Research Culture Uncovered: Recent Episodes
Research Culturosity
At the University of Leeds, we believe that all members of our research community play a crucial role in developing and promoting a positive and inclusive research culture. Across the globe, the urgent need for a better Research Culture in Higher Education is widely accepted – but how do you make it happen? This weekly podcast focuses on our ideas, approaches and learning as we contribute to the University's attempt to create a Research Culture in which everyone can thrive. Whether you undertake, lead, fund or benefit from research - these are the conversations to listen to if you want to explore what a positive Research Culture is and why it matters.
In an environment of low success rates, rising research costs, and shrinking opportunities, the research funding system appears to be at a crisis point. This isn't just a funding crisis but a culture crisis, intensifying workloads, stress, and precarity, especially for early career researchers seeking funding to stay employed.
A complete overhaul of the funding system is needed - but seems unlikely at present. In lieu of this, what can funders, institutions and researchers actually do to face up to these pressures?
In this episode, host Taryn Bell considers some doable - yet still meaningful - changes that we could make at varying points within the system, including:
- Increasing transparency from funders when communicating calls and outcomes
- More intentional career conversations - including making space for difficult conversations
- Preparing our researchers to get ready to apply much earlier than they think
We'd love to hear your suggestions for what needs to change in the funding landscape. Get in touch - and perhaps you'll be on a future episode of the podcast!
Find out more:
- Isaac Barbosa - BBSRC caps fellowship bids mid-call after surge in applications.
- Geraint Rees and James Wilsdon - Could agentic AI topple grant-funding systems?
- Kirsty Grainger - Too Fast to Think? Why UKRI Calls Are So Rushed, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It.
- Harriet Swain - Can ‘high-stress’ interviews for grants save a system under pressure?
- UKRI timeline of 2026 funding opportunities
If you have enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider leaving a review on your favourite podcast app, via Podchaser, or by submitting an online review form.
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Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here too).
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
🎙️In our latest episode, host Dr Ged Hall interviewed another of his #ResearchImpactHeroes Dr David Phipps, Assistant Vice President of Research Strategy and Impact at York University in Toronto and co-founder of Research Impact Canada! Discover how a 40-year journey from HIV research to knowledge mobilisation helped build one of the world's most influential impact networks.
🔹 Hear David's winding path from immunology research during the HIV/AIDS crisis to becoming a pioneer of "knowledge mobilisation" - years before the term even existed. 🔹 Learn why Canada thinks about impact as a "how", not a "what" - and why not having a REF has been a blessing, not a barrier.
🔹 Discover the origin story of Research Impact Canada, which began in 2006 with two universities and "no small amount of hubris."
🔹 Explore how a global community of impact networks - from the UK's UPEN to Chile's Vincula to New Zealand's IPEN - is learning from each other across borders.
🔹 Understand the toughest question David still grapples with: how do you build impact capacity in a resource-constrained system?
If you're passionate about making research matter, building professional communities, and creating real-world change, this episode is for you!
David shares his impact heroes too - shoutouts to Susan Renoe (ARIS, USA), Francisca Reyes (Vincula, Chile), and Wade Kelly (Deakin University) for the work they're doing to grow the global impact movement.
You can connect with David via LinkedIn and Bluesky.
Organisations, episodes, literature mentioned in the episode:
- York University Knowledge Mobilisation
- Research Impact Canada
- Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS)
- Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)
- Vincula
- Impact Planning and Evaluation Network (IPEN)
- (Episode 117) Navigating the Academic and Professional staff boundary with Dr Wade Kelly
- The Co-produced Pathway to Impact Describes Knowledge Mobilization Processes journal article
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
- Public Engagement with Research
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk [GH1]Note: this and the LinkedIn post are identical up to this point. If you make an edit in one I will copy it across to the other.
The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is delighted to share a special episode featuring Dr. Jim Baxter, Academic Development Consultant at the University of Leeds, recorded ahead of his retirement after 36 remarkable years studying and employed at the institution.
Join host Ged Hall as he sits down with his long-time colleague and former manager to reflect on Jim's extraordinary career spanning mechanical engineering research, postdoctoral work, a role as a lecturer, and over two decades shaping researcher and academic development — all at the University of Leeds.
• Hear Jim reflect on changes in higher education since the early 1990s and what these have meant for how universities support their researchers.
• Discover Jim's proudest career moments, including influencing the university's strategic recognition of researchers as people, not just producers of outputs, and designing development programmes that put researcher needs at their centre.
• Learn what Jim believes still needs to change — from helping postdocs develop realistic awareness of their career options, to the sector's ongoing struggle to properly evaluate the impact of researcher development interventions.
• Explore Jim's advice for those still working in the field: develop your networks, be compassionately honest with the people you support, and help researchers navigate the "hidden curriculum" of academic life.
• Get a glimpse of what retirement looks like for someone who has been at the same major research university for 36 years.
Organisations, episodes, etc mentioned in the interview:
- Research Leadership Provision
- Vitae’s History of Researcher Development in the UK: mentions the first GRAD school in 1968. Jim and Ged didn’t go until the early 90s.
- Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT)
- (Episode 109) Tony Bromley Reflects on his Career, the Changes, and the Future in Research Development
- Vitae’s Rugby Team Impact Framework
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn) and Alix Brodie-Wray (follow Alix on LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode Nick speaks with Dr Eike Rinke, Lecturer in Politics and Media, Co-Director of the Social Research Methods Centre, and Local Network Lead for the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN).
Eike discusses his academic journey, and reflects on how his experiences as a social scientist led him to become involved in the open research movement. The conversation explores why transparency, rigour and inclusivity matter across all disciplines, and why open research should be considered a universal concern rather than something confined to particular fields.
Eike discusses a research paper he contributed to that examines what happens when multiple research teams choose their own methodology to analyse the same dataset. The findings reveal striking variation in results depending on the analytical decisions made by researchers, highlighting the importance of transparency and the need to better understand researcher decision-making.
Nick and Eike also discuss Eike's role as local network lead for the UK Reproducibility Network and how they continue to collaborate to build a community of practice around open research at the University of Leeds.
Episode links:
- Social Sciences success at the 2024 Research Culture Awards
- Observing many researchers using the same data and hypothesis reveals a hidden universe of uncertainty (2022)
- Many Analysts, One Data Set: Making Transparent How Variations in Analytic Choices Affect Results (2018)
- Preregistration and the architecture of open science
- Nature is expanding Registered Reports to all the fields in which we publish
- (S7E3) Changing Behaviour with Daryl O'Connor: A Psychology Professor's Journey through Open Research
- (S8E7) Improving Research Quality with the UK Reproducibility Network: A Conversation with Marcus Munafò
- General | Leeds UK Reproducibility Network and Open Research Community (University of Leeds only)
If you have enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider leaving a review on your favourite podcast app, via Podchaser, or by submitting an online review form.
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All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here too).
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
🎙️ Technicians at the heart of research culture: insights from Tech Exchange at Leeds
In this special episode of Research Culture Uncovered, Dr Emily Ennis hands over the mic to Lily Caprioli, a student ambassador at the University of Leeds, who interviews colleagues across the annual Tech Exchange Fair — a showcase of the people and skills powering research behind the scenes.
What you’ll hear:
Research is a team sport. From senior leadership to lab specialists, contributors emphasise that technicians are fundamental — the people who keep systems running, solve problems, and help teams think differently.
Visibility matters. Events like Tech Exchange create space to showcase expertise, connect across departments, and ensure technical contributions are recognised beyond individual labs or teams.
From “hidden roles” to recognised expertise. Conversations highlight ongoing work around fair attribution, technician profiles, and recognition — with real progress, but more still to do.
Collaboration within and beyond institutions. From cross-faculty working to initiatives like the White Rose Consortium and Yorkshire Technician Exchange Partnership (YoTEP), sharing knowledge strengthens both individuals and the wider research ecosystem.
Diverse careers, shared impact. Whether in labs, libraries, collections, or engineering workshops, technicians bring specialist expertise, creativity, and adaptability — often shaping research in ways that go unseen but are essential.
🎙️ People featured in this episode
- Professor Nick Plant (Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, University of Leeds)
- Claire Knowles (Acting Director of Library Services, University of Leeds)
- Lesley Neve (X-ray Technical Specialist)
- John Warwick (Technician Champion)
🏛️ Projects, initiatives & organisations referenced
- Technician Commitment
- White Rose University Consortium (Leeds, Sheffield, York)
- Yorkshire Technician Exchange Partnership (YoTEP)
- Fair Attribution Policy
- CREDIT taxonomy
- ORCID identifiers
- Institute of Technical Skills and Strategy (ITSS)
This episode is a celebration of the people, skills, and community that make research possible — and a reminder that strong research culture depends on recognising every contribution.
Please note
This episode was recorded live at a busy event — you may hear background noise, but we hope it captures the energy and enthusiasm of the Tech Exchange Fair!
🎙️ The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is excited to share our latest episode featuring Dr. Rob ter Horst — postdoctoral researcher and the creator behind the popular YouTube channel The Quantified Scientist!
Join host Ged Hall as he chats with Rob about his fascinating dual life as a researcher and YouTuber, exploring what it means to treat yourself as an experimental subject, running a YouTube channel at the same time as a demanding postdoc and the benefits and challenges of both.
🔹 Discover how Rob's self-tracking journey with weekly brain MRIs, EEG sleep recordings and testing wearables grew from his scientific curiosity and how that has benefitted both his research and his YouTube identities.
🔹 Learn how Rob used wearable technology data and rigorous testing methods to communicate complex data analysis concepts to a broad public audience, and in his university teaching.
🔹 Hear reflections on the realities of balancing a demanding postdoctoral position with running a growing YouTube channel and podcast — and the honest conversations Rob is having with himself about the long-term sustainability of doing both.
🔹 Explore the cultural challenges researchers face when engaging publicly online, from navigating negative comments and Reddit threads to maintaining scientific integrity while building a content business.
To connect with Rob:
- The Quantified Scientist YouTube channel
- Check out his LinkedIn profile
- His Fit for Science podcast that he co-hosts with Stephan Reichl
- His website https://www.robterhorst.com/
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
- Public Engagement with Research
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this thought‑provoking episode, host Dr Emily Goodall speaks with Dr Jack Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Trial Statistics at the University of Manchester. Together, they explore the growing challenge of problematic and fraudulent research polluting the published literature, what it means for trust in evidence, and how the research community can respond.
From “paper mills” to AI‑generated publications, this episode shines a light on how research integrity is being challenged—and what researchers, reviewers, and institutions can do to protect it.
Key themes
- The scale of problematic research is growing: Fraudulent and low‑quality studies, driven by paper mills, AI and pressured research environments, are increasingly entering the literature.
- Quality checks don’t guarantee authenticity: Peer review and standard appraisals focus on quality, but often miss whether research is authentic.
- Structured tools can help spot issues: Tools like INSPECT‑SR guide peer reviewers to identify inconsistencies, implausibility, and red flags.
- Culture and incentives drive the problem: Publish‑or‑perish pressures and limited transparency make problematic studies more likely and harder to detect.
Final reflections
This episode raises an important challenge: if publications are the currency of academia, what happens when we can’t fully trust them?
Dr Wilkinson’s work shows that while the problem is complex, there are practical steps we can take, from better tools and reviewer support to systemic cultural change, to strengthen trust in research.
Find out more:
- INSPECT-SR PrePrint: a tool for assessing trustworthiness of randomised controlled trials, medRxiv 2025.
- INSPECT-SR: Resources for users.
- A recording of the Introduction to INSPECT-SR workshop is available on YouTube.
- Dr Jack Wilkinson on Bluesky.
- Our open research playlist.
If you have enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider leaving a review on your favourite podcast app, via Podchaser, or by submitting an online review form.
Podchaser: https://lnkd.in/eQYbzZ65
Online Review Form: https://lnkd.in/eeXFE249
The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is excited to share our latest episode featuring a fascinating conversation with Professor Adel Ahmed. Adel worked in the UK higher education for over 20 years before moving to the United Arab Emirates in 2015.
Join host, Ged Hall, as he reconnects with his former colleague to explore research culture in the UAE and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
🔹 Discover how higher education in the UAE is strategically designed rather than historically inherited — built around national development priorities, societal impact, and economic diversification, not just rankings and publications.
🔹 Learn about the UAE's ecosystem of federal, semi-government, private, and international branch campus universities, and how this model is spreading across the MENA region.
🔹 Hear how outcome-based evaluation frameworks are reshaping what research success looks like — moving beyond citation counts to measure real-world impact, industry collaboration, and student participation in research.
🔹 Explore what it's really like to move from the UK to the UAE as an academic, and why breaking down silos, embracing interdisciplinary working, and thinking globally while acting locally are at the heart of research culture in the region.
Listeners can connect with Adel on LinkedIn
Items mentioned in the episode:
- Overview of the UAE Higher Education Sector: Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR) https://www.mohesr.gov.ae/En/pages/home.aspx
- UAE’s quality assurance agency: Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) https://www.caa.ae
- Information Related to the Outcome-Based Evaluation Framework (OBEF) –https://www.caa.ae/Pages/Guidelines/Outcomes-based-Evaluation-framework-University-Guide.aspx
- OBEF University Guide (PDF) full details https://www.caa.ae/PORTALGUIDELINES/OBEF%20University%20Guide%20(Version%2011.5)%20(English).pdf
- UAE Licensure and Accreditation Framework https://www.caa.ae/Pages/Guidelines/Licensure-and-Accreditation.aspx
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn) and Alix Brodie-Wray (follow Alix on LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
What does it mean to do research on research — and what role do professional staff play in it?
In this episode, Alix Brodie-Wray is joined by Dr. Chris Daley (LSE) and Dr. Amy Milligan (Saïd Business School, University of Oxford) to explore the world of meta-research and why research managers, administrators, and enablers have a vital part to play.
We cover:
🔬 What meta-research actually is (and why it matters)
💡 How professional staff bring unique, ground-level expertise to the field
📊 The growing investment in meta-science — including the UK Meta-Science Unit's funding tripling to £49 million
🎓 Whether you need a PhD to get involved (spoiler: you don't)
⚖️ The very real time pressures and how to navigate them
🌍 What the future holds for research enablers in this space
If you work in research support, management, or administration and have ever wondered whether your skills could contribute to something bigger — this one's for you.
🎧 Listen now: [link]
Contributors
Alix Brodie-Wray (follow on LinkedIn)
Dr Amy Milligan (follow on LinkedIn)
Dr Chris Daley (follow on LinkedIn)
Links and Resources:
Research on Research Institute video on ‘what is metascience?’
Past, Present and Future of UK Metascience. Short history of metascience in the UK context
Association of Research Managers and Administrators: Meta-Research Special Interest Group: Meta Research – ARMA
Follow us on Bluesky:
@researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here)
@openresleeds.bsky.social
@researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect on LinkedIn:
@ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
📩 If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode:
researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode Nick talks to Dr Louise Saul, Network+ coordinator for CaSDaR (Careers and Skills for Data Driven Research), a UKRI-funded initiative aiming to professionalise and build community around data stewardship in the UK.
They discuss shared work through the Open Research Competencies Coalition (ORCC) and Louise’s previous UKRN role as an ORCA (Open Research Coordinator and Administrator) at the University of Southampton, supporting open research training and implementation.
Louise discusses using stand-up comedy to communicate research and open research ideas, and outlines her career path from biotechnology and a PhD in protein crystallography through multiple postdocs, teaching, and into open research and data.
She explains meta-research as “research on research,” including a study on what authors include in methods sections and implications for reproducibility.
Louise shares some of her data-management "horror stories," and highlights sector-wide challenges: unclear career pathways and progression for research-enabling roles, which CaSDaR addresses via funding, events, and resources.
Links:
- CaSDaR (Careers and Skills for Data Driven Research)
- Ruby Carr Comedy
- UK Reproducibility Network
- (Episode 129) UKRN Train the Trainer: accelerating the uptake of open research practices across academic disciplines
- (Episode 123) Valuing Diverse Research Outputs: The Hidden REF and the 5% Manifesto with Simon Hettrick
- Sonrai - Irish Data Stewardship Network
If you have enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider leaving a review on your favourite podcast app, via Podchaser, or by submitting an online review form.
✍ Podchaser
✍ Online Review Form
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here too).
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
Episode title: How to Turn Your PhD Into a Book
Podcast: Research Culture Uncovered
Host: Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths (Researcher Development Advisor, University of Leeds)
Episode overview
Turning a PhD into a book is rarely a straightforward process. It’s not simply about rewriting or revising a thesis — it involves rethinking purpose, audience, and identity as a researcher.
In this episode, Heledd speaks with Dr Hilary Potter about the challenges and opportunities involved in transforming doctoral research into a book. From the emotional weight of returning to high-stakes work, to developing confidence and recognising your own expertise, the conversation explores what it really means to “turn” a PhD into something new.
Hilary also shares insights into her activity-based approach, the role of creativity and writing by hand, and how her portfolio career — including teaching, translation, and periods of precarity — has shaped both her thinking and her book.
Together, this episode highlights how developing authorial agency can shift not only how researchers write, but how they see themselves and their place within (and beyond) academia.
Featured contributor
Dr Hilary Potter — Project Officer, CERIC (Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change) University of Leeds. Academic background in German Studies, with experience across teaching, research, and roles inside and outside higher education. Author of How to Turn Your PhD into a Book: A Pocket Guide (Peter Lang, 2024).
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-hilary-potter-1495262b
🦋 Bluesky: @hilarypotterphd.bsky.social
Key themes explored
• The challenge of reconceptualising a PhD beyond its original purpose
• Why turning a PhD into a book is not simply rewriting or revising
• The shift from being supervised to working independently
• Developing authorial agency and recognising expertise
• Creative and tactile approaches to writing (including writing by hand)
• The influence of portfolio careers, teaching, and precarity on academic work
• Writing for different audiences and purposes
Memorable ideas
• A PhD is written to be examined — a book is written to be read
• Distance from your thesis can be essential before returning to it
• Creativity and physical engagement (writing, drawing, mapping ideas) can unlock thinking
• You don’t need permission to be the expert in your own work
• Research careers are rarely linear — and that can be a strength
Related episode
The Art of Saying No: Power, Permission, and Research Culture
This earlier episode explores how agency, confidence, and decision-making are shaped by power, culture, and career stage in research environments — themes that connect closely to this conversation around authorial agency and recognising your expertise.
🔗 Listen here: The Art of Saying No
Leave a review
If you enjoyed the episode, please consider leaving a rating and a short review — it helps others find the podcast.
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Follow and connect
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social; @openresleeds.bsky.social; @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Want to contribute to a future episode?
