM |
Diana Meza |
SLS |
| Developing reasonable adjustments and mitigating circumstances practices for inclusive doctoral research participation - MADE |
Dr James Burford |
Education Studies |
| Increasing the participation of part time PGR students through a co-designed writing retreat |
Cat Jones | Education Studies |
| "Breaking Bad" Barriers to Leading Research - A Concordat for Growing Research Equity | Sarah Wilson | WMG |
| Summer Research Programme for Undergraduates from Underrepresented Groups |
Professor Diane Maclagan |
Mathematics |
| Empowering Academic Aspirations: Addressing Challenges and Biases in Remote Recruitment in the Post-Pandemic Era |
Jiahao Yang
|
Psychology |
| Equitea |
Dr Azib Norazman |
Physics |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Social Mobility Student Research Hub |
Dr Tammy Thiele |
Education Group |
| Enhancing Research Culture through Beacon Internships: championing diversity and equitable access to clinical research for medical students |
Professor Kirstie Haywood |
WMS |
| Technician Led Outreach Demonstrators |
Professor David Leadley |
Physics |
| Improving access and participation in engineering research (IAPER) |
Dr Freeha Azmat |
WMG |
| Addressing social mobility issues in STEM through the development of WMG’s Research Culture and contribution to the wider University of Warwick Community |
Dr Craig Carnegie |
WMG |
| Showcasing Physics research |
Dr Susan Burrows |
Physics |
| Wider research community access to underrepresented researchers |
Dr Anita Khadka |
WMG |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| 'I, too, could be a scientist' - Building Pathways into R&D for Students from Non-Traditional Backgrounds |
Dr Friederike Schlaghecken |
Psychology |
| inVISIBLE Conference |
Dr Maria Kariuki |
Chemistry |
| EDI Enrichment in WMG Research |
Dr Vannessa Goodship |
WMG |
| Reimagining a STEM Research Culture: Lessons Learnt from 20 years of Evolution for Inclusive Representation in Science and Engineering |
Professor Georgia Kremmyda |
Engineering |
| Creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive research environment |
Professor Sotaro Kita |
Psychology |
| Warwick Astronomy Knowledge Exchange (WAKE) |
Dr Paul Strøm |
Physics |
| A Coventry-specific assessment of the barriers to HE, research and innovation careers amongst local young refugees and asylum-seekers |
Dr Ursula Clayton |
English and Comparative Literary Studies |
| Social Mobility Student Research Hub |
Dr Damien Homer |
Widening Participation |
| A Positive Start | Dr Nicola Knowles |
WMG |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Advancing Open Research and Data Stewardship: Cross-Disciplinary Insights and Best Practices |
Sofia Fernandes |
Library |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Open sourcing engineering biology through undergraduate research |
Dr Alexander Darlington |
Engineering |
| Open access, creative publication. Post-Communist Grounds. In Search of the Commons Article |
Dr Neda Genova |
CIM |
| Measuring and Encouraging Open Research Practices |
Professor Adam Sanborn |
Psychology |
| Poetry Emporium |
Rachael Kirwan |
Business Partnerships |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Creating and supporting shared scientific resources |
Dr Sarah Bennett |
SLS |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Leveraging FAIR Principles and AI to Enhance Research Collaboration and Societal Impact |
Sofia Fernandes |
Library |
| Countering silos and hierarchies through peer-to-peer research-in-progress conversations (Phase Two) |
Professor Richard Smith |
Applied Linguistics |
| Building a diverse, supported research culture across multiple disciplines in SCAPVC |
Professor Yvette Hutchison |
SCAPVC |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| GeoTheatre: Towards Environmental and Research Sustainability |
Professor Alison Ribeiro de Meneze |
SMLC |
| Engaging Parenting Skills Coaches in Active Research Involvement |
Dr Nathan Hodson | WMS |
| Countering silos and hierarchies through peer-to-peer research-in-progress conversations |
Professor Richard Smith |
Applied Linguistics |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Visual identification with Partition history through Virtual Reality and traditional animation |
Saadia Gardezi |
PAIS |
|
Facilitating a Pathway for Arts Research Impact in the School Sector
|
Dr Kathryn van De Wiel |
Arts |
|
Sustainable Development in a VACU-world: a transdisciplinary outlook (SUS-DEV)
|
Professor Elena Korosteleva |
IGSD |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher researcher support network |
Dr Kate Mawson | Centre for Teacher Education |
| Enhancing research cultures in social justice lawyering |
Dr Tara Mulqueen |
Law |
| Rivers as a resource for all (Citizen Science: “know your river”) |
Dr Chiara Borsetto |
SLS |
| Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Exchange (WIRE) |
Professor Kerry Kirwan |
WMG |
| Delivering new approaches to coproducing research with communities |
Dr James Hodkinson |
SMLC |
| STEM Connections: Empowering Researchers to Engage New Audiences |
Professor Margaret Low |
WMG |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| The Beacon Academy – creating clinical academic excellence through celebrating and supporting widening access |
Professor Kirstie Haywood and Chloe Berg |
WMS |
| Start Locally: Enhancing the School of Modern Languages & Cultures Research Culture and Diversity |
Professor Elisabeth Herrmann |
SMLC |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Searching for a supervisor: Demystifying pre-application doctoral communications |
Dr James Burford |
CES |
| Project Name | Lead | Department |
| Opening up the Black Box of Pre-application Doctoral Communications |
Dr James Burford |
Education Studies |
Research Culture Catalogue
Explore key recommendations and valuable outputs from Warwick’s research culture projects. This catalogue provides a valuable resource for anyone looking to explore and implement best practices in research culture within their own institutional, disciplinary, or career-stage context.
Each project entry includes an overview of activities, key recommendations, and links to additional resources.
Use the filters on the left-hand side to navigate by theme, career stage, or discipline.