Research culture
It is a strategic priority of the University of St Andrews to undertake world-leading research of the highest quality, and the University recognises that this is dependent on a wide range of institutional, group and individual factors that define the culture and environment in which researchers work.
Drawing on the University Strategy 2022-2027, its and action plans, our vision is to nurture an institutional research culture in which a range of values and behaviours are supported and recognised, including collegiality, equality and integrity.
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Our research community is broad. It is made up of all those whose day-to-day working lives are shaped by research. This includes academics, research support professionals, technicians and a wide range of other roles at all career stages. It is an inclusive community, not an exclusive one, and as such integral to the University of ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳.
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We create the research culture we participate in. We own it through our behaviours, our words and our actions. The responsibility is on us individually and collectively to ensure that our research culture is that which we aspire for it to be. As an institution, our commitment is that where there are opportunities to recognise, support and improve research culture through action we will do so.
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Through two surveys we have learnt what your experience and views are and responded to what matters to you by identifying seven key missions to take forward.
- Collegiality, fairness and transparency: supporting each other to succeed through the observance of high standards; and treating each other with respect, including evaluating research quality using fair approaches, and demonstrating that our policies are implemented in an effective manner.
- Equality, diversity and inclusion: promoting diversity in those leading and undertaking research, and research participants, valuing individuality, and ensuring equal opportunities.
- Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration: supporting such scholarship and research where it adds value, and in doing so, recognising and valuing the range of contributions that result in effective teams.
- Career development and work-life balance: supporting each other to achieve our full potential in our chosen career paths, including development of leadership skills, and encouraging a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
- Integrity: supporting each other to apply principles of good conduct to all aspects of our research, impact and innovation activities, and to maximise the reproducibility of experiment-based research.
- Open research and public engagement: embracing open research practices, and public engagement and involvement in research.
- Research impact and responsible innovation: supporting researchers to use their research findings to influence society outwith academia, and to engage in innovation that is socially desirable and in the public interest.
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Where aspects of research culture are specific to the research experience of our community, we will drive them forward through dedicated research culture projects or actions.
We recognise though that research culture is part of our organisational culture and that we must seek to make progress holistically, this means that partnering with Schools and Units to support their strategies, policies and processes will in some cases offer us all the greatest advance. One example of this is the focussed work underway in Diverse and the People Strategy.
We are in the process of developing an ambitious, forward-looking multi-year Research Culture Strategy and Action Plan. We expect to be able to publish it in autumn 2025.
However, a lot of activity to advance and support a positive research culture has already been undertaken and more is planned during 2025.
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We conducted our first Research Culture Survey in March 2021. It considered themes and issues relating to the draft Research Culture Vision, developed by the University's Research Culture Group in 2020. The survey was revisited in 2023 to ascertain progress.
Research culture report survey 2021 (Word)
Research Culture 2021-2023 Comparison Report (Word)
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One of the University’s five Enabling Strategies is Diverse, with delivery pathways established through the People Strategy. The vision for Diverse is:
“We will make St Andrews a beacon of inclusivity, placing diversity and equality at the centre of everything we do and creating an environment in which all can flourish and realise their potential.”
In the context of research culture, Diverse and the People Strategy enables us to consider researchers and research holistically. We recognise that individuals’ roles are rarely tightly bounded, for instance researchers also teach our students and research support professionals may have elements of HR or finance in their role.
In building on the work being undertaken through the People Strategy, we ask a simple question ‘What are the implications of this for research and researchers?’ and it is through this we identify and derive our complementarity to jointly advance action. We will ensure that this is clear through our Research Culture Missions.
Three critical objectives have been identified for research under Diverse which are collaboration, career pathways, and positive and ethical working practices. These will be delivered through this joined up approach to action.
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The universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ have been awarded £3m by the Wellcome Trust, to create a new framework for research leadership – InFrame – recognising that a skilled collegial approach to leadership is critical for the development of supportive and equitable cultures, and foundational to the aspirations set out in our research culture action plans. Our collaboration aims to address the paucity of systematic knowledge on how collegiality can be fostered, recognised and rewarded. It also aims to expand the definition of who can be viewed as a research leader to a wider set of role types, and individuals in the research ecosystem.
The InFrame project started in September 2024, led at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ by Professor Tom Brown and Catherine Burns
To find out more go to the and get the latest live updates on the .
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As part of our wider commitments to ensuring an inclusive, supportive and just environment we are signatories to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, the Technician Commitment, the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), and the Concordat for Environmental Sustainability in Research Practice. We demonstrate our ongoing commitment to advancing gender equality though our Athena Swan Award in which we were awarded Silver in March 2024.
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REF 2029 People, Culture and Environment
The PCE section of the website is regularly updated.
Information associated with the can be found here including the template that pilot Units of Assessment were asked to complete, the guidance they were sent and information about the Panels that will be assessing the pilot. The pilot is expected to report in late 2025, following which the final policy decisions for PCE will be made and guidance for the sector published.
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Research culture in the UK has seen significant advancement in recent years, driven by various reports, papers and initiatives led by policymakers and funders.
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The National Centre for Research Culture – the University of Warwick hosts the national Centre, and has a range of national events, including and annual Conference aimed at those who are interested in research culture.