We’d love to hear from you — especially if you have reflections on research culture from any career stage or role.
researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
If you asked an academic to describe the culture in which they work, 'gentle' is not a word that most would use. But what if academia could be gentler? What would this look like, and how can we get there?
In today's episode, host Taryn Bell is joined by Christine Grove, co-editor of the recent volume 'The Gentle Academic'. They discuss what gentle academia is, what it's not, and how both individuals and academics can become 'gentler' in their ways of working. Far from offering 'lip service' to the idea of culture change, The Gentle Academic offers actionable insights for both individuals and the institutions they work within.
Want to learn more?
- Read The Gentle Academic: Reimagining the Contemporary University Culture with Principles of Community, Leadership, and Care
- Get in touch with Christine via LinkedIn or her RMIT and Monash webpages, or with her co-editor, Kelly-Ann Allen
If you have enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider leaving a review on your favourite podcast app, via Podchaser, or by submitting an online review form.
✍ Podchaser
✍ Online Review Form
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here too).
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this week’s episode, host Emily Goodall speaks with Karen Glerum‑Brooks and Lucy Cheseldine about the Valuing Voices project — a Wellcome-funded initiative co‑created by the University of York and Mahidol University in Thailand that’s helping researchers rethink what equitable, collaborative and responsible research can look like in practice.
Episode highlights:
- A practical toolkit for culture change: How the Valuing Voices online tool supports researchers worldwide to design and deliver equitable and responsible research — grounded in the principles of Engagement and impact, Equity and diversity in teams, Strategic risk mapping, Environmental sustainability, Reflection and learning.
- Equity, diversity & working together: Why diverse teams and inclusive practices matter, and how simple approaches such as fair attribution and inclusive meetings help dismantle hierarchies and strengthen collaboration in research environments.
- The Living Lab in action: Karen and Lucy share how experimenting within their own team — from distributed leadership to sustainable conference materials — led to creative, people‑centred ways of modelling equitable research culture.
- Empowering researchers at every career stage: From early‑career researchers in Uganda to new PIs in the UK, hear how the Valuing Voices principles empower people to plan, collaborate and deliver meaningful, impactful research everywhere they work.
You can explore and use the Valuing Voices Tool for free, wherever you are in your research journey.
Join the movement and follow the Valuing Voices project on LinkedIn.
Follow us on Bluesky:
- @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here)
- @openresleeds.bsky.social
- @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
🎙️ In our latest episode of Research Culture Uncovered, host Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths explores a deceptively simple question: what actually shapes a researcher?
Drawing on reflections from a Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) series, this episode brings together voices from across global research development sessions — exploring research vision, impact, careers, culture, and identity.
🔹 Why research vision matters — and why it’s so hard to articulate
Hear insights from Dr Jim Baxter on developing long-term direction, and why the pressures of funding, publishing, and short-term goals can pull researchers away from the bigger picture.
🔹 What counts as “impact” — and who decides
Explore reflections from Ged Hall on how impact is shaped by discipline, national context, and institutional priorities — and whether researchers follow or challenge those systems.
🔹 Research culture beyond the buzzwords
Dr Marjorie Boissinot unpacks the complexity of research culture across global contexts, and why much of what shapes culture isn’t always labelled as such.
🔹 Creating space to think — even in busy, online environments
From Taryn Bell’s session, discover how meaningful reflection can happen even in large-scale virtual settings — and why researchers are more ready for these conversations than we might assume.
🔹 Visibility, identity, and showing up as a researcher
Through Ruth Winden’s work, explore how researchers navigate professional identity — balancing authenticity, visibility, and the expectations of academic and non-academic audiences.
🔹 The emotional side of research we don’t always talk about
From Heledd’s own session on rejection, this episode reflects on the shared emotional realities of research — and how creating space to acknowledge them can shift how we move forward.
💡 If you’re thinking about your own direction, identity, or place within research — this episode offers space to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what matters.
Links and resources
🔗 Worldwide Universities Network (WUN)
https://www.wun.ac.uk/
🔗 LinkedIn (contributors)
Jim Baxter – (follow Jim on LinkedIn)
Ged Hall – (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Marjorie Boissinot – (follow Marjorie on LinkedIn)
Taryn Bell – (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Ruth Winden – (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky:
@researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here)
@openresleeds.bsky.social
@researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect on LinkedIn:
@ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
📩 If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode:
researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
“What if all we have is the now? […] the now is generative and worthwhile.” — Dr Élaina Gauthier‑Mamaril
Host Dr Emily Ennis sits down with Dr Élaina Gauthier‑Mamaril – a disabled philosopher of disability and Research Associate on the Wellcome‑funded Anti‑Ableist Research Culture project at the University of Sheffield – to explore podcasting as method, community, and counter‑archive.
In this conversation:
- Podcasting as a research method. From Massively Disabled to Cripping Research Culture, Élaina experiments with sound, affect, and “epistemic brokering” to amplify disabled knowledges and blur the subject/object divide, especially around COVID and long COVID.
- Rigour with care. Podcasting isn’t “less scholarly”, it’s differently-rigorous. Élaina talks positionality, disclosure, and even choosing to leave audible pain in‑track to honour labour and embodiment, while pushing for broader vocal inclusion (accents, speech impairments) in HE audio.
- Access by design. Why transcripts are non‑negotiable, when BSL interpreting is added, and how audio meets listeners in bed, on tough clinic days, or when isolation bites, turning parasocial connection into real community.
- Beyond “academics only”. Inside the Sheffield project’s “third spaces,” including a sector survey with NADSN and webinars (curated with Quiplash CIC) for disabled professional services staff, because research culture is everybody’s work.
- Recognition matters. Podcasting is work, not a weekend hobby: it deserves to be planned, supported, and credited like any other research/engagement output.
- What’s next. A protocol for collaborative podcasting (data, consent, copyright, co‑editing), research on disability doulas and long COVID, and a creative project with Khairani Barokka adapting Annah, Infinite with Indonesian/Javanese voices and community co‑creation.
🎙️ Referenced Podcasts
- Cripping Research Culture podcast
- Massively Disabled podcast
- Accentricity podcast (run by Sadie Ryan)
📚 Books & Publications
- So You Want to Start a Podcast – by Kristen Meinzer
- Black Disability Politics – by Sami Schalk
- Gauthier-Mamaril É. Podcasting as a Recreational Scholarship Praxis. Hypatia. Published online 2026:1-20. doi:10.1017/hyp.2025.10055
- Annah, Infinite – by Khairani Barokka (for the creative project)
🏛️ Projects, Grants, Networks & Organisations
- Wellcome-funded Anti-Ableist Research Culture Project (University of Sheffield)
- National Association for Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN)
- Quiplash (community interest company supporting disability-led events/webinars)
In today's final episode of Research Culture Uncovered, hosts Taryn Bell and Emily Ennis discuss how they solved research culture. With no more issues left to fix, and everything running smoothly, they take one last opportunity to sit back, rest, and reflect on how everything went so right...
Just kidding. Happy April Fools!
In this episode, Taryn and Emily look back at what’s been achieved over the last 12 months, discuss some of the ‘classic’ research culture challenges facing higher education, and confront the notion that research culture is a problem that can be solved for good.
Key takeaways:
- Research culture isn't something that can ever be solved - it's an ongoing, evolving process
- Real, genuine change can't come from research culture teams alone - meaningful change requires widespread involvement and collective responsibility
- More than ever, research culture needs to become a matter of 'business as usual', rather than an added extra
In case you'd like to know more...
- Learn more about Research Culture at Leeds
- Never heard of the REF? Read more about the Research Excellence Framework
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode of #ResearchCultureUncovered, host Dr Emily Ennis talks with Dr Amy Mayfield (Lancaster University) and Dr Nicola Simcock (Newcastle University) about how maturity frameworks are helping departments move from good intentions to practical change.
What you’ll hear:
- Why a “maturity framework” (name still up for debate!) helps complex organisations reflect honestly on where they are now and where they want to get to, without turning evaluation into yet another top‑down exercise.
- Local first, institution-wide impact. Newcastle’s pilot runs the tool with units of different sizes to surface priorities, share what already works, and target support.
- Different disciplines, different ways of engaging. Some users preferred quantitative responses, others qualitative – and yes, a stereotypical disciplinary split has happened! – but both routes generated useful, actionable insight.
- Lancaster’s MERCI project (Maturity and Evaluation of Research Culture Initiatives) uses away day workshops and a simple “Why?” prompt to collect the richest qualitative feedback and to recognise distance travelled.
- Alignment without overload. Both teams map areas to action plans and sector drivers (e.g., SPRE/PCE) so one exercise can inform unit‑level work, institutional narratives, and wider evaluation needs: saving time while building buy‑in.
Please note: we have had to edit much laughter out of this podcast, but felt adding in a laugh track might make things feel a bit too 90s sitcom. But please, laugh along with us!
🔗 Initiatives and outputs referenced in this episode
These are the items that will need links in your published show notes:
- UKRN Recognising and rewarding open research toolkit
- EDGE Tool (National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement)
- Wellcome Trust, ‘What researchers think about the culture they work in’
- Royal Society research culture work
- PCE Pilot Report
- SPRE – Strategy, People & Research Environment
- CEDARS Survey
- N8 Research Partnership
- Wellcome Institutional Fund for Research Culture
- Lancaster’s Research Culture work
- Newcastle’s Research Culture work
🎙️ The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is excited to share our latest episode featuring reflections from the groundbreaking Impact Ignite Conference! Join host Ged Hall, discuss the conference with fellow University of Leeds #impactprofessionals Andy Cameron, Anu Ekanayake, Ali Quaile, Alexa Ruppertsberg, and Ruth Lawford-Rolfe as they discuss their experiences from this first-of-its-kind global gathering of research impact professionals.
🔹 Discover how Impact Ignite brought together impact professionals from the UK, Europe, Canada, the Middle East, and Australia—creating a true sense of community and solidarity for those working to bridge research and real-world change.
🔹 Learn about practical tools and strategies shared at the conference, including collaborative mapping techniques, impact strategy toolkits, and innovative coaching approaches that can transform how we work with researchers.
🔹 Hear reflections on the unique skillset impact professionals bring—from partnership development and storytelling to navigating institutional change and emerging technologies like AI in research impact practice.
🔹 Explore the challenges facing higher education and the critical advocacy role impact professionals play in ensuring universities remain relevant, collaborative, and focused on meaningful societal benefit.
To connect with the guests on LinkedIn:
- Alexa Ruppertsberg (Head of Public Engagement)
- Alistair Quaile ( Faculty Research Impact Manager in the Business School)
- Andy Cameron ( Faculty Impact Manager in Medicine Health)
- Anu Ekanayake ( Research Impact Innovation and Engagement Officer in the Faculty of Biological Sciences)
- Ruth Lawford-Rolfe ( Research Impact Manager in the School of Earth and Environment and Sustainability)
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
- https://www.leeds.ac.uk/research-public-engagement
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
🎙️In our latest episode, host Dr Ged Hall interviewed another of his #ResearchImpactHeroes Dr Tamika Heiden, founder of the Research Impact Academy and creator of the Research Impact Summit! Discover how one person's passion is beginning the process of creating a global community for research impact.
🔹 Hear Tamika's inspiring journey from PhD student to research impact entrepreneur, driven by a simple question: "Who makes sure my work gets to where it's needed?"
🔹 Learn the origin story of the Research Impact Summit - born from a sunny Melbourne day, a coffee in hand, and a borrowed idea that became a decade-long global initiative.
🔹 Explore the evolution of knowledge translation in Canada and how it shaped modern research impact practice worldwide.
🔹 Discover insights from the first Research Impact Ignite conference in Southampton and what it takes to build a thriving professional community.
🔹 Understand the challenges and opportunities for research impact culture in Australia and beyond.
If you're passionate about making research matter, building professional communities, and creating real-world change, this episode is for you!
Tamika shares her impact heroes too - a touching tribute to her team members Cathie Withyman and Kate Shook, who exemplify the dedication and passion that drives the impact community forward.
💡Find out more about the Research Impact Academy and the Summit or follow them on their social channels
RIA LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/research-impact-academy/
RIA YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@researchimpactacademy
RIA on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/researchimpactacademy.com
Podcast episodes mentioned in the interview:
- Why impact matters more than labels with Tamika Heiden (Research Adjacents podcast Episode 75)
- (Research Culture Uncovered S5E8) The Future of Research Impact Culture
Links to resources mentioned in the episode:
- The Rt Honourable Lord David Willetts interview with the Institute for Government, reflecting on his time as a Minister.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Rsearch Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
🎧The latest new episode of the #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast Ged Hall introduces our New Host, Alix Brodie-Wray. Alix is Faculty Impact Development Manager for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures at the University of Leeds.
Alix discusses her role, which includes supporting impact case study development and working on impact literacy across nine schools. Find out more about Alix and what she will be bringing in her episodes.
Topics include:
🔸 Alix's background, including her journey from the University of Brighton through various research support roles to her current position at Leeds. 🔸 Her role and responsibilities supporting arts and humanities impact. 🔸 Alix’s and Ged’s shared passion outside of work, Mod culture and soul music. 🔸 The biggest challenges facing researchers today, including disciplinary silos and public perception of higher education. 🔸 Her work on impact strategy, ethical approaches to impact, and making research more visible.
❓ What will Alix be covering in her upcoming episodes?
💡 Thought-provoking conversations on arts and humanities impact and the role of professional services in research. 📊 Meta-research and the participation of research administrators in shaping research culture. 🤝 Co-production, ethics, and practical approaches to impact case study development.
Listeners can connect with Alix on LinkedIn
Items mentioned in the episode:
- ‘Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances: A Life In Mod – From the Revival to Acid Jazz’ by Eddie Piller
- LinkedIn post about the results of the 2025 Australian University Census.
- Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA) Meta Research Special Interest Group
- International Medieval Congress 2025 – Medieval Studies in Action
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn) and Alix Brodie-Wray (follow Alix on LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode, our host Emily Goodall speaks with James Parry, an independent consultant specialising in research integrity and research culture, and former Chief Executive of the UK Research Integrity Office. With years of experience supporting organisations and the research community, James shares insights on how research misconduct extends far beyond instances of fabrication or plagiarism — and how everyday pressures, small compromises, and unchallenged bad behaviour can erode trust, wellbeing, and research quality.
Integrity in research isn’t just about following rules — it’s about building a culture where doing the right thing is supported, encouraged, and possible.
Episode highlights include:
1️⃣ How systemic pressures like publish-or-perish cultures, job precarity, and time strain make good practice harder to maintain.
2️⃣ Why seeking advice and support early is essential: “You don't have to go full Scooby-Doo!” It’s not your job to investigate or challenge poor practice on your own.
3️⃣ The importance of a “setbacks, not failures” mindset to reduce pressure, discourage corner-cutting, and support wellbeing.
4️⃣ Creating environments where people feel safe to raise concerns and leaders role in supporting good practice.
5️⃣ How unchallenged misconduct and poor culture can damage relationships, trust, and collaboration.
Links and resources from this episode:
- How to contact James: https://parryconsulting.org/contact-me/
- James Parry LinkedIN profile and James Parry Consulting website.
- The Concordat to Support Research Integrity (2025).
- UK Committee on Research Integrity/ Research Consulting, Review of annual statements on research integrity (2025).
- UK Committee on Research Integrity, Indicators of Research Integrity (2024).
- All European Academies (ALLEA), European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2023).
- World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI), Singapore Statement on Research Integrity (2010).
If you have enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider leaving a review on your favourite podcast app, via Podchaser, or by submitting an online review form.
✍ Podchaser https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/research-culture-uncovered-4959637?utm_source=captivate&utm_medium=podcast_page&action=rate
✍ Online Review Form https://forms.office.com/e/6effjgmmM6
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here too).
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
🎧 Show notes
Episode title: Who Gets to Belong? LGBT+ History Month
Podcast: Research Culture Uncovered
Host: Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths (Researcher Development Advisor, University of Leeds)
Episode overview
LGBT+ History Month takes place every February, and the 2026 theme is Science & Innovation. In this episode, Heledd is joined by Morgan Buswell and Dr Robin Hayward to explore what LGBT+ History Month means in a research context — including how science and innovation spaces are experienced by LGBT+ colleagues, why some stories and contributions remain overlooked, and what helps create cultures where people genuinely feel able to belong and thrive.
The conversation reflects on the balance between celebration and realism, the emotional labour involved in community and visibility work, and the importance of curiosity, psychological safety, and practical inclusion within research cultures.
Featured contributors
Morgan Buswell (he/him) - Morgan works across internal and external communications at the University of Leeds and has been Co-Chair of the University’s LGBT+ Staff Network for the past two years. In this role, he supports community building, visibility, and inclusive engagement across the institution, helping to create spaces where LGBT+ colleagues feel able to connect, be heard, and access support.
Connect with Morgan: LinkedIn: Morgan Buswell
Dr Robin Hayward (they/them)
Dr Robin Hayward is the Communications and Engagement Officer for the Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere and Forest Centre (LEAF) at the University of Leeds, sharing research into trees and woodlands across the institution. Robin was also part of the team that developed the University’s Inclusive Fieldwork Hub, supporting safety, equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ fieldworkers.
Outside the University, Robin is a freelance science communicator, communication trainer, LGBTQ+ educator and designer, specialising in the intersection between nature and LGBTQ+ identities. They were recently commissioned to create the official badge design for LGBT+ History Month 2026.
Connect with Robin
- LinkedIn: Robin Hayward
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/canopyrobin.com
- Bluesky (LEAF): https://bsky.app/profile/leedsleaf.bsky.social
- Website: https://canopyrobin.com/
- LEAF: https://leaf.leeds.ac.uk/
- Inclusive Fieldwork Hub: https://inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canopyrobin/
- Instagram (LEAF): https://www.instagram.com/leeds_leaf/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@canopyrobin
- Threads: https://www.threads.com/@canopyrobin
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/search?q=%40canopyrobin
Key themes explored
- LGBT+ History Month as celebration and education
- Belonging, visibility, and emotional labour in research cultures
- Whose stories are remembered — and whose are overlooked
- Inclusive fieldwork and practical guidance for safer research environments
- Curiosity, respect, and psychological safety as foundations for belonging
Resources mentioned
- LGBT+ History Month (official site)
- https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/
- Inclusive Fieldwork Hub (University of Leeds)
- https://inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/
- PRIDE Guidelines for LGBTQ+ fieldworkers
- https://inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/pride/
- Podcast Episode 137 — Drag, law, and the value of collaborative knowledge sharing
- https://research-culture.captivate.fm/episode/episode-137-drag-law-and-the-value-of-collaborative-knowledge-sharing
Leave a review
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and short review — it really helps others find the podcast.
