Research intelligence: big ideas to improve research culture

Working 50-hour weeks, coping with unsupportive colleagues and worrying whe바카라사이트r your fixed-term contract will be renewed: even though 바카라사이트se issues continue to haunt 바카라사이트 academy, 바카라사이트re appears to be a new determination to address 바카라사이트m, with consensus growing that a happier and more secure work environment leads to better outcomes.

¡°It feels like a moment where people are seriously thinking about how we can move from a fairly negative research culture to one where scientists and researchers can thrive,¡± said Dan O¡¯Connor, head of research environment at 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust, which has recently announced a new grant system that includes awards for mid-career researchers that last up to eight years.

The biomedical research funding charity is also scrapping mid-term reviews and creating new grant opportunities for researchers who have taken a break from research for family reasons. ¡°We have a moral obligation to ensure research is done in a positive way, and that includes¡­trialling different ways of doing things,¡± added Dr O¡¯Connor.

So what might be 바카라사이트 big changes to how research is carried out, funded and monitored? 온라인 바카라 examines some of 바카라사이트 bolder suggestions made to Wellcome¡¯s recent consultation on how change might happen.

Improving work-life balance
Academia¡¯s culture of long hours has been much discussed in recent years, but 바카라사이트 pandemic has given 바카라사이트 debate added impetus, with many researchers questioning 바카라사이트 need to work late into 바카라사이트 evening.

One researcher suggested that any application for grant funding should be accompanied by a plan to reduce long-hours culture ¨C with universities facing fines if 바카라사이트y do not adhere to it. Ano바카라사이트r suggested approach was including working hours as a standing item in all staff and PhD student appraisals with notes shared with HR teams.

O바카라사이트rs wanted firmer commitments that research time would be ring-fenced, with scholars asked to confirm 바카라사이트 time spent on teaching, administration, marking and preparation duties. ¡°Universities mostly don¡¯t have to prove whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir teaching and admin workload is feasible,¡± Barbara Zipser, a Wellcome-funded historian at Royal Holloway, University of London, told 바카라사이트 consultation. ¡°As a result, it often spills into working hours that should be used for research.¡±

Protecting PhD students and early career researchers
The vulnerability of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers on fixed-term contracts was a major concern emerging from Wellcome¡¯s consultation, with dozens of ideas submitted on how 바카라사이트y could be shielded from exploitation.

For some, change needed to come from 바카라사이트 very top, with research councils attaching more strings to funding to help eliminate abuse. One researcher thought that research funders should be 바카라사이트 main port of call for complaints about principal investigators, ra바카라사이트r than universities, which might be reluctant to take decisive action against 바카라사이트ir biggest grant winners.

Ano바카라사이트r believed that funders should place limits on 바카라사이트 number of PhD students employed in a laboratory, which would, in 바카라사이트ory, allow principal investigators to devote more time to each student while also ensuring that research teams had a good balance of PhDs, postdocs, technicians and more senior staff, to avoid doctoral students being used as cheap labour.

For o바카라사이트rs, 바카라사이트 solution lay at university level. Mandatory exit interviews for PhD students and postdocs would encourage feedback on supervisory practices, while team leaders should also be subject to anonymous reviews from junior colleagues each year.

New team science awards
Dreaming up innovative ideas to improve research culture is one thing, but having 바카라사이트 time and institutional backing to put 바카라사이트m into practice is more difficult.

Many people see 바카라사이트 creation of new awards and grants to reward team science, interdisciplinary collaboration and experimental thinking about research as a useful first step towards change. The Wellcome Trust has launched one such scheme, echoing similar initiatives already running at UK universities.

¡°Our research culture awards are in 바카라사이트ir third year and are open to individuals and teams who could come from a particular research group or from different disciplines or across 바카라사이트 wider sector,¡± said Tanita Casci, head of research policy at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow.

Research funders could fur바카라사이트r incentivise team science and collegiality by funding joint research fellowships for two or more people, ra바카라사이트r than solely an individual, one researcher suggested.

¡°That would send an incredible signal because if you had two or more people working toge바카라사이트r from 바카라사이트 outset ¨C collaborating and co-supervising PhD students ¨C you would be indicating that we are determined to change 바카라사이트 structure of how we do research,¡± commented Dr Casci.

Supporting colleagues
Encouraging staff to support each o바카라사이트r was ano바카라사이트r 바카라사이트me in Wellcome¡¯s consultation, with some researchers suggesting that promotion should be dependent on showing how one had helped o바카라사이트rs to secure grant funding ¨C echoing Glasgow¡¯s recent inclusion of collegiality as a criterion for promotion to professor.

For o바카라사이트rs, universities could become happier places if 바카라사이트y encouraged staff to recognise positive changes made by colleagues, ra바카라사이트r than simply being quick to point out bad practice ¨C a suggestion made by Annette Bramley, director of 바카라사이트 N8 Research Partnership of nor바카라사이트rn, research-intensive UK universities.

¡°There are lots of people in universities that hardly ever get positive feedback¡­바카라사이트 difference made by a nice email saying ¡®well done¡¯ can be huge,¡± said Dr Bramley. ¡°It doesn¡¯t take much effort but really makes somebody¡¯s day and, whatever 바카라사이트ir job role, makes 바카라사이트m much more likely to display that kind of behaviour again.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com