Research culture: let's reimagine how we work together
We want to hear your solutions to improve research culture. As a funder we need to play our part, and your role is essential. Achieving a successful research culture needs collective responsibility and change at all levels. Your ideas will help us to craft a set of ambitious goals for creating a better culture.
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Thousands of researchers have taken part in the largest ever survey into experiences of research culture. Now we want to hear your solutions to some of the concerns that have been raised. Your ideas will help us craft a set of ambitious goals for creating a better culture.
Check out the ideas that have already been suggested below, comment and vote for the ones you think could make a difference. Or you can add your own idea following this format (you'll need to create an account to vote and add responses).
Add your idea:
Title of your idea/solution
Enter a short description (optional):
1) A brief description - who can make the change and how?
2) Examples of what you could do to support this change.
3) Stick to under 250 words.
4) If you want, you can tag your institution!
Help us make sure everyone feels safe and free to engage in discussions. Don't be rude, hateful or insulting--we will not tolerate this. You can respectfully challenge ideas but never attack the person. Check out our forum etiquette and moderation rules.
Find out more about Wellcome's campaign to reimagine research.
View All Ideasalmost 2 years ago
Ghostbust
Query (and declare that you will do so) reported outputs which do not include junior members of research teams (since these are more likely to be ghost authors since junior people often do the heavy lifting of projects for which others get the credit).
over 1 year ago
Introduce exit interviews at universities
Exit interview at end of an employee’s tenure at their organization in order to gain context around why an employee is leaving and gain insight into research culture
almost 2 years ago
Longer contracts may contribute to boost the researcher confidence in knowledge and skills along with their expertise.
Feeling secure to pursue a career in research
over 1 year ago
Funders should request recommendation/evaluation letters from trainees when senior scientists apply for funding
Currently, we (trainees) need recommendation letters from our PIs when applying for funding - why not the other way around as well? This will also allow us to acknowledge senior scientists who are key to scientific progress through their mentorship but who are not necessarily publishing a Nature paper once a year (perhaps because they are extra busy providing the right support to their trainees). Beyond rewarding the 'good', bullies will hopefully have a hard time competing in a system like this. More generally, it will promote a supportive research culture across career stages and almost certainly lead to better/more collaborative research overall.
almost 2 years ago
Restructure the funding model
A lot of the pressures that lead to problems with the research culture stems from a winner-takes-all model for research funding. The fact that >80% of all research funding applications are unsuccessful, points to a significant wastage of human effort. An alternative model of research funding could allocate ~60% funding to all research-active universities, and retain the rest of the budget for competitive grants. This alternative scheme could retain meritocracy while minimising the effect of a winner-takes-all model. This alternative funding model could in theory reduce some of the pressures from ECRs who could concentrate on doing the science with the institutional funding allocation instead of writing a series of grant applications in the crucial early years. Under the current regime, career trajectory of an ECR is very different if s/he does not land a research grant in the first few years. The alternative model will provide the appropriate funding cushion for the ECRs to set up their labs and get on with their first few studies.