✍ Podchaser
✍ Online Review Form
Follow and connect
- Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social | @openresleeds.bsky.social | @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
- LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast
Want to contribute to a future episode?
We’d love to hear from you — especially if you have reflections on research culture from any career stage or role.
📩 researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In today's episode, Taryn Bell talks to Dr Mat Tata, Research Programme Manager (EDI in Research) at Cancer Research UK. Mat leads CRUK's work on equality, diversity and inclusion in research, and offers us an insight into research culture from the funder's perspective.
Key highlights:
1️⃣Understanding the grant review process - Mat discusses how decisions are made across CRUK's funding calls, and the steps CRUK has taken to ensure their funding process is transparent, proportional and equitable.
2️⃣Funders as a mechanism for healthier research cultures - Taryn and Mat discuss the role of funders like CRUK in encouraging good behaviour while managing more serious issues of research misconduct.
3️⃣Cancer Research UK's role in supporting researchers and the public - Mat discusses how CRUK is different from other funders, and shares some of their recent work improving science literacy across the UK.
Want to know more about Cancer Research UK, or about the resources mentioned in this episode?
- CRUK's EDI in Research Strategic Approach
- CRUK's Policy on dignity at work in research
- CRUK's Research integrity guidelines
- CRUK's Research in Cancers of Unmet Need
- CRUK's Narrative CV guidance
- 'Research careers – changing the narrative for CVs' (written by Mat)
- PEP-CV - the narrative CV mentorship platform
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
This episode focuses on changing career from postdoctoral research to project management. Ruth Winden talks to Leeds alumni Dr Shirley-Anne Paul, Project Manager at Drax plc.
With a background in Psychology, Shirley made the switch to project management after nine years as a postdoc at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Leeds and the University of York. She has had an illustrious project management career ever since, starting out in the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), then moving to Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, the University of Leeds, the fintech sector at My Money Matters, and most recently to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire.
Key highlights from the podcast conversation:
-
Postdocs possess many transferable skills that are ideal for project management roles, such as organisational, time management, stakeholder engagement, and strong written and data analysis skills.
-
Making the move from academia to project management can feel like a significant leap of faith, even involving a period of grieving over leaving one's research behind. But PM offers fulfilment and a rewarding new career path.
-
Experience in different sectors and organisations can give project managers a distinct advantage, allowing them to manage diverse projects, work with different stakeholders, and adapt to multiple project management methodologies like Waterfall and Agile.
-
To be successful in project management, Shirley-Anne Paul recommends that researchers who consider project management roles connect with other project managers 9also via LinkedIn groups), pursue formal project management qualifications, and strategically transition first into roles that align closely with their previous postdoctoral experience, to ease the move. After securing that first project management role, it is common to move into different sectors and roles, as PM is such a flexible and varied career option.
Technical Terms used:
SME = Subject Matter Expertise | Project Management Methodologies: Prince2, Waterfall and Agile.
If you'd like to find out more about Shirley's or Ruth's career path, please go to their LinkedIn profiles: Dr Shirley-Anne Paul | Ruth Winden
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode we welcome new host, Dr Emily Ennis, to the team. We get to hear more about Emily before she hosts episodes on her specialist topics.
Emily shares her background in research culture and her role as the Research Culture Manager at the University of Leeds, which includes leading the research culture team and overseeing evaluation and strategy. She elaborates on her background, shares her interests outside of work, and talks about her plans for future podcast episodes.
Topics include:
- Emily's role and responsibilities at the University of Leeds
- Getting to know Emily with more on her hobbies and interests
- Emily's passion for Research Culture
- The challenges Emily identifies in research and academia
- What Emily is working on and what she will be doing
- How Emily views collaboration and competition in Research Culture
What will Emily be covering in her upcoming episodes:
- Thought-provoking conversations on the evaluation of Research Culture
- Measuring the impact of research culture improvements while emphasising the importance of collaboration within the higher education sector
Links for this episode:
- Emily's previous episode
- Research Excellence Framework
- SPRE: Strategy, People and Research Environment
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
Episode overview
Saying no is rarely just about confidence or time management. In research and higher education, it’s shaped by career stage, job security, power dynamics, working patterns, caring responsibilities, and the cultures we work within.
In this episode, Heledd slows the conversation down and listens to reflections from a postgraduate researcher, academic colleagues at different career stages, and professional services colleagues working in learning and development and digital practice.
Together, these voices show that “no” isn’t equally available to everyone — and that healthier research cultures depend on more than individual resilience. They depend on clear expectations, healthy role modelling, psychological safety, and respect for boundaries.
Featured contributors
Eima Karim — Postgraduate Researcher
Final-year PhD student based in the Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM).
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eima-karim-a69276172/
Keith Livingstone — Academic / Fixed-term contract perspective
Organic chemistry researcher whose career has taken him from Glasgow to Hertfordshire, Germany, and Leeds. Former Teaching and Research Fellow in Chemistry; now Assistant Learning Technologist in Digital Education Enhancement.
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-livingstone/
James Poulter — Academic leadership perspective
Associate Professor of Genomic Medicine, combining genomics and organoid models to understand brain development. UKRI Future Leaders Fellow (2020).
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-poulter-118093a8/
🦋 Bluesky: @japoulter.bsky.social
Kate Noll — Learning Development Advisor
Lead on G2–G5 Development at the University of Leeds. Specialist in personal development and career progression, passionate about empowering individuals to recognise their strengths and potential.
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-noll-a95314213/
Sarah Budello — Digital Practice Advisor
Coach, facilitator, and creative communicator working across staff development, community building, and personal support. Host of Developing People!
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbudello
🎧 Podcast: https://uoldevelopingpeople.podbean.com/
Key themes explored
- Power and permission: why saying no can feel risky — particularly for PGRs and early career staff
- Fixed-term contracts and shifting motivations across a contract lifecycle
- Leadership responsibility and the impact of over-commitment on teams
- Working patterns and caring responsibilities
- Culture and role modelling in psychologically safe environments
- Practising “no” safely through low-stakes experimentation
Memorable ideas
- Saying yes can feel like survival, not choice
- Boundaries aren’t just personal skills — they’re enabled (or blocked) by systems and culture
- “No” can be an act of clarity and care — for yourself and others
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Follow and connect
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social; @openresleeds.bsky.social; @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Want to contribute to a future episode?
We’d love to hear from you — especially if you have reflections on research culture from any career stage or role.
📩 researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our first episode of 2026 Nick talks to Josh Sendall about his career in academic libraries, culminating in his recent appointment as Acting Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds.
In a wide ranging conversation Josh discusses the importance of research libraries and how 'openness' is deeply aligned with both his own and university values, the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how libraries have always adapted to new information technology.
Josh reflects on his rapid career trajectory that has benefitted from "planned happenstance" and shares some of what he has learned along the way.
His advice to others? Understand your values, know your value, and seek roles that align with personal purpose.
Episode highlights:
- Josh sees leadership as service — to students, researchers, and the wider civic and cultural mission of the university
- He emphasises vulnerability, humanity, and continuous learning as essential leadership traits
- Josh’s career demonstrates planned happenstance — being curious, taking opportunities, embracing non‑linear progression
- Josh’s lived experience informs his strong leadership in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to address systemic challenges - underrepresentation in academia and attainment gaps
- He advocates for equity, not just equality, to ensure fairer participation in HE and knowledge creation.
- While AI can perpetuate existing underrepresentation in the knowledge base, open research can contribute to the democratisation of knowledge creation
Links:
- Library Homepage | Library | University of Leeds
- the Brotherton Collection of Manuscript Verse
- Digital Libraries Infrastructure Project (DLIP) posts on the Library blog
- Mitchell, K.E., Al Levin, S. and Krumboltz, J.D. (1999), Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77: 115-124. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02431.x
- Dare to Lead Hub - Brené Brown
- Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy - The Secretary of State for Education - Bridget Phillipson (Hansard)
- Knowledge Equity Network
- Knowledge for all: University of Leeds Libraries Vision for 2030
- 100 Black Women Professors NOW
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Rsearch Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
This special holiday episode is all about celebration, laughter, and a little friendly competition! The Research Culture Uncovered podcast team wraps up the year with a cheerful mix of knowledge and festive fun, proving that research culture can sparkle with joy.
Join your quizmaster Dr Emma Spary as she attempts to keep control of proceedings. Before the quiz begins we have an early gift for our listeners. We’re pleased to welcome Dr Emily Ennis as a new host. Her passion for shaping research environments promises exciting conversations in the year ahead—you’ll get more in January when she stars in her own Meet the Host episode, but for now, consider this your festive sneak peek!
Today, forget business as usual and join us in a festive quiz! All our fabulous hosts are gathered in one virtual room, ready to test their knowledge, buzzers, creativity, and competitive spirit. With three rounds of questions covering research culture, holiday trivia, and host special topics, expect plenty of laughs and maybe a little friendly rivalry.
We’ll reveal answers after each question so you can keep score too. Will you beat the hosts? There are 20 points up for grabs—make them count!
Apologies: Due to the short time available to record, edit and publish this episode, we haven't been able to correct and upload the transcript.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode of the Research Culture Uncovered podcast, host Dr Taryn Bell talks with Dr Sara Shinton and Dr Katie Nicoll Baines from the Future Leaders Fellows Development Network. Together, they discuss how the FLFDN enables future research leaders, supports institutions across the UK and helps shape a more collaborative and collegiate research culture.
Key highlights:
1️⃣ Enabling, rather than training, researchers - Sara and Katie share examples of the support the Network offers to Future Leaders Fellows, and discuss the importance of helping researchers to develop their own resources and support
2️⃣ Researcher support as an iterative process - in other words, learning from Fellows what works, and proactively responding to their needs
3️⃣ Advocating for open-access support for institutions - Sara and Katie discuss how they provide freely available support for a wide variety of institutions, particularly those who don't currently have a Future Leaders Fellow.
Want to know more?
- FLF Development Network website
- Enabling Future Leaders (support for aspiring and current host institutions)
- FLFDN Toolkits Hub
- UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
🎙️ The Research Culture Uncovered podcast team is thrilled to present our latest episode featuring Vicky Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Emerald Publishing. Join hosts Ged Hall, Head of Researcher Development at the University of Leeds, and Nick Sheppard, Open Research Advisor in the University’s Library, as they delve into the insights and experiences of Vicky in shaping research culture.
🔹 Vicky shares her 25-year journey at Emerald Publishing and how the organisation’s founding values have driven its mission to make research usable in the world outside academia.
🔹 Discover how Emerald Publishing supports equitable access and impact, including their longstanding zero-embargo green open access policy and initiatives like the 'Are you in?' commitments and their free impact services.
🔹 Learn about the challenges faced by the scholarly publishing industry in promoting sustainable open access and meaningful change, and how Emerald Publishing is navigating these complexities to remain true to its values.
🔹 Vicky calls for a collective effort from academia, publishers, and institutions to foster collaboration, inclusivity, and impactful research practices.
If you want to hear our episode with Dr Julie Bayley: (Episode 126) Research Impact Heroes: Dr Julie Bayley on Finding Your People or the one with Dr Simon Kerridge: (Episode 115) The Diverse World of Research Management and Administration with Simon Kerridge
💡 Find out more about Vicky, Emerald Publishing and their initiatives via their website and social media channels:
- www.emerald.com
- www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com
- Emerald Publishing: Overview | LinkedIn
- Emerald Publishing(@emeraldpublishing.bsky.social) — Bluesky
- Vicky Williams | LinkedIn
Acronyms used in the episode:
- CSR - Corporate Social Responsiblity
- N8 - the eight research intensive universities in the north of England
- CoARA - Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment.
- Types of open access (green, gold, etc) explained.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Rsearch Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode, Ruth Winden, Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, speaks to Dr Elizabeth Faulkner and Dr Cathal Rogers about the UK's Higher Education sector and its systemic inequalities for researchers who return to their research careers after maternity leave.
Following a nation-wide Freedom of Information request to 130 Higher Education institutions in the UK, Elizabeth and Cathal undertook painstaking analysis of universities' maternity leave policies for researchers.
They published their findings in this Open Access article: Faulkner, E.A and Rogers, C (2025) Confronting the lack of support for academics returning to research from maternity leave in UK higher education; Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, pp. 1–23.
Elizabeth and Cathal are now researching the topic further - watch the space.
Key highlights:
1️⃣ There are many inconsistencies across UK HE in support for returning researchers
2️⃣ Disparity isn’t directly linked to the size or research-intensity of institutions
3️⃣ Gender inequality still impacts career progression negatively
4️⃣ Practical Recommendations: codifying existing support, making policies accessible and visible, establishing minimum standards of support, giving tailored guidance for managers, and explicitly considering maternity leave in promotion assessments
Episode references:
REF - The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK's system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers.
Athena Swan - The Athena Swan Charter is a framework used globally to achieve gender equality within higher education (HE) and research.
EDI - Equality, Diversity, Inclusion
FOI - Freedom of Information (the UK's national policy about the right to request information) https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-information-request
UK support organisations for pregnancy loss: the Miscarriage Association, Tommy's, the NHS
Contact/Resources:
Dr Elizabeth Faulkner, Lecturer & Director of Childcare Law and Practice (CCLP), University of Keele: University profile and LinkedIn profile
Dr Cathal Rogers, Research Culture & Assessment Manager, University of Manchester,University link and LinkedIn profile
Research article: Faulkner, E.A and Rogers, C (2025) Confronting the lack of support for academics returning to research from maternity leave in UK higher education; Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, pp. 1–23.
Interested to explore the topic of research careers and parenthood further?
Listen to Dr Hema Viswambharan's episode, sharing her personal approach of combining her scientific career and children in Episode 134: Lab Coats and Lunch Boxes: Navigating a Research Career and Parenthood, from October 2025.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this insightful episode, Dr. Emily Goodall speaks with Dr. James Greenwood-Reeves about how research can be radically reimagined when it’s creative, collaborative, and community-led. Together, they explore how working with drag artists through the “Laws a Drag” network is challenging traditional academic norms and reshaping what research culture can look like.
Key highlights:
1️⃣ Co-production is powerful: Collaboration goes beyond treating participants as research subjects, when drag artists guided the research, it became more ethical and impactful.
2️⃣ Creative methods matter: Arts-based approaches like forum theatre amplify marginalised voices and encourage researchers to reflect on their own roles.
3️⃣ Responsible research: Research that genuinely serves and empowers communities. "Laws a Drag" combines ethical rigor with practical support, producing outcomes that truly matter to the people involved.
4️⃣ Building trust & networks takes work: Lasting change requires time and care. Strong partnerships between academics and artists create enduring cultural and structural impact.
Contact/Resources:
Dr James Greenwood-Reeves university profile.
Laws a Drag Network: A creative, community-led research network focusing on drag artists and the law.
Social Legal Studies Association (SLSA): A UK charity supporting education and research in socio-legal studies through conferences, funding, and annual prizes.
Listen again: Episode 108: The art of being you: Research presentations as your authentic self.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
Show Notes
Episode Summary:
In Beyond the Pain Scale: Embodied Research, host Dr Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths speaks with Dr Neko Mellor about how chronic pain, disability, and neurodiversity shape both research and writing. Drawing on her PhD in English at the University of Leeds, Neko explores how twenty-first-century women authors represent pain, reflecting on the limits of medical pain scales, the challenges of articulating ongoing pain, and what it means to research through the body. Blending literary analysis with lived experience, she examines how pain is expressed, understood, and misunderstood—both medically and culturally—and what this means for disabled and neurodivergent researchers navigating academia.
Content note:
This episode discusses chronic pain, disability, neurodiversity, and lived experience in research. These themes include personal reflections on illness, embodiment, and medical care. While the conversation is supportive and aims to promote understanding and inclusion, some listeners may find aspects of it emotionally resonant. If the issues raised in this episode affect you, please see the support and resources linked below.
Key takeaways
🔹 Beyond the Pain Scale
Neko critiques conventional pain measurement, showing how numerical scales capture intensity but overlook meaning, context, and emotional reality.
🔹 Writing Through Pain
Exploring memoir, lyric essays, and autoethnography, Neko reveals how narratives struggle to contain ongoing pain—and how resisting neat endings can be an act of truth.
🔹 Embodied and Neurodivergent Research
Drawing on her lived experience of Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome, fibromyalgia, ADHD, and dyspraxia, Neko describes how embracing embodiment reshaped her research approach and challenged academic conventions.
🔹 Inclusive
Supervision and Support
The discussion highlights the importance of flexible supervision, awareness of Disability Services and DSA, and the power of compassionate academic relationships.
🔹 Community and Connection
From peer networks and online neurodivergent communities to the grounding comfort of pets, Neko reflects on how connection sustains disabled researchers.
🔹 Towards an Embodied
Research Culture
The episode calls for academia to value lived experience as knowledge and to make space for embodied, experimental, and inclusive methodologies.
Resources and support
- University of Leeds Disability Services
- Disabled Students Allowance (DSA)
- “Writing pain and the non-linear body: Towards an embodied poetics” – Medical Humanities (Mellor, 2023)
- Disabled Academic Collective
- The body keeps the score - Bessel Van Der Kolk
Connect with our guest
Dr Neko Mellor🔗LinkedIn
Read Neko’s articlein Medical Humanities
Follow us:
💙Bluesky @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social
💼LinkedIn @ResearchUncoveredPodcast
📩Contact researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode of the 'Research Culture Uncovered' podcast, Emma Spary, Associate Director for Researcher Development and Research Culture at the University of Leeds, is joined by guests Nik Ogryzko, from UKRI's Central Talent Team, and Kelly Vere, Director of Technical Strategy at the University of Nottingham. The discussion explores the need for a shift from a culture that's merely nice to one that's collaborative and structurally supportive. They include the importance of recognising contributions from all team members, including technicians, research administrators, and digital experts, to foster better research outcomes.
Key highlights:
- The shortcomings of the current PI-centric model in research, suggesting a more integrated and systemic approach that values diverse roles and reduces bureaucratic burdens.
- Examples from institutions like Warwick, Bath, Exeter, and UCL, which have restructured their research operations to enhance efficiency and support.
- A team-centred approach from the outset, valuing diverse expertise and collaborative roles, is essential for a thriving research culture.
- A call to rethink research evaluation measures beyond publications, considering broader impacts like career sustainability, data quality, and team development.
- Nik introduces us to the concept of the Unicorn Postdoc that can do everything.
In this episode several initiatives and outputs are referenced:
- Technician Commitment:A national initiative to support technical staff in higher education and research.
- UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy: A body focused on advancing technical skills and career pathways.
- Hidden REF: An initiative to recognise overlooked research outputs and contributions.
