Research evidence to action for healthy research cultures: REACT-RC
Project summary
Researcher and research professional wellbeing, and the healthy research cultures, have become strategic priorities across UK higher education. However, the national report from the Re-Well HE project showed that the challenge facing the sector is no longer a lack of commitment. Universities have invested in a wide range of wellbeing and research culture initiatives, but these are often fragmented, inconsistently evaluated and focused on supporting individuals rather than addressing the organisational conditions associated with occupational stress. As a result, considerable institutional effort is not yet leading to shared learning or a clear understanding of which approaches are most effective.
The next stage is therefore not to introduce further initiatives, but to strengthen the ways in which universities evaluate existing activity, identify effective approaches and put evidence into practice. This requires national coordination, evidence gathered over time, shared priorities and collaboration between universities, funders, policymakers, professional organisations and sector bodies. Through Re-Well HE and Building Wellbeing Literacy, Warwick has already established the evidence, partnerships and resources needed to lead this work. REACT-RC will build on these foundations to move from understanding the challenges towards practical, evidence-informed action.
The REACT-RC project has six aims:
Aim 1
To maximise the national reach and use of the Re-Well National Report through targeted dissemination and sector engagement with higher education institutions, funders, policymakers and professional and sector bodies.
Aim 2
To establish sector consensus on priority institutional actions through a Delphi study, informing a sector-wide Good Practice Framework for Researcher and Research Professional Wellbeing.
Aim 3
To extend the national evidence base through longitudinal follow-up and continued analysis of organisational and researcher survey data.
Aim 4
To produce a Good Practice Framework for Researcher and Research Professional Wellbeing, integrating project evidence and sector consensus to support context-appropriate institutional action.Aim 5
To identify the University of Warwick's priorities for action through collaborative interpretation of project findings.
Aim 6
To generate evidence on the scalability of the Building Wellbeing Literacy resource and its effectiveness in supporting ECRs wellbeing literacy through multi-institutional evaluation.
Continuing the journey towards healthier research cultures
REACT-RC builds on the foundations established through two ERCF-funded projects: Re-Well HE: Embedding Researcher and Research Professional Staff Wellbeing into Research Culture (2025–2026) and Building Wellbeing Literacy: Co-creating Opportunities for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers (2024–2025). REACT-RC will bring these projects together, combining national evidence generation with researcher-facing resources to translate findings into evidence-informed action for healthier research cultures across the UK higher education sector.
Re-Well HE project
Building Wellbeing Literacy project
Other research culture projects conducted by the team:
HealthyMindEd
HealthyMindEd aims to raise awareness of student and teacher wellbeing at national and international level and to equip university staff with the knowledge and skills to design digital teaching-learning environments that promote health and wellbeing.
Principal Investigator (Warwick)
Professor Elena Riva
Research Fellow
Dr Tania Villanueva-Cabello
Funder
Erasmus+
The women in academia (WinA) project – phase 1
The WinA project
used a mixed-methods approach to explore challenges to the progression and retention of early- to mid-career stage women in academia. Results informed a co-developed report of actionable recommendations for funders and higher education institutions.
Principal Investigator
Dr Talar Moukhtarian
Research Fellow
Dr Amber Tout
Funder
Enhancing Research Culture Fund (2024-2025), University of Warwick
Funded through Research England’s Enhancing Research Culture Fund (ERCF), this project has been identified and supported as a strategic research culture priority at the University of Warwick. Through its engagement with sector-level partners, the project is also helping to shape the wider national research culture agenda as part of the National Centre for Research Culture’s portfolio of work.