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 Ideas10 months ago
Ring fence public engagement with research funding within grants
Funding for public engagement with research used to come via the Pathways to Impact statement. Now that this has been dispensed with, it is important that budget within grants for public engagement with research is ring fenced for that purpose. Previously, if a PI chose to use that funding for other purposes there was absolutely no comeback or negative consequences. By ring fencing such funding, hopefully it will mean that the PER is actually delivered!
4 months ago
Training for any manager position
- Recurrent, compulsory training for positions that require management. - Awards for good management practices. - Evaluate PIs management skills by a third party taking into account feedback from anonymous randomised selected lab members, and career progression of former lab members. This would also be subject of evaluation in grants. If a bad report happens, make follow ups and if there are no improvements, there should be a reprisal taken.
9 months ago
Ensure that working hrs are a standard item to be discussed at all appraisals / supervisor meetings – with notes recorded and shared with HR
Long hours at work culture.
7 months ago
Fund more core facilities within universities to remove inequality, increase reproducibility and create long term job opportunities
Wellcome and many other funding bodies support many successful research institutes. I believe at the core of the success of research institutes lies their ability to provide researchers with core facilities such as media kitchens, microscopy, mass spectrometry, sequencing etc. These facilities provide high quality resources, reagents and top level expertise that can speed up research and enable higher reproducibility in research outcomes. Furthermore, core facilities provide longer employment opportunities for highly trained staff. I believe that establishing or strengthening core facilities at the universities would help reduce the inequality in access to research resources between institutions and enable more laboratories to continue doing research with less direct funding and at reduced sizes. The cost of the core facilities could be shared between funding organisations depending on the overall funding level from each funding body at a given organisation.
6 months ago
Impact Factor (IF) is an indicator of influence, NOT trustworthiness!
Introduce another measure as recommended by the lancet series on increasing value, reducing waste in research: https://www.thelancet.com/series/research