- Previous episode with the Hidden Ref: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/e6d0253f-fb10-4462-888f-45bff8f46ff8/
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
Research Culture Uncovered: Navigating Career and Parenthood as a Scientist
Host Ruth Winden (Careers with Research Consultant) and guest Dr. Hema Viswambharan (Senior Scientist, LICAMM, University of Leeds)
“Building a career after a break is like a marathon and not a sprint.” (Dr. Hema Viswambharan)
Episode Overview:
In this highly personal episode, Ruth Winden speaks with Dr. Hema Viswambharan about the realities of juggling a research career with parenthood. Drawing on her 20 years of experience as both a scientist and a mother, Hema shares her lived experiences, highlighting personal and professional challenges, effective coping strategies, and the value of support networks.
Key Discussion Points:
Inspiration and Early Career:
- Hema describes her journey into science, inspired by her parents, especially her mother, “a female scientist in her own respect.”
The Impact of Parenthood on Career:
- Hema chose to “stay as a research fellow,” bringing up three children while maintaining her career, supported by her line manager.
Challenges Faced:
- Professional isolation and loss of networking opportunities during career breaks and especially when during her return to work after maternity leave, re-engaging with her career and staying up to date with rapid scientific advancements during her absence.
- Balancing lab work, research and professional development with the needs of her family and her own needs.
Solutions and Support Mechanisms Hema sought out and/or created:
- Engaging in Professional Development to continuously upskill herself.
- Finding time for personal development programs at the University of Leeds, including workshops, online courses, and seminars.
- Integrating learning into her daily routine.
- Proactive communication with her line manager was key to receiving necessary support.
- Annual staff reviews and regular updates ensured alignment between personal and professional needs.
- Mentoring and coaching provided “empathetic guidance” for overcoming career progression stalls after breaks.
- Establishing routines and self-reflection helped manage practical and emotional challenges.
- Building a strong support network of colleagues and mentors proved invaluable.
Her advice: “Be patient and kind to yourself… seek out and take advantage of personal development opportunities and network support.”
Contact/Resources:
- Dr Hema Viswambharan on LinkedIn and her University profile
- Ruth Winden on LinkedIn and BlueSky
- University of Leeds OD&PL professional development programs for research staff
- The British Heart Foundation
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
University of Leeds Libraries is proud to partner with Wikimedia UK to promote open knowledge across campus and beyond.
Wikimedia UK is the national chapter of the global Wikimedia movement and in this episode Nick is joined by Dr. Lucy Hinnie and Dr. Richard Nevell to explore the role of Wikimedians in Residence, particularly at universities. Lucy and Richard discuss the importance of Wikipedia in promoting knowledge transparency and share their experiences working with Wikimedia UK, highlighting different projects aimed at leveraging Wikipedia for educational and research purposes. Key topics include the integration of Wikimedia into academic settings, the impact of open knowledge on public engagement, and the challenges posed by AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.
Key takeaways include:
🔹 The role of a Wikimedian in Residence
🔹 The benefits of engaging with the Wikimedia platforms in Higher Education
🔹 The importance of human curated knowledge in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Links:
- Promoting engagement in universities (Poulter & Sheppard, 2020)
- Wikimedia Residency at the University of Leeds
- The British Library Wikimedia Residency
- New partnership delivers Wikimedia UK’s first-ever residency for climate
- Getting the Words Out (and Back In): What to do When a Plague Image is Not an Image of Plague
- "Wikipedia has a chance to be a free, universally recognized, and comprehensive counterpoint to slop, at a time when that is badly needed" Ted McCormick (BluesKy post)
- Knowledge Equity Network
- Conflict of interest in the academy
- University of Edinburgh and Wikimedia UK’s booklet of case studies of Wikimedia in Education (2nd edition)
If you or your organisation are interested in collaborating with Wikimedia UK, perhaps to recruit a Wikimedian in Residence, get in touch with Richard and the team at programs@wikimedia.org.uk.
Related episodes:
- (S3 E4) The open knowledge revolution: contributing to the global commons with Wikimedian Dr Martin Poulter
- (S3 E5) Wikimedia Champions at the University of Leeds
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode ‘Sparking Impact: The People, Values, and Vibe of the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum with Dr Vicky Ward’ Ged Hall talks to Dr. Vicky Ward (Reader in Management at the University of St. Andrews) about the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum and her period as its Chair. They discuss the unique world of knowledge mobilisation and what makes the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum so special, including its aims and format.
The key takeaways from the discussion are:
🔹 Discover Vicky’s fascinating journey from music PhD to leading knowledge mobilisation in the UK.
🔹 Learn the origins and evolution of the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum, and how it’s built a vibrant, supportive community.
🔹 Explore what makes the Forum different from traditional conferences: interactive workshops, knowledge fayres, and a focus on collaboration over presentations.
🔹 Hear about the Forum’s core values—sustainability, inclusivity, and creating a safe, energising space for practitioners and researchers.
If you’re passionate about making research matter and building connections across sectors, the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum is for you.
To follow, connect and attend the Forum, check out the following:
- The Forum’s LinkedIn page (UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum)
- The Forum’s website (https://knowledgemobilisation.net/), where you can also check out who is on the Forum committee.
- The email address to be added to the distribution list: ukkmbforum@gmail.com
To connect with Vicky, take a look at her LinkedIn profile and her University profile page
Vicky's paper that influenced Ged's early research impact workshops is Ward, V., Foy, R., House, A., Smith, S., & Hamer, S. (2010). Planning for knowledge translation: a researcher’s guide. Evidence & Policy, 6(4), 527-541. Retrieved Sep 19, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1332/174426410X535882
She also produced a technical report with other colleagues, called "Knowledge Brokering. Exploring the process of transferring knowledge into action", that had some great visuals in it that was also extremely valuable (thanks Vicky!).
Related episodes:
- (S9/E4) Scottish Policy Research Exchange: Empowering Equitable Decision-Making: a discussion with Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin and Dave Blackbell, who are SPRE's Co-Directors. Catherine-Rose (or CR) will be co-chairing the UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum in 2026.
- (Episode 126) Research Impact Heroes: Dr Julie Bayley on Finding Your People
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Academic Failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
It's time to talk about failure again! In this episode, Taryn Bell chats with Ireen Litvak-Zur, Senior Consultant at Advance HE. Ireen discusses her experiences of failure both in and out of academia, and shares her thoughts on how to fail well.
Key takeaways:
- "Failure now is a step in a process, rather than an outcome": there's still an ingrained stigma against failure in academia, but Ireen's own views on failure changed dramatically after she left academia
- How we deal with failure can make those failures worse: The easy fix for failure is to put more pressure on yourself - but this has hugely negative impacts on academics in the long run
- The importance of both self-compassion and a growth mindset: When we stop punishing ourselves for our failures, we're more able to learn from them
To listen back to our previous episodes on failure, check out the links below:
- Navigating Failure in Academia
- How to Handle Professional Failure
- From setback to success: supporting researchers after unsuccessful funding applications
You can learn more about Ireen using the link below:
- Ireen Litvak-Zur
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
What started as a bold idea has made a real, lasting impact on supporting Early Career Researchers (ECRs) at the University of Leeds.
A team of exceptional postdocs, Jessica Swanson, Laurin McDowall and James Warren led a collaborative project that tackled some of the biggest challenges ECRs face: fragmented information on professional development, the need for greater awareness of opportunities, a route to gain formal project management qualifications and/or become chartered.
With professional services staff Taryn Bell, Anisha (Parsotam) O'Hagan, Nazia Nasir and Ruth Winden supporting (not leading!) and generous Research England funding, they
📌 created a central digital ECR Hub,
📌 ran a packed fellowship fair,
📌 enabled over 35 postdocs to go through the Prince2 project management certification,
📌 and helped a sizeable group of researchers on their way to become Chartered Scientists.
Key learnings of this 9-month project:
1⃣ When postdocs are empowered to lead, innovation follows. “Listen to the postdocs—they know the challenges they face.”
2⃣ Cross-team collaboration (professional services and postdocs) unlocks impressive results.
3⃣ Building strong professional relationships and networks accelerates positive change.
4⃣ Recognition matters: the three postdocs earned the FBS Partnership Award for its cultural impact.
If you are interested in how this project got started - listen to this episode from September 2024 (Season 9/Episode 3):
https://research-culture.captivate.fm/episode/-postdocs-as-innovators-shaping-research-culture-at-the-university-of-leeds/
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
- Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
This week Nick speaks with his Library colleague Kikachukwu Oluonye about the UKRN Train the Trainer programme.
Like Nick, Kikachukwu is an Open Research Adviser based in the Library and also has a role with the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) as Open Research Coordinators and Administrator (ORCA).
As a member institution of UKRN, Kikachukwu would like to invite University of Leeds colleagues to apply to be part of the second cohort of the UKRN Train the Trainer programme. You'll need to be quick though as the deadline is next week, 17th September.
We also hear from Dr Scott Mclaughlin, Associate Professor in Composition and Music Technology based in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. Scott was a member of the first cohort last year and talks about open research from the perspective of Arts and Humanities, and as a practice researcher.
Episode highlights:
UKRN Train the Trainer Programme Overview: The University of Leeds joined the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) consortium in February 2024, participating in the Train the Trainer programme designed to create Open Research Training leads. The programme is open to professional services staff, researchers, research fellows, and PIs with free courses running from September through December.
Cross-disciplinary Challenges in Open Research: The conversation reveals how open research practices vary significantly across, even within, disciplines While traditional reproducibility concepts from psychology and other empirical disciplines don't directly translate to arts and humanities, there are valuable opportunities for interdisciplinary dialogue and adaptation of open research principles.
Practice Research and Open Scholarship: Dr. McLaughlin's work in experimental music composition demonstrates how practice-based research in the arts faces unique challenges around copyright, and making creative processes transparent while maintaining artistic integrity and commercial viability.
Institutional Support and Recognition: Programme participants receive certificates upon completion and the title of Open Research Training leads, with the initiative supported by Research England funding and led locally by Professor Daryl O'Connor as institutional lead.
Future Developments: The discussion touches on upcoming initiatives including the Enact project, led by the University of Westminster, to develop a national digital repository for practice research, and ongoing work to adapt open research principles across the diverse research landscape of Arts and Humanities at Leeds and beyond.
Episode links:
- Igbo Wikipedia
- The UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN)
- PRAG-UK
- McLaughlin, Scott (2022) The Garden of Forking Paths. University of Leeds. [Dataset] https://doi.org/10.5518/1117
- Gelma, A,. Loken, E. (2013) The garden of forking paths: Why multiple comparisons can be a problem, even when there is no “fishing expedition” or “p-hacking” and the research hypothesis was posited ahead of time
- Westminster-led collaborative project receives funding to build data service for practice research
- Jackson, T., Knowles, C., McLaughlin, S. et al. (4 more authors) (2023) Sustaining Practice Assets for Research, Knowledge, Learning and Engagement (SPARKLE) : Final Report and Recommendations. Report. University of Leeds https://doi.org/10.48785/100/296
🎙️ Dive into the world of research technical professionals, or RTPs, in our latest episode on the Research Culture Uncovered podcast. Join Ged Hall as he welcomes Marie Daniels, Programme Manager of the UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Strategic Technical Platform or UK RAS STEPS, to discuss how they are working with Research Technical Professionals to cultivate a thriving, dynamic and vibrant community.
Here’s what you’ll discover:
🔍 Empowering Careers: Explore how UK RAS STEPS and 10 other programmes (all funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) in different technical areas are cultivating thriving, supportive communities with Research Technical Professionals across the UK.
👥 A Collaborative Force: Learn about UK RAS STEPS special interest groups and international connections enhancing technician development and collaboration and how RTPs are benefitting from being work package leads and co-investigators.
🥇 Celebrating Success: From innovative teamwork to transformative robotics impact, find out how the Technical Excellence Awards, that were one part of the Technical Showcase, recognise outstanding contributions from the RTP community.
To find out more and to connect with UK RAS STEPS:
- EPSRC’s press release from March 2024 about the funding and all 11 projects.
- UK RAS STEPS website: https://www.ukras-steps.org/
- UK RAS STEPS email address: info@ukras-steps.org
- Subscribe to the UK RAS STEPS newsletter: https://www.ukras-steps.org/contact-us/newsletter/
- Sign up for upcoming online training here: https://www.ukras-steps.org/personal-development/training/
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode, Taryn Bell speaks to Dr Ireen Litvak-Zur about her reflections on the June 2025 AdvanceHE symposium, 'Barriers and Enablers to Thriving Research Cultures'.
Ireen discusses her role at Advance HE, their programs aimed at fostering a sustainable research ecosystem, and the impact of limited resources on research culture.
Key takeaways:
- The incentive to shift from focusing on barriers, to identifying enablers
- The value of the symposium in providing practical toolkits and advice, to help others take actionable steps
- The need to reach a 'critical mass', to ensure events like these have an impact beyond those already invested in thriving research cultures.
You can learn more about Ireen, the symposium and AdvanceHE using the links below:
- Ireen Litvak-Zur
- AdvanceHE
- The 2025 AdvanceHE symposium programme
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social, @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking: What is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this week’s #ResearchCultureUncovered episode, Ruth Winden speaks to Associate Professor and Academic Lead for Career Development, Lynne McKeown, about leading the LICAMM Careers Academies at the University of Leeds. We go into detail of her successful initiative to agree 10 days' career development time per annum, for everyone in her Institute.
(LICAMM = Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular Metabolic Medicine)
🔍 Career Development in the LICAMM Institute Importance of Career Development for all staff, irrespective of their roles* * The rationale behind this approach - to honour the collective approach to staff development. This means ensuring that everyone feels valued and that everyone has the same opportunities for personal and professional growth.
🔍 Lynn’s Approach and Initiatives* Inception of Lynn's role as Academic Lead for the LICAMM Career Development Academies * Her emphasis on inclusivity of career development support for all cohorts and aligning the initiative with the School of Medicine and Faculty's research culture and EDI policies at the University of Leeds
🔍 Importance and Impact of Career Development Entitlement* What is the UK Researcher Development Concordat and its entitlement of 10 days for career development for postdocs * The reasoning behind the expansion of the Concordat’s principles to other cohorts of staff
Resources:
https://researcherdevelopmentconcordat.ac.uk/
https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/leeds-institute-cardiovascular-metabolic-medicine
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social , @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this week’s #ResearchCultureUncovered episode, Dr Taryn Bell takes on the tricky subject of failure. How do we talk about failure in academia? Who is given the space to fail? And what can we do to support our research communities in navigating failure?
Taryn is joined on this episode by Dr Anna Pilz, Dr Johanna Stadlbauer, Dr Darcey Gillie and Professor Leila Jancovich. They share their thoughts and their experiences of developing tools, resources and frameworks to help researchers think more deeply about failure.
🔍 Key Takeaways:
- The inequities involved in failure, and who we allow to fail
- The power of talking about failure openly and honestly
- The need to deal with the emotional, as well as the practical, elements of failure
- The need to lean away from the instinctive desire to ‘fix’ things
🔍 Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Failure Repository - add your own examples to the list!
- Darcey Gillie - Failure: We're doing it wrong
- FailSpace Project - including resources and printable versions of the framework
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social , @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode Dr Emma Spary talks to Dr Karen Hinxman about her new role as the Head of the White Rose University Consortium.
Karen shares her extensive background in academia and research development, her transition to her current role, and the consortium's mission to enable people to thrive across the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield, and York.
We discuss the consortium's focus areas, including career development, fostering communities, research culture, celebrating successes, and leading impactful projects. Karen outlines various initiatives like the Equity Leadership Program, the Prosper Cohort, and the Crucible Program, all designed to support diverse, interdisciplinary collaboration and career progression.
The main messages include:
- Wanting the consortium to be people focussed and community led
- The wider remit to include professional service / research professional colleagues in the community
- How the consortium adds value, delivers practical solutions, and complements existing efforts across our institutions
- How our institutions should learn from each other and share best practice
- Ways to get in touch, find out more and access the openly available resources being created
Karen mentions several links in this episode including:
- White Rose University Consortium
- The Prosper Postdoc Careers portal
- REDS conference
- Researcher Development Concordat
- Researchers14
- Contact email info@whiterose.ac.uk
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social , @researchcultureuol.bsky.social
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In this episode, host Ruth Winden speaks to Claire Brockett, Professor of BioMechanics at the University of Sheffield about becoming an academic leader whilst staying true to herself.
Claire openly shares the lessons she has learnt in becoming an academic who does excellent research AND who makes the professional and personal development of the next generation of engineers a priority.
Key Takeaways:
- Empowering Leadership & Authenticity: Claire emphasises the importance of staying true to oneself in academic leadership roles. She describes how she balances research priorities with fostering a supportive community, valuing compassion, and individual growth in academic teaching and research.
-
Supporting PhD Students: Claire's compassionate support for PhD students—particularly during challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic—highlights her dual role as both an organisational representative and a mentor who offers pastoral guidance.
-
Balancing Work and Personal Life: She shares insightful strategies for maintaining a balance between different academic priorities, including setting personal boundaries, negotiating workload, and guiding students towards self-reliance to enhance their learning outcomes.
Learn more about Claire's work and impact from her University of Sheffield profile and LinkedIn profile.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here).
As a podcast about podcasting this week's episode is a little bit 'meta'.
It is a recording from one of the Libraries Open Lunch series of online talks with a panel of experts discussing the role of podcasting in research culture and communications.
Research Culture Uncovered's own Ged Hall was one of four panellists along with representatives from three other podcasts:
- Research Adjacent is hosted by Sarah McLusky, an independent consultant who interviews research-adjacent professionals about what they do and how they contribute to making research successful and impactful.
- The Leeds University Business School (LUBS) Research and innovation podcast is produced by Hannah Preston, Research Communications Manager from Leeds University Business School, and features the latest thinking on a wide range of business issues, with expert commentary from academics and postgraduate researchers.
- The Business of Policy Making is another LUBS podcast that Hannah has developed with host by Dr Jana Javornik, Associate Professor of Work and Employment Relations in the Business School, to help demystify the world of policymaking, debunk some myths about the evidence-based policymaking process, and shine a light on the impact academic research can have on policy.
The event was chaired by Andy Tattersall, Information Specialist in the School of Medicine and Population Health at the University of Sheffield. An experienced research communication professional, Andy hosts the SCHARR Communicable Research Podcast and offers training on how to create a successful podcast.
In addition to this podcast you can read a blog about the event over on the Library blog (along with an archive of previous talks in the Open Lunch series).
Other podcasts mentioned in this episode:
- Research Records podcast
- The Life of Breath podcast
- The Academic Adventures Podcast
- Fast Track Impact podcast
- How to Fix podcast
- Research Co-Culture Podcast
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on X: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our regular Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In this episode, host Ged Hall dives into the fun and efficient “Impact Clinic” with experts Giovanna Lima, Esther De Smet and Áine Mhic Thaidhg.
Key Takeaways:
🌍 Scaling and integrating innovative methods like the "Impact Clinic" can create a
more engaging and supportive research culture.
💡 Co-production and iterative development of solutions for challenges can be fun and efficient through ideas like the “Impact Clinic”!
🏆 There is a really big international research impact community that you can be part of and can help you to develop your ideas and expertise.
You can connect with Giovanna via LinkedIn, Esther via LinkedIn and Áine via LinkedIn
Links and initiatives mentioned in the episode:
- RM Roadmap – Session 3 on the Knowledge and Community Platform Career Development Framework is open between 14th November and 19th December 2024.
- EARMAImpact thematic group
- INORMS Research Impact and Stakeholder Engagement Working Group
- ENLIGHT Alliance covering Study, Teaching and Learning, Research and Innovation, and Cities and Communities. With the Repository of Good Practices on Research Impact, the Impact Assessment Toolkit, and the bi-annual Impact Conference (scheduled for 27/28th March 2025 in Groningen). Find out more via Impact at ENLIGHT.
- Erasmus Rotterdam University’s Impact Toolbox
- University of Galway’s Reflections on Research Impact (including Saskia Walcott)
- University of Galway’s Research Impact Toolkit
- University of Galway’s Research Impact Seminar Series
- Ghent University’s Impact Strategy
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research evaluation
- Research leadership
- Research professionals
Follow us on X: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
This week, Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths in their debut episode as host chats Kay Guccione from the University of Glasgow about reaching an incredible milestone of 10 years of the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship (REDS) conference.
With a wealth of experience in doctoral education, mentoring, research community building, and more, Kay shared her invaluable insights and the fascinating journey of REDS over the past decade.
Key takeaways:
- The Origins of REDS: Kay Guccione shares how the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship (REDS) conference started in 2014, highlighting the need for a conference that supports researcher development professionals in understanding how to research and publish their work effectively.
- The Impact of COVID-19 on REDS: The shift to an online format due to the pandemic significantly increased global participation, making the conference more accessible and cost-effective. Kay emphasises the benefits and challenges of maintaining a virtual format.
- The Evolution of REDS Themes: The importance of addressing current topics in researcher development, such as inclusivity, supervision, and research culture, and how these themes have evolved to meet the changing landscape of higher education.
- Future Goals for REDS: Kay discusses plans for the future, including formalizing the conference's mission statement, enhancing accessibility, securing seed funding for research, and opening up advisory board positions to ensure the event continues to grow and serve the community effectively.
- The Community's Role: The significance of community involvement in shaping REDS, including the use of a Padlet to gather ideas for future conference themes and the potential for establishing a REDS blog to support ongoing scholarship and collaboration among researcher development professionals.
Links, resources and initiatives mentioned in the episode:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE)
- Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)
- AdvanceHE
- Kay Guccione Interests and Publications
- Supervising PhDs blog
- The Auditorium Blog (from the Research Culture and Researcher Development Team at Glasgow)
- Hidden Curriculum of the Doctorate blog
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Professional
- Research Talent Management
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 9, where we join host Dr Tony Bromley speaking to 3 guests from Australia. Our guests Natasha Kitano, Kirsten Baird-Bate and Owen Forbes share the wellbeing initiatives for postgraduate researchers at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). They explore the HDR writers' wellbeing lounge, a supportive space created to connect researchers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main topics include:
- mental health resilience
- QUT’s holistic health strategies
- the transition to online resources
The guests share personal experiences of balancing PhD studies and family life, the benefits of communal writing spaces, and the importance of proactive wellbeing measures. The discussion shows the role of universities in enabling student-driven mental health advocacy and their plans to expand the initiative with hybrid models.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
This week, Taryn Bell chats to Ines Hahn and Stuart Higgins from the University of York about what early career researchers can do to shape research culture.
Ines and Stuart share their experiences, including how they got started, what motivates them, and what they think needs to be done to support ECRs who want to take an active role in transforming research culture.
Key takeaways:
- The research culture initiatives in which Ines and Stuart have been involved have had an effect on their respective fields and institutions, but they’ve also had major benefits for their own careers and wellbeing
- It’s important to be kind to yourself – don’t burn yourself out. Joining existing RC initiatives can make a big difference, without the pressure of taking the lead on everything
- Key challenges have included: how to reach the right people, and how to convince senior figures to carve out space for these kinds of projects
- Both funders and senior leadership have a major role to play in encouraging research leaders to take research culture seriously, and get involved in research culture locally, nationally and internationally!
Links, resources and initiatives mentioned in the episode:
- UK Postdoc Appreciation Week
- Scientists Not The Science: Being a Positive Role Model
- Angela Saini - Inferior and Superior
- Enhancing Research Culture workshops at York
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 9, but we go back to the format we used in Season 1 because 2 new hosts are joining the team. We get to hear more about them before they host seasons on their specialist topics. In this episode of Research Culture Uncovered, host Emma Spary introduces Dr Emily Goodall and Dr Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths, the newest members of the podcast team.
Emily shares her background in research integrity and responsible research and innovation, while Heledd discusses her experience in PGR development and research leadership. Both share their personal interests, including Emily's hobby as an amateur genealogist and Heledd's pride in her Welsh heritage, and what they hope to bring to their podcast episodes.
I ask them what they think the biggest challenges are for researchers, what we do well at Leeds, where they think things can improve. The main messages include:
- The complexity in academia with multiple responsibilities and expectations with changes often happening at once
- How research culture change can be slow
- The importance of reward and recognition for ethics reviewers!
- Encouraging change and awareness in both postgraduate researchers and research leaders
- Importance of learning from successful models across schools and faculties
What will Emily be covering in her upcoming episodes:
- Thought-provoking conversations on ethics, integrity and responsible research
- Practical advice and case studies for listeners
- Opening up discussions on questionable research practices and misconduct
What will Heledd be covering in her upcoming episodes:
- Starting with an interview with Kay Guccione on the REDS conference
- Discussions on leadership challenges and journeys
- Exploration of the emotional side of research
- Importance of wider networks and parent/carer support groups
Be sure to check out the other episodes in Season 1 to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ged Hall, Tony Bromley and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our fortnightly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In this episode, host Ged Hall dives into the fascinating world of academic innovation and investment with special guests Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, and Andy Duley, Director of Commercialisation at the University of Leeds.
Discover how Northern Gritstone, its founding universities (Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester) and shareholders are working towards creating a "Silicon Valley of the North" through delivering on its strapline ‘Profit with Purpose’.
🔑 Key takeaways:
-
Creating science or technology spin-outs through academic inventions is not ‘just’ about the science or technology; it's about validated value propositions, teams and a support ‘infrastructure’
-
Developing a successful ecosystem for spin-out companies requires collaboration among universities, investors, and other stakeholders, as well as a focus on talent development and early successes.
-
Programs like NG Studios play a vital role in accelerating the development of academic founders and preparing early-stage businesses for success in the market.
Links and initiatives mentioned in the episode:
- Connecting Capabilities Fund
- Duncan mentioned the Otley Road – this is a road that runs north away from the University of Leeds through Headingley. Many of the university’s students live in this area and it has a wide range of pubs and nightlife.
- Beauhurst - source, extract and package data from thousands of locations to create the ultimate private UK company database.
- Nexus - A vibrant community for innovators and entrepreneurs.
- Leeds Innovation Arc - The Arc is a series of innovation neighbourhoods, formed around the natural anchors of our main universities, the proposed adult and children’s hospitals, and major private sector partners.
- Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe’s resignation speech – analysed in this Guardian article
- Deep Tech Labs
- David Brailsford – marginal gains.
You can find out more about Northern Gritstone via its website and LinkedIn page:
- www.northern-gritstone.com
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/northern-gritstone
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our regular Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In this episode, host Ged Hall dives into the transformative work of the Scottish Policy Research Exchange (SPRE), an organisation dedicated to developing a strategy and building a culture for engagement and decision-making in the Scottish knowledge ecosystem.
Our guests, Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin and Dave Blackbell (SPRE Co-Directors), shared their invaluable experiences and the strategic initiatives SPRE is pursuing to support higher education institutions, governing bodies, and communities across Scotland.
📌 Key Takeaways:
-
Equity-Oriented Governance: SPRE is deeply committed to equity and justice in its governance and is committed to helping inclusive decision-making processes that reflect a diverse range of perspectives and values across Scottish policy.
-
Innovative Recruitment Practices: The organisation’s recruitment process stands out for its transparency, accountability, and commitment to diversity. It seeks engagement and feedback from stakeholders, aiming for a mutual matching process.
-
Holistic Capacity Building: Beyond traditional training, SPRE emphasizes building relationships, understanding context, and facilitating conversations to enhance learning experiences and leverage the strengths of individuals and communities involved in their sessions.
Links and initiatives mentioned in the episode:
- Scottish Policy & Research Exchange
- SPRE’s working document on a values-led intersectional praxis
- Join SPRE’s Brokerage Network
- Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)
- Academy of Social Sciences
Consultants supporting SPRE’s development:
- Briana Pegado author of ‘Make Good Trouble: A Practical Guide to the Energetics of Disruption’
- Ray Cooper from &Breathe
Paper on knowledge mobilisers’ competencies:
- Bayley, J.E., Phipps, D., Batac, M. and Stevens, E., (2018). Development of a framework for knowledge mobilisation and impact competencies. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice, 14(4), pp.725-738. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426417X14945838375124
You can connect with SPRE on LinkedIn and their website (https://spre.scot/) where you can find information relating to the recruitment of the Co-director. SPRE is also on Twitter/X.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our regular Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking - "What is Research Culture and why does it matter?"
This time, we focus on How Postdocs at Leeds Are Shaping Research Culture.
Ruth Winden is speaking to three dedicated postdocs - Laurin McDowall, Jessica Swanson, and James Warren – who have just secured Research England funding for their innovative career development programme and compelling vision to change research culture.
In contrast to researcher development initiatives that we have developed in close partnership with our researchers, this project is different: it is led by postdocs, for postdocs.
This time, our role as researcher developers and research professionals from across the University is to contribute, consult and support to help these postdocs fulfil their vision.
Learn more about the thinking behind this project, the deliverables and especially the postdocs' motivation. What made this group take the lead in changing research culture?
Key Aims of the Project:
-
Signposting Career Development Resources: make the wide-ranging career development information and opportunities more accessible through centralised resource, in one easily navigable location. The emphasis is on helping postdocs, whatever their career stage, engage earlier, more easily and more consistently with their professional development when they have all the information they need at their fingertips.
-
Opening Doors for Professional Accreditations: facilitate access to professional bodies and certification courses, so postdocs gain recognition for their expertise – and the relevant qualifications to prove it. Examples will be gaining chartered status or project management qualifications, which are a career development asset for any researcher career path.
-
Empowerment Through Collaboration: demonstrate the power of postdocs collaborating across faculties, engaging with university support systems, and taking the lead in their career development. For this group of postdocs, the project is a prime example of how their leadership can change the status quo for the better.
Be inspired by our postdocs’ tenacity and motivation to make a difference.
We can't wait to see the positive impact this project will have on our research community over the next 12 months. And in summer 2025, we will come back onto the podcast and review the project outcomes, lessons learnt and future plans.
If you want to learn more about our guests, please visit their LinkedIn profiles:
Dr James Warren | Dr Jessica Swanson | Dr Laurin McDowall
Follow us on X: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links: Researcher Development and Culture Website
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In this episode Nick speaks to colleagues at the LIBER 2024 Annual Conference which took place in Limassol, Cyprus from 3-5 July 2024.
In three separate conversations we hear from Iain Hrynaszkiewicz, Director, Open Science Solutions at the Public Library of Science (PLOS), Laetitia Bracco, Head of the Research Data Support Service in the Bibliometrics Unit at the Université de Lorraine and Pedro Principe, Head of Scientific Information Management, Repositories and Open Science Division at University of Minho Documentation and Libraries Services.
Along with Rachel Bruce, Head of Open Research at UKRI, Iain, Laetitia and Nick spoke on a panel at the conference, proposed by Iain and entitled "New approaches to measuring prevalence and impact of Open Science".
The panel was moderated by Masud Khokar, Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds. A full recording is available on YouTube.
Pedro Principe is also working on monitoring Open Science through the PathOS project and ran a conference workshop that gave delegates the opportunity to provide feedback on the Handbook of Open Science Indicators proposed within PathOS project
Other links mentioned include:
- Open Research Indicators - UKRN Open Research Programme
- Open science monitoring initiative (OSMI)
- Call for inputs: Global Consultation on the Draft Principles of Open Science Monitoring (UNESCO) - OPEN UNTIL 30 November 2024
- French Open Science Monitor
Did you know that you can listen to topic specific playlists? Here are the links:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on X: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links: Researcher Development and Culture Website
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our fortnightly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In this episode, Ruth Winden, the University's Careers with research Consultant, shares ideas for how we can help researchers feel more appreciated at work.
She covers topics such as:
🔹 Embrace Core Values: Establishing and living by the University of Leeds' four core values like collaboration, compassion, inclusivity, and integrity can create a positive and supportive research culture. Ensure these values guide our daily behaviours and interactions.
🔹 Encourage Self-Appreciation: Help researchers recognise their own achievements and unique contributions. Encourage them to move past the fear of appearing boastful and own their successes. Remember, self-appreciation often leads to external appreciation.
🔹 Foster Appreciation Among Peers: Create opportunities for researchers to show appreciation for each other's work. Simple exercises, such as sharing positive feedback, can greatly enhance the sense of community and mutual respect.
🔹 Ask for the Input and Feedback you need, from your superiors and colleagues
Professor Brené Brown's work is helpful for this topic, especially her recent book on managing emotions. Brené Brown: Atlas of The Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience; Penguin, London, 2021
Did yo know that you can listen to topic specific playlists? Here are the links:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on X: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links: Researcher Development and Culture Website
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our fortnightly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In this episode Ged Hall discusses the enlightening time he had at the Network for Advancing & Evaluating the Societal Impact of Science ‘Societal Impact of Scientific Research’ Conference in Dublin in June 2024. The conference dived deep into the impacts and future of research culture! 🌍
🔥 Key Takeaways:
-
Global Unity in Research Impact: Despite differing contexts, the challenges and goals in advancing research impact are strikingly similar worldwide. We're all moving in the same direction and hitting the same bumps, from the UK to New Zealand and beyond.
-
Relationships are Key: Impact happens through collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships. As highlighted, incorporating diverse perspectives, including those of next users, could significantly enrich the conversation and outcomes of research impact.
-
Evolving Dialogue: The conversation around research impact has matured from "what is it?" to "how do we do it better?" The focus now is on doing it more equitably and efficiently, with a reduced negative toll on researchers and their communities.
Attending the conference reaffirmed how far we’ve come and motivated Ged to push for even greater progress in research impact. Excited for what's next! 🚀
In the episode, Ged or those he spoke to mentioned the following:
- Network for Advancing & Evaluating the Societal Impact of Science
- The Future of Research Impact Culture (Research Culture Uncovered episode)
- The Emerald Handbook of Research Management and Administration around the World
- Research Impact Summit hosted by Dr Tamika Heiden of the Research Impact Academy (Australia). Highly recommended and it is free.
- Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment
- Elsevier’s new Impact narrative AI tool
- Posts on LinkedIn and X (post one and post two) discussing the Elsevier tool
- Can you ever be an expert in research impact?
- UK Knowledge Mobilisation Forum and Research Impact Canada
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
Exciting News for Research Culture Uncovered!
We are delighted to announce that the Research Culture Uncovered podcast has been shortlisted for Vitae's Research Culture Impact through Researcher Development Award!
As we await the award ceremony on 23 September, we wanted to look back on our progress and the incredible community that has helped us get here. All the team are included on this short episode including Nick, who recorded his bit up a mountain, and Katie, our content manager, making her debut!
Key Takeaways:
- Since our launch on 27 October 2022, we've released 81 episodes with over 8,500 unique downloads.
- Our podcast has reached 5,000 listeners across 81 countries, with top listener bases in the UK, US, Australia, and Germany.
- We owe our success to our brilliant guests and dedicated listeners who are committed to driving worldwide improvements in research culture.
- A huge thank you to our podcast coach, Michael Sharkey, for guiding us from idea to reality.
- And to all our guests and listeners -we couldn’t have done it without you!
We will let you know if we win - fingers crossed!!
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In this week's episode of Research Culture Uncovered, Nick Sheppard speaks with Marcus Munafò, Professor of Biological Psychology at the University of Bristol and co-founder of the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN).
Formally launched in 2019, Marcus discusses how UKRN evolved over several years from discussions with colleagues including Lara Fortunato, Chris Chambers, Dorothy Bishop, and Malcolm Macleod.
In this episode we talk about:
- The challenge of research reproducibility including publication bias and questionable research practices, and Marcus's own experiences during his PhD.
- Giving evidence to the House of Commons Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee, where he discussed publication bias, incentive structures, and the role of Registered Reports to improve research practices.
- How UKRN is structured, with local networks, institutional members, and a stakeholder engagement group to foster collaboration with funders, publishers, and other organisations.
- Promoting transparency in research processes across different disciplines and support for independent initiatives like ReproducibiliTea and RIOT Science Club.
- The development of similar initiatives in other countries and territories to address research quality issues worldwide.
Links:
The UK Reproducibility Network (website)
Science and Technology Committee Wednesday 1 December 2021 - recording of oral evidence
Reproducibility and Research Integrity - House of Commons Committee report, with recommendations to government
Ioannidis, J.P.A. (2005) ‘Why Most Published Research Findings Are False’, PLoS Medicine, 2(8). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124
ReproducibiliTea
African Reproducibility Network
This episode of Research Culture Uncovered © 2024 by Research Culturosity is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In this episode, host Taryn Bell speaks to Chris Webb (Careers Consultant, University of Huddersfield) about the potentials and pitfalls of GenerativeAI (or GenAI) in supporting researchers' career development.
We discuss what GenAI is, what tools researchers and researcher developers can use, and where we need to be careful about their use.
The main points covered include:
- How GenAI can support researchers both as a first port of call during the job search, and as a way to do your current job more effectively
- The continuing importance of 'domain experts', e.g. real people, rather than chatbots!
- The need to use GenAI responsibly and thoughtfully.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The Foresee Framework, designed by Chris and Leigh Fowkes (Open University)
- Dr Philippa Hardman's DOMS Blog
- Dr Ethan Mollick's One Useful Thing Blog
We also highly recommend signing up to Chris' own newsletter, The Week In Careers, for a regular Digest of all things careers and higher education!
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here). You can connect with Taryn or Chris via LinkedIn, too.
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode, our host Nick Sheppard talks to Benjamin Tendler, Maddie Welland and Karla Miller about their Lab Handbook initiative at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging in Oxford.
We discuss how they have pioneered the implementation of a lab handbook within the WIN physics group to promote a positive research culture, interdisciplinary communication and inclusion.
The main points include:
- Purpose and concept of the lab handbook to outline the ethos and culture of a lab or research group.
- Benefits of the initiative such as promoting positive research culture and inclusion, clarifying expectations and preventing misunderstandings, and supporting mental health and wellbeing.
- The value of collaboration in all areas of research culture from the development of a handbook, to the practice of science itself and the dissemination of research results and data.
In this episode we mention several links including:
- The Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging
- Benjamin C Tendler, Maddie Welland, Karla L Miller, The WIN Handbook Team (2023) Research Culture: Why every lab needs a handbook eLife 12:e88853. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88853
- Lab Handbook Resources
This episode of Research Culture Uncovered © 2024 by Research Culturosity is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our latest episode, Taryn Bell talks to the We Are Role Models team, who have just launched the new Research England-funded “Role Models On Your Doorstep” podcast.
Episode highlights:
- The #WARM team (Jacki Willson, Tao Jiang, Marjorie Boissinot, Karen Tsui and Marianne Talbot) discuss the origins of their podcast, and explore the power of sharing experiences and celebrating the contributions of often unsung contributors at the University of Leeds.
- Marianne shares with us some of the initial findings from the project, highlighting common themes in the interviews such as passion for their work, determination, the power of mentoring, and strength in the face of adversity.
- The team share their hopes for the broader impact of the podcast, including strengthening our sense of community and belonging at Leeds.
🎧 Listen to the Role Models on Your Doorstep podcast on YouTube now! https://www.youtube.com/@WARM_2024 and use the hashtag #WARM to join the conversation and share your thoughts.
If you'd like to learn more about the WARM Team, you can find their profiles below:
- Jacki Willson (University of Leeds Profile | LinkedIn)
- Tao Jiang (University of Leeds Profile)
- Marjorie Boissinot (University of Leeds Profile)
- Karen Tsui (LinkedIn)
- Marianne Talbot (University of Leeds Profile | LinkedIn)
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here) - we always appreciate your reviews, as they help us to improve!
In this solo episode, Ruth Winden, the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, shares her insights of designing, facilitating and expanding the range of group-based career development programmes for the university's researcher community.
Over the last decade, Leeds has built a strong track record of creating impactful cohort-based career courses, from "Career Architect", "Career Accelerator", to "Career Catalyst", and now the "Fellowship Accelerator" and the "Career Navigator" programmes. The latest venture into providing peer-to-peer based development is for Research Adjacents, via our new "Research Adjacent Career Conversations" programme.
Here are some benefits of group-based career development programmes that don't get enough attention:
1. Enhanced Support and Connection:
- Group-based programmes foster a strong sense of community and belonging, reducing isolation and making career challenges more enjoyable and less daunting. One participant observed, already after the first session, "I feel less lonely now!"
2. Momentum and Optimism:
- Group members inspire and energise each other, with shared progress boosting everyone's motivation. Witnessing a peer's breakthrough can rejuvenate your belief in the possibility of positive change.
3. Broader Perspectives and Networks:
- Diverse groups bring a wealth of ideas, experiences, and networks. This collaborative environment enriches learning, encourages sharing, and strengthens career management skills beyond traditional one-to-one coaching.
For more information on some of the programmes, head to our website:
- https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/
Here is the link to the promised handout on HOW to design group-based programmes, based on Ruth's workshop at the Career Thought Leaders Symposium in Lisbon in April 2024.
If you want to share comments, thoughts, challenges about this episode, please connect with me. I'm always eager to talk to colleagues about the fascinating world of group-based development! LinkedIn ruthwinden and @ruthwinden on X/Twitter
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 8, our host Emma Spary is speaking to Dr Annette Bramley, the director of the N8 Research Partnership.
We discuss the how the N8 Research Partnership aims to transform research culture within universities in the North of England, and learn more about their impactful research culture campaign focusing on the unsung heroes of research and the vital importance of collaborative and healthy research environments.
The main points include:
- N8 Research Partnership Overview: Learn about N8, a strategic alliance of the eight most research-intensive universities in northern England, and their continuous efforts to drive regional and global impact through exceptional research innovation and collaboration.
- Active Research Culture Campaign: Details of their ongoing campaign, influenced by the talent commission report, focusing on the crucial contributions of research technical professionals among others.
- Toolkits and Case Studies: Discover a wealth of resources including case studies on the N8 website. These materials are designed to help you implement best practices within your teams and institutions.
- What comes next: The launch of the N8 statement on support for Established (Mid-Career) Researchers
In this episode we mention several links including:
- N8 Research Partnership website for resources and detailed campaign information.
- Sign up for the N8 newsletter to stay updated on the latest news and resources.
- N8 European Research Culture Observatory
- N8 statement on support for Established (Mid-Career) Researchers
- Prosper, a new approach to postdoc career development that unlocks postdocs' potential to thrive in multiple career pathways
- Share your experiences or suggestions with us through social media using #N8ResearchCulture.
- Don’t forget to check out Dr. Bramley’s co-authored book, Research Collaboration: A Step by Step Guide to Success, available for free download if your institution subscribes to the Institute Physics ebooks library. A wealth of knowledge at your fingertips!
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our regular Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this solo episode Ged Hall discusses the increasingly significant role of research impact coaching in academia.
Episode Highlights:
-
How Impact Coaching sits in the wider research impact development framework at Leeds
-
Ged's personal journey using impact coaching as an ethnographic approach to understanding researchers' research impact development needs.
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The thoughtful intertwining of coaching methodologies with the pursuit of real-world research impact.
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How impact goals, stakeholder engagement, planning, and evaluation interweave within the coaching discourse.
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Reflections drawn from the coaching discussion group's engagement with "Self as Coach, Self as Leader" by Pamela McLean.
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Capacity considerations for impact coaches, including the balance between demand and personal limits.
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Insights into the practical aspects of starting or enhancing your own impact coaching service within your institution.
Extras mentioned in the episode:
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Access Ged's interview on Mark Reed's Fast Track Impact podcast and his webinar with Epigeum for deeper insights into Building Impact Momentum programme that was developed from his early impact coaching relationships.
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"Can you ever be an expert in research impact?" blogpost with Dr Tamika Heiden on the LSE's Impact Blog
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Two webinars (Webinar 1 and Webinar 2) on impact coaching in 2023 organised by Dr Jackie Reynolds from Staffordshire University. The registration link for the upcoming webinar Jackie is hosting on 23rd May 2024.
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Tony Bromley’s conversation with Dr. Tanvir Ahmed, exploring the broader use of coaching in researcher development.
Connect with the Community:
-
Share your experiences or queries about impact coaching in a reply to our LinkedIn post (@ResearchUncoveredPodcast) or Twitter (@ResDevLeeds) announcement about this episode
-
Or reach out to Ged directly through email (https://peopledevelopment.leeds.ac.uk/profiles/ged-hall/) to discuss your coaching journey or to delve into the possibilities of collaborative learning.
Remember, your participation makes our research culture richer and more inclusive. Let's create an environment where every researcher feels supported, connected, and empowered.
Listening is just step one! Engage with us, your questions and insights could shape future episodes. And if you find our content is valuable, please spread the word and help our community grow.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 7, our host Emma Spary is speaking to members of the Research Culture Enablers Network about the various paths they took to enter their current research culture roles.
We hear from Yasmine Rhoseyn (connect on LinkedIn), the Research Culture Strategy Manager at the University of Bristol; Tish Kriznik (connect on LinkedIn), the Research Environment and Culture Manager at the University of Birmingham; and Ellen Cole (connect on LinkedIn), the Research Culture and Quality Manager at Northumbria University.
We discuss how they landed in their unique roles and the evolution of their passion for research culture. Each guest offers valuable insights into the current structure of research culture in their institutions and the broader sector, discussing key drivers including funding, government strategies, and the Research Excellence Framework. Their conversation highlights the need for collaborative efforts and the recognition of diverse contributions within the research environment, emphasising the importance of everyone’s role in fostering a positive research culture.
The main points include:
- the new roles emerging within universities aimed at nurturing positive research culture.
- first-hand career journeys of our guests and what motivated them to dive into this niche yet crucial field.
- how are funding initiatives and sector-wide policies like REF shaping the research culture landscape?
- the formation and potential impact of the Research Culture Enablers Network.
- the importance of collaborative and community-based approaches to research culture.
In this episode we mention several links including:
- A link to the RCEN network: https://warwick.ac.uk/research/research-culture-at-warwick/best-practice/rcen/
- How to join the network: https://warwick.ac.uk/research/research-culture-at-warwick/best-practice/rcen/join/
- Research Excellence Framework: https://www.ref.ac.uk/
- The Research Culture Conference: https://warwick.ac.uk/research/ncrc/ircc
Link to the first Research Culture Enablers Network podcast released 10th April 2024: https://research-culture.captivate.fm/episode/s7e7-the-research-culture-enablers-network-building-a-better-culture-together
This episode of Research Culture Uncovered © 2024 by Research Culturosity is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our fortnightly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In our latest episode ‘Research Impact & Engagement: Liz Danner's PhD Exploration of UK University Culture’ we had the pleasure of catching up with Liz Danner to discuss the progress of her PhD research on the impact of the UK's research engagement and impact agenda.
If you cast your mind back to episode Season 5 Episode 1 ‘How has research impact affected research culture?’, our guest was Professor Richard (Rick) Holliman, from the Open University, who was advertising the PhD ‘What is the impact of the UK’s research impact agenda?’ (https://player.captivate.fm/episode/1aaeee8c-8275-49af-89d2-05ab737d99d3) . Liz was the successful candidate, so we are catching up with her to find out how it is going.
Liz delves into the motivations behind her project, the research questions she is exploring, and the methodology she is employing to gather diverse perspectives across the UK's university landscape.
🌟 Key Takeaways:
🔍 Cascading Impact Model: Liz’s aim is to co-develop actionable recommendations towards the end of the project, aiming to change how research culture supports individuals within universities. This could enable universities to provide more robust engagement and research impacts in the future.
🔍 Methodology: She is using a triangulated approach, analyzing documents and conducting interviews to gain a comprehensive understanding of how different universities prioritise engagement and impact processes and training.
🔍 Engaged PhD researchers: Liz and Rick, along with Dr Rebekah Smith-McGloin from Nottingham Trent University, discussed areas such as recruitment and selection, assessment and employability to truly create an engaged PhD research journey at the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s Engage 2023 Conference.
Liz will be presenting her latest research findings at the upcoming Engage 2024 Conference and the European Science Engagement Conference in Tbilisi, Georgia. If you are interested in staying connected with Liz and her research journey, you can find moreinformation on her Open University profile page. Feel free to reach out to her via email to join the conversation and stay updated on her progress.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 7, our host Emma Spary is speaking to Rika Nair (LinkedIn), Elisa Clemente (LinkedIn), and Cathal Rogers (LinkedIn), members of the Research Culture Enablers Network.
We discuss the origins and aspirations of the network, delve into why it's crucial for professionals to collaborate, and discuss how this can drive significant advancements in research culture. They also share personal motivations for engaging with research culture challenges and outline priorities like job security, diversity, participation, and elevating the roles of research enablers.
The main points include:
- How the network was formed to enhance work on improving research culture
- Inclusivity for those without dedicated roles but with interests in research culture
- Reflections on the main issues and priorities in research culture
- Emphasis on job security, equality, diversity, and the value of research enablers
- The network’s approach to sharing best practices and experiences
- Plans for hosting another annual International Research Culture conference
In this episode we mention several links including:
- A link to the network: https://warwick.ac.uk/research/research-culture-at-warwick/best-practice/rcen/
- How to join the network: https://warwick.ac.uk/research/research-culture-at-warwick/best-practice/rcen/join/
- Research Excellence Framework: https://www.ref.ac.uk/
- The Research Culture Conference: https://warwick.ac.uk/research/ncrc/ircc
- The PRISM network: https://www.pris-managers.ac.uk/
- Link to the second Research Culture Enablers Network podcast released 24th April 2024: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/9956719f-2f4a-4743-a4b0-d4500cadfec2
This episode of Research Culture Uncovered © 2024 by Research Culturosity is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our fortnightly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this bonus episode, Ged Hall, Academic Development Consultant for Research Impact, chats to Hannah Preston, Research Communications Manager from Leeds University Business School, and Dr Jana Javornik, Associate Professor of Work and Employment Relations, also in the Business School.
Hannah has been the driving force behind the Business School's Research and Innovation podcast since 2020. She joined forces with Jana in late 2023 to launch a new podcast called The Business of Policymaking.
The three key takeaways from the discussion of podcasting in the academic field were:
-
Podcasts are a powerful tool for transforming complex academic research into accessible discussions, broadening its impact.
-
Cultivating a dedicated listener base that can translate insights into action is more valuable than chasing download statistics.
-
Hosting podcasts offers unique learning experiences and the opportunity to hear from a diverse range of influential voices.
Hannah also mentioned the Business School's Research and
Innovation blog in the interview.
If you would like to engage with Hannah, you can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
If you would like to engage with Jana, you can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In episode 6 of season 7, Anna Pilz (Academic Developer and Trainer at the University of Edinburgh) once again joins Taryn Bell (Researcher Development Adviser) to discuss research fellowships.
This time, we're taking a slightly different tack and discussing what happens when research applications aren't successful. What can researcher developers do to provide support during such a difficult time for researchers?
The main points include:
- Highlighting how common funding rejections are
- The importance of hearing from researchers who have faced 'unsuccess' previously
- Acknowledging that the stakes may vary for researchers facing rejection, with precariously employed researchers needing additional support
- Anna's work at Edinburgh supporting researchers after an unsuccessful application
- The role of researcher developers in helping to prepare researchers for a rejection, even before they've submitted!
Also mentioned in the episode:
-
ResearcherRealities: Unsuccessful grants and what to do with them
- Leeds' new Fellowship Accelerator Programme
- Our previous episodes on narrative CVs (Episode 1 and Episode 2)
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this bonus episode, Ged Hall, Academic Development Consultant for Research Impact, chats to Dr Gemma Derrick about her current research project "At What Cost Societal Impact? How Research Culture and Governance Inspires Grimpact."
Gemma is an Associate Professor in University of Bristol. Her research interests include researcher behaviour, academic practice, research evaluation, societal impact, the research workforce and its governance (e.g. peer review systems), and the politics and dynamics of knowledge production and translation. She has investigated the effects of national audit frameworks, such as the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and others, to demonstrate their strengths and weaknesses in relation to their stated aims. Gemma has also previously been on the podcast talking about the Hidden REF.
Here are three key takeaways from the discussion of grimpact:
-
We need to shift our research culture away from a blind focus on reward to ensure that we aren’t blind to failures. When we are blind to failures we fail to learn from them.
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To do that we need much greater reflexivity throughout the research process at both the individual and organisational level.
-
Which also means that we need to monitor for grimpact not just build our monitoring and evaluation systems around a blind focus on positive impact.
If you would like to find out more about Gemma’s project, head over to her website: https://www.grimpact.org/. You can also get in touch with Gemma via @GemmaDerrick and connect with her on LinkedIn or email (details on her University of Bristol profile page.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on Twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In episode 5 of season 7, Anna Pilz (Academic Developer and Trainer at the University of Edinburgh) joins Taryn Bell (Researcher Development Adviser) to discuss research fellowships.
We discuss the added value researcher developers can bring to the application process, how Anna's own experiences applying for fellowships have shaped her practice as a researcher developer, and how we can best support researchers as they go through the practical and emotional challenges involved.
The main points include:
- The importance of acknowledging the lived realities faced by researchers, particularly early career researchers on precarious contracts
- How to use fellowship applications as an opportunity for long-term professional development and reflection on career goals
- How researcher developers can bust common myths about funding
- The role of emotional intelligence to support researchers throughout the process
Resources mentioned in the episode include:
- A Comprehensive Guide to Fellowship Applications
- The University of Edinburgh's Researcher Realities series
- The University of Leeds' Fellowships and Grants webpage
- Leeds' new Fellowship Accelerator Programme
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 7, but we go back to the format we used in Season 1 where we got to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they hosted seasons on their specialist topic. In this episode of Research Culture Uncovered, host Emma Spary introduces Dr Taryn Bell, the newest member of the podcast team.
Taryn discusses her role as a researcher development advisor with a focus on career development at the University of Leeds. She shares her personal experience with career challenges and the importance of comprehensive career support for researchers. Taryn also previews her upcoming episodes, which will focus on fellowships, funding, and the emotional side of career development. You can connect to Taryn via LinkedIn
I ask Taryn what she thinks the biggest challenges are for researchers, what we do well at Leeds, where she thinks we can improve and what she hopes to see in the future. Her main messages include:
- the challenge of getting researchers to prioritize career development alongside their research responsibilities
- the perception of long-term career development workshops being a significant time investment for researchers
- overcoming fear and discomfort associated with career planning and development
- Taryn's excitement about launching the Fellowship Accelerator program for postdoc researchers
- the importance of early intervention and support for fellowship applicants
- the emphasis on incorporating emotional support into career development initiatives
What will she be covering in her upcoming episodes:
- a focus on supporting researchers in fellowship applications and managing unsuccessful funding applications
- AI and its impact on career development
- the importance of "bedrock skills" in the future workplace and the link to AI and careers
Be sure to check out the other episodes in Season 1 to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ged Hall, Tony Bromley and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In episode 3 of Season 7, Daryl O'Connor, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds joins Nick Sheppard, Open Research Advisor and Ruth Winden, Careers with Research Consultant, to discuss all things Open Research, Research Culture, and Careers.
We delve into:
- Daryl's long-standing commitment to advocating for Open Research - and why Open Research plays such a key role in not just academics' careers but also in creating a collaborative, equitable and positive Research Culture as a whole
- How a publication in Science in 2015 shaped Daryl's research interests, his engagement with research - and his entire career
- How and why Psychology played such an important role in creating the Reciprobability movement, and why it really isn't a Psychology problem, but an overall challenge for ALL sciences.
- How to build a researcher career, and why collaboration has to be at the centre of it.
- How professional associations can play a huge part in building one's research career - and why taking on leadership roles in committees, associations, and international networks offers so much to our professional and personal development.
- Why the most impactful way to change Research Culture for the better is to change the reward and recognition structure in academia. A quote from Daryl: "... it's about changing the reward and recognition structure that will really change behaviour, which will change Open Research".
If you'd like to find out more about Daryl's work, please check out the following links:
- Twitter/X: Daryl O’Connor@healthpsycleeds
- The Laboratory for Stress and Health Research (STARLAB) led by Daryl O'Connor https://sites.google.com/site/doconnorlab/
- Daryl's extensive University profile: https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/psychology/staff/2725/professor-daryl-o-connor
Open lunch talks with Daryl:
- Preregistration and the architecture of open science
- The UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN): promoting robust and trustworthy research
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 7, we explore the challenges of engaging managers of researchers in supporting their teams, especially in implementing the Researcher Development Concordat.
We discuss the pressure and expectations faced by managers, the difficulties managers face in conducting career conversations and the need for researchers to prepare for, and engage in, these discussions. We also share insights from their work in implementing the Researcher Development Concordat at the University of Leeds, highlighting the importance of open career conversations and the need for academic institutions to prioritise career development for their staff.
The main points include:
- Difficulty could include time pressure and unrealistic expectations
- The need for more confidence and support for managers
- The responsibility of researchers to prepare for career conversations and engage with managers
- Manager discussions help researchers clarify their career path and make informed decisions
- The development of a program to help faculty members run group-based career coaching programs
- Emphasising the availability of resources and support for managers
- Encouraging managers not to feel pressured to know all career options and to seek support and expert advice from career professionals
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
- Research Leadership
- Research Evaluation
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 7, we start 2024 with an episode featuring all of the hosts, discussing our predictions for how research culture may evolve as we step into 2024.
Each host lays out what they think is coming, and how they might approach it, in each of their respective areas:
- Ged Hall highlights the importance of team perspectives in research success. What approaches do we suggest for effectively capturing and integrating these team insights within an academic setting.
- Ruth Winden discusses AI becoming increasingly prominent in research, what are potential challenges and opportunities that may affect career management and development for researchers.
- Tony Bromley brings in the possible impact from ongoing government policies on the employability and career pathways of postgraduate researchers.
- Nick Sheppard covers some best practices for research institutions when it comes to data governance and fostering open research collaborations.
- Emma Spary discusses REF and the need to ensure the institution's submission is both comprehensive and genuinely reflective of collaborative work.
The main points include:
- Collaboration is Key: From Wikimedia initiatives to international teamwork, the power of joint effort is a game-changer in research culture.
- AI and Careers: With AI transforming every industry, it's crucial for researchers to integrate this technology in their work, while skillfully navigating the career landscape.
- Impact and Openness: Embrace the shift towards recognising wider contributions in research and the increasing importance of open research practices.
- Delving into Roles and Recognition: Debating the roles and titles in research support, Ged and Nick emphasised the importance of recognising the value of these professions.
- Facing Challenges Together: How to manage online and face-to-face professional development post-COVID.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered podcast we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In this episode Nick Sheppard looks back at a year in open research, reflecting on some of the projects he has been involved with including the Knowledge Equity Network and a successful Wikimedia Champions project.
Nick is Open Research Advisor based in the University of Leeds Libraries and one of the Senior Leads for the Knowledge Equity Network.
Some of the topics discussed include:
- How open research and knowledge equity are supported by Wikimedia
- Benefits for universities of engaging strategically with Wikimedia in the areas of information literacy and research impact
- A project to develop a series of 75 open research case studies across different disciplines and research methodologies
- The Open Lunch series of virtual talks that explore different aspects of open practice
- How open research relates to and is an integral part of broader research culture
Links:
- Knowledge for all: University of Leeds Libraries Vision for 2030
- Inside Track | Helping transform lives through open research
- KEN event recordings on YouTube
- Championing knowledge equity with Wikimedia (Library blog post)
- The winners of the 2023 UK Wikimedian of the Year Awards
- Open Research Case studies by faculty
- Open Research Case Studies: Are Research Methods Open? (Library blog post)
- Online resource developed with the Digital Education Service introducing the guiding principles and aims of open research
- Open Lunch archive
- N8 Rights Retention Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy 2023 - 2028
- UK Reproducibility Network | UKRN Indicators of Open Research
- Making your monograph, book chapter or edited collection open access (UKRI)
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
In this really special bonus episode Ged Hall talks to Dr Vicki Jenneson and Dr Fran Pontin. Vicki is a Research Fellow and works in the School of Food Science and Nutrition and her research interests are focused on nutrition and lifestyle analytics. Fran is a Research Data Scientist in the Consumer Data Research Centre and part-time Lecturer in the Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy in the School of Geography.
They are both members of the Consumer Research Data Centre’s (CDRC) Nutrition and Lifestyle Analytics Team that won the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Celebrating Impact Prize in the ‘Outstanding Impact in Business and Enterprise’ category.
Their project, ‘Enhancing retailer knowledge and building capacity using consumer data.’, is a collaboration with Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) and major retailers, including Asda and Sainsbury’s, that delivers evidence-based research about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to encouraging healthy behaviours in consumers.
Vicki and Fran are both early career researchers who started their PhDs in 2017 in the first cohort of the Data Analytics and Society Centre for Doctoral Training funded by ESRC. This episode focuses in on the development of their academic identifies and the role research impact plays in this. This can often be intimidating for researchers who are early in their research careers.
The discussion was prompted by a chapter Ged wrote with Dr Helen Morley and Dr Tony Bromley called ‘Uncertainty and Confusion: The starting point of all expertise’ (in the book Research Impact and the Early Career Researcher). The chapter explores issues such as imposter syndrome (and its three types ‘existentialists’ who seek external validation, ‘aspirants’ who are striving for an idealised academic identity and those who self-perceive themselves as intellectually inferior) and the three trajectories of developing an academic identity (intellectual, institutional and networking) that were proposed by McAlpine and others (in the book Becoming an Academic).
The main points from the discussion include:
- The significance of collaborative work across professional and academic teams and the advantages of building networks in conducting impactful research, as noted by Vicki.
- Both Vicki and Fran's candid admission that there's still much to learn and explore about research impact - reinforcing that it's OK to have uncertainties and questions.
- The importance of communicating complex data science methods and results in a clear, convincing manner to non-data scientists. This is a skill that Vicki and Fran emphasize can make a significant difference in the impact of research.
But the most importantly take away is that early career researchers can and do contribute significantly to the generation of prize winning and important impact.
You can find out more about the prize, the project and CDRC via these links:
- Economics and Social Research Council Celebrating Impact Prize 2023 Winners all the winners of the various categories
- ESRC produced video about the CDRC winning project
- Faculty of Environment Announcement of the award
- Full livestream of the award ceremony on 15th November 2024
- Consumer Data Research Centre website
You can follow CDRC, Vicki and Fran via these social media channels:
- CDRC on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter)
- Vicki on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter)
- Fran on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter)
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this short 10 minute episode of Season 6, Emma Spary is taking a unique approach by combining her passion for research culture with an unexpected subject: bees. As a new beekeeper, Emma has been reflecting on the similarities between the culture within a beehive and the work we do to improve research culture.
What can we learn from Willow and the girls? This episode explores various aspects of the hive culture, highlighting the importance of unity, community, and support among the bees. From the role of the queen bee to the diverse responsibilities of different bees within the hive, she uncovers valuable lessons that could be applied to research culture. Join us to gain fresh insights, stimulate new thoughts, and perhaps even discover things about bees that you may not have known before.
The main points include:
- Importance of hive culture in beekeeping.
- Collective responsibility to create a strong colony.
- Collective decision-making in the hive.
- Equality of different roles and attributes.
- Opportunities for bees to try different roles.
- Importance of clear and detailed messages.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 6, Emma Spary is joined by Ruth Winden, shedding light on the power of group dynamics in career development programmes.
How do group dynamics add value to the career development process? This episode emphasises the power of group dynamics, celebrating early wins, and fostering long-term career transformation. Through our cohort-based programs, we aim not just to help individuals gain confidence and self-belief, but also to highlight the importance of shared experiences, mutual support, and diverse perspectives. The underlying goal? To help researchers recognise their own skills and expertise, and navigate their careers confidently.
The main points include:
- Importance of groups in providing support, validation, and affirmation
- Role of facilitators in building trust and conflict management
- Personal engagement and recognition that researchers are not alone in career struggles
- Risks associated with the wrong mix of participants
- The challenges and rewards that come with this approach.
- To hear more from previous participants of our career development programmes, take a listen to Ruth's season on Research Careers
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
🎧 Bonus Episode! 📢
Recently Ged Hall had the pleasure of talking to Kersti Mitchell, External Communications and Campaigns Manager, and Dr Jim McQuaid, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Composition, about the University of Leeds's new podcast “How to fix …”
It was an insightful conversation that explored the importance of research culture and how to make academic content accessible to a wider audience.
🔍 Here are 3 key takeaways from the episode:
1️⃣ Collaborative Approach: Research culture thrives on collaboration and teamwork. By bringing together academics from various disciplines, we can address complex issues like air pollution, cost of healthy food and violence towards women more effectively.
2️⃣ Accessible Research: We discussed the need to make research more accessible to the general public. Through the How to Fix… podcast, we aim to empower listeners with practical advice and insights from experts, like Dr. Jim McQuaid, who shared valuable tips on reducing pollution and improving indoor air quality.
3️⃣ Impactful Engagement: The success of the podcast can be measured by various indicators, such as other universities taking notice, policymakers listening, and engagement from students and the general public. We also discussed using metrics to understand our audience, including gender and age breakdowns, as well as social media engagement.
How are you making your research accessible and would a podcast be the way to go? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Kersti and Jim mentioned a number of things in the interview that may be of interest:
- UK Government Chief Medical Officer annual resport on air pollution.
- Death of Awaab Ishak due to mould and the new guidance that emerged from that tragic story.
- Policy Leeds and their services (follow on X via @policyleeds and LinkedIn)
- Knowledge Equity Network - development and enactment of a declaration to reduce inequalities through increased access to knowledge
- Professor Cath Noakes and Dr James Tate
- Born in Bradford - one of the largest research studies in the World, tracking the lives of over 30,000 Bradfordians to find out what influences the health and wellbeing of families.
- Ultra Low Emission Zone (London) and how its expansion caused controversy
You can follow Kersti and Jim on X (formerly Twitter) at @kerstimitchell and @jimmcquaid respectively.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 6, Emma Spary discusses how research culture cafes can help institutions better understand their current research culture.
Emma explains how we created an open and inclusive environment where people could share their lived experiences of the research culture at the University of Leeds. How this enabled us to uncover both the positives and the challenges of our culture. She shares some of the main findings, and highlights the impact of these cafes in gathering valuable insights and data that informed the university's approach to enhancing their research culture.
The main points include:
- Importance of open, honest, and transparent conversations about research culture
- Focus on both positive aspects and challenges of research culture
- Generating ideas for improving research culture
- How research culture cafes work
- Some of our results and outcomes of the research culture cafes
- Open sharing of findings to participants and non-participants
- A direct link between our findings and our ongoing work
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
🔍 The Collaborative Library where we can all collaborate to share knowledge
🎙️ Are you passionate about open and impactful research? Looking for a
platform that connects researchers, students, and the broader audience? The look
no further!
📢 Nick Sheppard and Ged Hall, had the privilege of speaking with Anja
Harrison, the Chief Executive of the Collaborative Library, on our latest
episode of Research Culture Uncovered podcast. The Collaborative Library
is revolutionising research communication and opening doors for students
and researchers to publish their lay summaries, making academic knowledge
accessible to all.
🚀 Here are three key takeaways from our conversation:
-
Bridging the gap: The Collaborative Library aims to bridge the gap between existing research networks and efforts. They provide a dynamic hub where researchers can engage with the broader community and expand their impact network. Imagine connecting with like-minded individuals globally who are passionate about your research!
-
Empowering students: The Collaborative Library offers an innovative approach to skills development and assessment by encouraging students to produce lay summaries as a part of their coursework. By harnessing their creativity and skills, students contribute valuable content to the platform while gaining hands-on experience in science communication. Let's elevate student work to new heights!
-
Inclusivity and Open Practice: The platform promotes inclusivity, embracing diverse perspectives and co-producing research. Lay summaries can be submitted in various formats, including written, audio, and video. This immersive experience not only encourages the exploration of complex scientific concepts but also combines science with human artistic expression.
Let's make research accessible to all!
🔗 If you are interested in getting involved, sharing your thoughts, or becoming part of the Collaborative Library's working group, don't hesitate to reach out hello@thecollaborativelibrary.com and take a look at the website: https://thecollaborativelibrary.com/
Other links mentioned in the episode were:
United Kingdom Council of Open Research and Repositories
UK Reproducibility Network
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 6, Emma Spary chats with Dr Clare Barker and Professor Amelia DeFalco from the University of Leeds about the LivingBodiesObjects project they are working on, empowering alternative ways of conducting research. In this project funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Development Award, the team is pioneering a non-hierarchical leadership model that prioritises accessibility, care, and accountability. They emphasise the importance of creating safe and inclusive spaces, challenging conventional approaches, and bridging the gap between researchers and those being researched.
Key topics and messages:
- Importance of creating safe spaces and pushing beyond comfort zones
- Benefits and challenges of developing a non-hierarchical leadership model based on accessibility, care, and accountability
- Alternative research approaches resisting productivity and competition
- Collaboration with Creative Partners for accessible formats using technology
- Bridging the gap between researchers and those being researched
- Space for experimentation, risk-taking, and learning from mistakes
- Emphasising health, well-being, and collaboration in the project
This episode focusses on the LivingBodiesObjects project, funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Development Award. You can connect to Clare (@clarefbarker) and Amelia (@AmeliaDefalco) on Twitter/X. You can also follow the project @LBObjects
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our fortnightly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this bonus episode, Ged Hall, Academic Development Consultant for Research Impact, chats to Dr Gemma Derrick about research evaluation and the Hidden REF.
Gemma is an Associate Professor in University of Bristol. Her research interests include researcher behaviour, academic practice, research evaluation, societal impact, the research workforce and its governance (e.g. peer review systems), and the politics and dynamics of knowledge production and translation. She has investigated the effects of national audit frameworks, such as the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and others, to demonstrate their strengths and weaknesses in relation to their stated aims.
She is also a member of the organising committee of the Hidden REF ‘that is fighting for a more effective and fairer system of evaluating success in research.’
Here are three key takeaways from the episode:
- Hidden REF: Driven by a passion for celebrating the full spectrum of research contributions, the Hidden REF movement has grown from its first exercise, in 2021, to a full-blown festival that happened on 21st September 2023. Its aim is to acknowledge the essential contributors to vibrant research culture who may not fit traditional evaluation criteria. The next Hidden REF exercise is in 2024.
- Beyond REF: While the REF is changing for 2028, it will always have limitations. Many valuable research outputs that make the field rich and diverse have gone unnoticed. The Hidden REF promotes a celebration-based approach to research culture, ensuring that nobody is left behind, hidden or undervalued.
- Changing the Landscape: The Hidden REF is calling for change and aims to build sector confidence in evaluating non-traditional outputs fairly and transparently. By encouraging institutions to sign up to its manifesto for non-traditional outputs making up at least 5% of their submissions, we will strengthen our research culture by recognising everyone who contributes.
To get involved in the Hidden REF:
- Follow it on X (formerly Twitter) @HiddenRef
- Subscribe to its mailing list on its Contacts page
- Or info@hidden-ref.org
- Submit to its next exercise in 2024
You can also get in touch with Gemma via @GemmaDerrick and connect with her on LinkedIn.
Other members of the Hidden REF organising committee were interviewed in this episode on the code4thought podcast.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 6, Emma Spary chats with Dr Elizabeth Adams from Scafell Coaching on the concept of Narrative CVs (or the Resume for Research and Innovation) and its significance in highlighting the holistic contributions of researchers. If you're curious about how Narrative CVs can be a game-changer in evaluating research work, this episode is a must-listen! Discover how these CVs allow researchers to showcase their hidden work, contribute to research culture, and challenge the existing approaches to evaluation.
Our main points include:
- Potential benefits of narrative CVs in research culture
- Uncovering hidden work and showcasing valuable contributions
- Challenges of writing narrative CVs including time constraints time constraints for writing and reviewing
- Language and reflective skills as potential challenges
This episode focusses on writing Narrative CVs as an individual, there is another episode looking at writing them as part of a research team (S6E3). Emma mentions a resource created by the University of Leeds to support the writing of the Narrative CVs, we have made this available under a CC-BY-SA licence.
You can connect to Elizabeth on Twitter (@researchdreams) or LinkedIn
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 6, Emma Spary chats with Dr Elizabeth Adams from Scafell Coaching on the concept of team-based Narrative CVs (or the Resume for Research and Innovation) and its significance in highlighting the holistic contributions of researchers. Whether you're new to narrative CVs or currently grappling with them, this episode will help you navigate the limited space and balance the expertise of multiple team members. It has practical advice on agreeing on the strengths and contributions of individuals, and how to craft a coherent narrative that showcases your team's abilities.
Our main points include:
- Difficulty of writing team-based narrative CVs
- Limited space and need to demonstrate expertise of the team
- Encouraging individuals to reflect on their own strengths and contributions
- Focusing on the strategic input and capacity of individuals
- Ensuring a smooth flow and coherence in the narrative
This episode focusses on writing Narrative CVs as a team, there is another episode looking at writing them as an individual (S6E2). Emma mentions a resource created by the University of Leeds to support the writing of the Narrative CVs, we have made this available under a CC-BY-SA licence.
You can connect to Elizabeth on Twitter (@researchdreams) or LinkedIn
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this episode of Season 6, Emma Spary shares an innovative approach to interviews that is changing the game for both candidates and interviewers. Interviews can be stressful, and often the pressure can hinder candidates from showing their true potential. So why not provide them with the interview questions in advance? We explore the benefits of this approach, including improved candidate experience, increased confidence, and better preparation. We also discuss how this method creates a level playing field and streamlines the effort for interviewees. Join us as we uncover the transformative power of transparent and supportive interview processes in creating a more inclusive and collaborative research culture.
Emma's main points include:
- Seeking a better way to conduct interviews that allows candidates to shine
- Enabling candidates to draw from a range of experiences and engage in discussion
- Helping candidates lacking interview performance skills
- Allowing better planning for candidates with limited time
This work has also been written up as a case-study.
All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:
- Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
- Research co-production
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)
Leeds Research Culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
- University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This is bonus episode where Ruth Winden, Careers with Research Consultant, and Ged Hall, Academic Development Consultant for Research Impact chat to Sarah McLusky.
Sarah is the host of the Research Adjacent podcast. Sarah has been proudly research adjacent for over 20 years. In this episode, we find out:
· What Sarah’s career path has been
· What research adjacent means and what Sarah is trying to achieve through the podcast.
· The importance of proactivity and being open-minded for anyone who is in a research adjacent role, especially those who feel stuck and can’t see how progression will happen
· Why the research system (funders, universities, etc, etc) needs to acknowlege that research is always ‘done’ by a team and all of that team needs to be valued.
Since talking to Sarah, Ruth and Ged are now proudly research adjacent. We always were but now we know what to call it!
You can follow the Research Adjacent podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/resadjacent/ and Twitter: @ResAdjacent
You can follow Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmclusky/ and on Twitter: @smclusky
Research culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed, @RuthWinden
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast, @GedHall, @RuthWinden
Be sure to check out the other episodes to find out more.
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In this final episode of Season 5, Ged Hall, is looking at the future for research impact and how it fits into research culture. The episode is based on the responses of the international research impact community to the following questions:
- What one big change would you like to see in how research impact improves research culture in your country’s HE sector?
- Considering this change who are the interested / relevant parties that need to be convinced to make it happen?
- How are you trying to make that change happen within your country's HE sector?
- How are you trying to make that change happen within your Institution or organisation?
- What is your biggest fear for change in your country’s HE sector that would mean that research impact degrades research culture?
- Considering this change who are the interested / relevant parties that need to be convinced to prevent this change happening?
- How are you trying to prevent that change happening within your country's HE sector?
- How are you trying to prevent that change happening within your Institution / Organisation?
Responses were collected through a Padlet which you can still access to do your own analysis in the spirit of Open Research.
The hopes were:
- Research impact will be valued and recognised and for that recognition to be commensurate with the expectations placed on the sector by institutions, funders and research assessment exercises.
- But rather than valuing the impact outputs we will value the process, as we must not create an impact or perish culture to go alongside the publish or perish one.
- And this valuing of the process needs to keep in mind the purpose rather than becoming a navel-gazing exercise
- There is enough resource (people, time and funding) to support impact from all disciplines and types of research and to do it well and that this should translate into all of a university's activities.
- That the sector finally recognises that research and its impact is a team game and that it values and recognises all of those in the team.
The fears were:
- That research impact will crowd out curiosity-led research.
- Impact will be tokenistic and a box-ticking exercise and that the time to properly co-produce research and impact is not possible
- That some disciplines / research with possibly less potential for impact may be defunded
- The use of poor metrics to demonstrate impact and the potential for impact being introduced into more countries research assessment exercises
- That research impact professionals won't have enough time to engage with the literature (on knowledge mobilisation) to inform their practice.
The episode then notes the ways that people are trying to realise these hopes and prevent these fears, which left the impression that there is more collaboration needed to really affect change at scale.
The episode ends with a call for action to reflect on whether more countries need a research impact professional body to be the conduit for this collaboration. Do you agree or disagree that research impact needs a professional body in your country / region? We'd love to know your views.
Organisations mentioned in the episode were:
- Research Impact Canada
- Advancing Research Impact in Society (US)
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
This is actually a bonus episode but it does align with the aim of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host Ged is joined by Dr Lorna Daniels and Dr Shilpa Nagarajan.
Shilpa and Lorna are co-hosts of the Research Co-culture podcast . They are also both industry sponsored Post-doctoral Research Fellows at Oxford University. Shilpa has just finished her Fellowship and will be moving to a role as a Senior Scientist in a pharma company. Lorna will also soon be finishing her fellowship and will then take up a role as Senior Policy Advisor in the UK Government Office for Science (or GO-Science)
In this episode Ged discusses with Lorna and Shilpa the structure of their Fellowship programme and how industrial sponsorship plays its part. And of course what their podcast is all about. The key messages from the discussion are:
· Even though these fellowships are industry-sponsored, the fellow needs to be proactive in driving discussions around any potential impact within the company.
· In those discussions, initial contact is eased by having an industry mentor but you still have to convince others of about that potential impact..
· Their Fellowships have given them the chance to explore and collaborate beyond their niche expertise, which has opened up their next career steps; both of which they weren’t anticipating.
· Their podcast is a call to collaborate more fluidly across all sectors (academia, private sector, policy, etc) and for all those sectors to be more open-minded to collaboration. Season 1 is currently available with Season 2 starting in September 2023.
Shilpa and Lorna’s favourite episodes from season 1:
· Interview with Anne Clark on International Day of Women and Girls in Science
· Interview with Leanne Hodson on leading a lab
You can follow the Research Co-culture podcast on LinkedIn and they will be starting season 2 in September 2023.
You can follow Lorna on Twitter @LornaD90
You can follow Shilpa on Twitter @shilpainthelab
Research culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics...
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host Ged is joined by Saskia Gent.
Saskia Gent is Director of Insights for Impact, which she founded in 2017. Prior to that she was Head of Research Quality and Impact at the University of Sussex, where she led the University’s submission to the Research Excellence Framework, the UK’s national research assessment exercise, in 2014. Her experience with impact goes all the way back to 2010 working on a project funded by the UK Government to help developing countries realise benefits from migration. You can connect to Saskia on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Saskia has helped a number of research organisations and universities to develop impact strategies and she was co-author on a paper that analysed 77 impact strategies from across the globe.
I ask Saskia about this work and her take on how to develop a successful strategy. Her main messages include:
- the importance of impact and strategies being value driven
- that they should be co-produced with the researchers and external stakeholders
- there are two main types of strategy: enabling impact and achieving impact
- which may mean that you need nested strategies in large institutions. An enabling strategy at the institutional-level and achieving strategies at the research unit level (e.g. Schools, departments, programmes, etc).
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about how to ensure impact has a positive effect on your research culture.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast, @GedHall
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host, Ged Hall, is joined by Professor Mark Birkin and Dr Emily Ennis.
Mark is the Director of the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) and was Director of the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA) from 2014 until December 2022. Emily is the Research and Impact Manager for CDRC.
LIDA and CDRC were extremely successful in the University of Leeds inaugural Research Culture Awards and Engaged for Impact Awards in 2022. In the Research Culture Awards, LIDA won in two of the five categories and in the Engaged for Impact Awards, CDRC won three of the five categories and were runner-up in a fourth category. All the awards winners and runners-up were celebrated via the University's staff-facing website and social media channels over the summer of 2022.
I ask Emily and Mark about the leadership of research culture in LIDA and CDRC and why it enables these types of successes. They describe
- the recognition of expertise across the staff in the Institute and Centre, whoever holds it and no matter what their role is.
- a mutually supportive environment that celebrates success and collaboratively solves problems
- empowerment of staff to lead and develop areas where the expertise and interests lie
- a clear vision that staff buy into driven by their values and interests
You can follow LIDA on Twitter and LinkedIn
You can follow CDRC on Twitter and LinkedIn
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about how to ensure impact has a positive effect on your research culture.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds,
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host, Ged, is joined by Dr Briony Thomas.
Briony is Associate Professor in Design Science, and her role is actually a joint appointment between the Schools of Design in the Arts and Humanities Faculty and Mechanical Engineering in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Faculty. Briony joined Leeds in 2004, initially just in the School of Design. She was then seconded to Mechanical Engineering in 2015 to lead the establishment of cross-disciplinary initiatives in shape based design manufacturer before her current role started in 2019.
You can connect to Briony on Twitter: @DrBrionyThomas
I ask Briony about a co-produced project that she was involved in, which was successful in the Widening Perspectives category of the University's inaugural Engaged for Impact Awards in 2022. Her key messages were:
- Resist coming into a co-produced project with preconceived ideas and assumptions
- Work with people not assumed hierarchies
- Respect and utilise all the knowledge that partners have to be successful
- Define that success together
- Be clear and open about drivers i.e. who wants to achieve what and why
- Be responsive and learn and adapt as you go.
At the time of recording the episode, Briony mentioned that information and resources from the project were available at https://keepitreal.education/ but this has now moved to her research group's website at https://creativlearnlab.com/keepin-it-real/. This new website has loads of information about other co-produced and interdisciplinary project's that Briony and her colleagues are involved in.
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast, @GedHall
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This is the fourth episode of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host Ged is joined by Professor Gehan Selim. Gehan is the Hoffman Wood Chair in Architecture in the School of Civil Engineering of the University of Leeds. She's also the Deputy Director of the Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI) and was fellow of the Senator George Mitchell, Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice in 2017 and 2018. Gehan leads the Architecture and Urbanism Research Group at Leeds with her research covering interdisciplinary methods, bridging between architecture, urban politics, and digital heritage.
In this episode Ged discusses co-production with Gehan, who led a project for the LSSI to create a co-production toolkit. The key messages from the discussion are:
- Co-production and other collaborative practices (co-creation, participatory research) are yet to be fully defined and therefore it is experimental and there is no one methodology that fits all situations.
- This can lead to risks, so researchers should reflect and learn from successes and failures, theirs and others, in applying co-production in their research.
- When thinking of co-production, it is the process and not the outcomes that are important. This is because there is less certainty and more risk that the hoped for outcomes will emerge.
- Co-production enables a democratisation of research and impact, as it enables more voices to be part of the overall research design. This requires equal and trusting partnerships that take time to build and are harmed if researchers walk away at the end of the funding.
- The riskiness of co-production requires funders and institutions to adapt their cultures and leadership to give these relationships time and resource to grow.
Co-Production Toolkit links:
- Toolkit Overview and how you can access all 16 case studies
- Adam Crawford’s case study on policing that Gehan mentioned
- Shala Aroussi’s case study using body-mapping to understand how men and women perceive and resist violence in their everyday lives in Kenya, which was referenced in the interview.
- Jen Dyer’s case study using creative and visual methods to enable voices to be heard, which Gehan also discussed.
Gehan also mentioned LSSI’s Co-Production Network in the interview.
The N8 Universities, mentioned in the interview, are the north of England's research-intensive who collaborate on a range of research partnerships.
Police and crime commissioners are elected in areas of England and Wales to make sure that local police meet the needs of the community.
You can connect with Gehan on
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host, Ged, is joined by Dr Faith Welch and Jaylene Wehipeihana.
Faith is the inaugural Research Impact Manager at the University of Auckland where Jaylene is the inaugural Research Manager Vision Mātauranga. Before moving to Aotearoa New Zealand Faith worked at the University of Bristol in an impact role supporting academics in the Science and Engineering faculties. Prior to that she worked for the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, or BBSRC, in innovation and business engagement.
Jaylene has worked at the University of Auckland for over 6 years in research management, strategy development and implementation. Prior that she worked for the Health Research Council in Aotearoa New Zealand.
You can connect to Faith via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-welch-b6a11924/) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/FaithUOA). You can connect to Jaylene via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayleneuoa/) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/Jaylene74)
I ask Faith about the commonalities and differences between the UK and Aotearoa New Zealand in how the culture around impact is developing and Jaylene helps me to understand how to properly engage Māori in the research system. Their key messages are:
- Impact culture has been driven from the ground up and not via assessment
- The pandemic has helped build on the trust between policy makers and researchers
- Building trust is absolutely crucial and it takes time and that time can be much longer with some communities
- But once trust is built impact can fly
You can connect with Faith and Jaylene on Twitter.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed
Connect to us on LinkedIn:
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This is the second episode of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host Ged is joined by Professor Ilias Trispiotis. Ilias is Professor in Human Rights Law from the School of Law at the University of Leeds. He is an expert in international European and comparative human rights law, discrimination law, human rights and discrimination theory, law and religion. He is also the School of Law's Co-lead for Impact and Engagement.
In this episode Ged discusses Ilias’s experience of working with policymakers and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in seeking to ban conversion therapy by law in the UK and New Zealand. The key points from the discussion are:
- Working with policymakers can be hugely enjoyable because they do work in an evidence-based way and their testing of your arguments is can be extremely rigorous
- Policymakers are extremely results driven, which can really align with research impact. But this does mean that they are driving for straightforward answers that are free from jargon.
- As well as rigorous examination of your arguments, often via counter-factuals, policymakers respond to the personal stories of people who have been affected.
- When you work with lots of NGOs (Ilias worked with over 70) the change you are looking to make is the ‘glue’ that keeps those collaborations together
- Reach out to these types of organisations as early as possible. They are often gatekeepers into the policy space and they will help you to refine the questions and issues you should explore.
- They are also campaigning organisations, so know how to make change happen (they are impact experts).
- Don’t be afraid to reach out into policy debates and find allies to help.
- Be proud of your impact and make sure that comes across in your promotion applications etc.
You can connect with Ilias on LinkedIn and Twitter @iliastrispiotis[GH1]
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more.
Research culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed
Connect to us on LinkedIn:
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This is the first episode of Season 5, where we are investigating the impact of impact on research culture. In this episode your host Ged is joined by Professor Richard (Rick) Holliman.
Rick is Professor of Engaged Research at the Open University in the UK. In his research, Rick examines tensions between theories and practices of knowledge exchange by evaluating examples where researchers and ‘publics’ have sought to (co)produce impacts derived from research. Through this work, he developed the concept of engaged research, a principled approach to co-constructing ‘publics’ to work reflexively in meaningful ways to generate, reflect on and evidence social and economic impacts.
I discuss with Rick what the impact of research impact on research culture has been since ~ 2009/10 when the 'impact agenda' first started in the UK. During the discussion we acknowledge our own stances and draw out the following messages:
- The impact agenda has felt like a top-down imposition but it has always existed
- As a sector we are still making our way in implementing the impact agenda appropriately at a cultural / organisational level
- The inclusion of research impact in research assessment in the UK had positive affects on the overall budget for research in the 2010s
- The ways in which we can do this better - reduced precarity, recognising and celebrating it and working with colleagues to have it formally acknowledged in promotion
- We all need to be involved in the conversations (big and small) to deliver the futures we want.
You can connect with Rick on LinkedIn and find out more about his research from his publication profile. He also runs the Open University's Engaged Research blog.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast, @GedHall
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch:
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? We have just finished season 4, on research careers with Ruth Winden, and were due to start Season 5 on June 21st on the effects of research impact on research culture. However, we are suspending our weekly drop of episodes until the indefinite strike action at the University of Leeds ends.
Until we return we are still interested in hearing what your hopes are for the future of research impact and research culture. To find out more read this LinkedIn article and to contribute your hopes and how you are making them happen go to this Padlet.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more.
Research culture links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed
Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast, @GedHall
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 4, which focuses on Researcher Careers.
Ruth Winden, the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, is your host for this season.
This episode is about LinkedIn again, but from a different angle. Episode 7 was about how to build a strong LinkedIn profile and how to avoid common mistakes when you create and populate your profile.
But a strong LinkedIn profile is just the beginning.
What you do after you have crafted your profile is the topic of this recording.
In my final episode for the season, I have asked three previous guests to share their approach to gaining traction on LinkedIn:
- Dr Niclas West shares how he uses LinkedIn for job search, and how he has done what many researchers avoid: asking for recommendations for his excellent work.
- Marianne Talbotdescribes her strategy for sharing news, updates and information that are of interest to her diverse audience, to showcase the breadth of her work and research. Her motto: "Be present and active!"
- Warren Beardallchallenges us to think about what we want to gain from LinkedIn, before we dive in and start to post without strategy or plan. Warren gives us insights into why LinkedIn is such a good platform for researchers to create engagement: to seek out (and contribute to) conversations, to be in dialogue beyond our academic circles, to learn and to grow. And, why self-promotion is not the way to find connection with people, but contribution is.
This episode goes from the highly practical (the how tos), to the more fundamental (the why?).
We trust you will find our contributors' perspectives on maximising LinkedIn as researchers and professionals thought-provoking and enriching. If you click on Marianne's, Nic's and Warren's names, the hyperlinks take you straight to their LinkedIn profiles.
Finally, a huge thank you for listening to our podcast!
My season on researcher careers is coming to an end. But I promise, there is more to come! Stay tuned.
Our next season is with Dr Ged Hall, and his focus will be on Research Impact.
Please reach out to me if you have comments or questions! I love a good debate. I'm Ruth Winden on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 4, which focuses on Researcher Careers.
Ruth Winden, the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, is your host for this season.
Over the years, many of our researchers at Leeds have embraced LinkedIn, with great success. From identifying key connections to building their networks, sharing their research, building communities, to landing job offers, and even getting headhunted straight off LinkedIn - there have been many breakthroughs.
And every breakthrough starts with having a strong, compelling and well-designed LinkedIn profile.
Today, I am sharing my tips and strategies for a creating a meaningful and attractive LinkedIn profile.
I begin by making a case why researchers need to engage with LinkedIn, whatever their career plans. The minimum effort I recommend is making time to create a profile that does them justice, and that attracts the right audience.
I then share three recent LinkedIn features that are worth exploring - and one that I want researchers to assess critically before they use it (and yes, it's all about the ChatGPT equivalent that we are expecting to be launched soon).
I finish with the 10 most common mistakes I see researchers make with their LinkedIn profiles. All 10 mistakes are fixable! Listen to my suggestions on how to resolve these issues.
Soon, I will also provide a bonus episode, where three researchers share the way they use LinkedIn. Stay tuned!
Please reach out to me if you have comments or questions! I love a good debate. I'm Ruth Winden on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 4, which focuses on Researcher Careers.
Ruth Winden, the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, is your host for this season.
Today, I am speaking with Dr Simon McNair, a behavioural psychologist and previous Leverhulme Fellowship holder at the University of Leeds. Simon moved into consulting in 2019, as he wanted to have an even greater, direct impact in his research area:
How do consumers make financial decisions and how can organisations support them in making good choices?
Simon now works as a Behavioural Architect Manager at Cowry Consulting, an award-winning, global, tech-enabled behavioural science consulting firm.
SImon and I discuss these fundamental career topics:
- why, however successful and promising your career as an academic might be, it is important to step back at times and question whether academia is the right path for you
- how to approach the key question: which direction do I want to take?
- how to value your researcher experience and translate it into opportunities
- why creating a target list of your ideal employers can lead to great results
- what researchers offer to employers, and why most employers need professionals with a research background on their teams
- why you should never hesitate to reach out to professionals to find out more about organisations and their work
- and why reviewing your career once a year is a good habit to have.
If you want to learn more about Dr Simon McNair and keep track of his work and projects in behavioural psychology and consulting, Simon's LinkedIn profile is a good starting point.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about Research Culture, Open Research, Postgraduate Researchers, and Research Impact.
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 4, which focuses on Researcher Careers.
Ruth Winden, the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, is your host for this season.
Today, I am speaking with Warren Beardall, a researcher in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. Warren has focused his entire career on building strong, trusted and effective collaborations to achieve successful large scale public sector infrastructure programmes, often with a 30 year lifespan.
To add to his lived experience of risk, finance, and project management, Warren recently added two Masters' programmes to his expertise, one in project management and one in human behaviour. Now he brings both aspects of his research and his professional experience to his PhD research, fully funded by EPSRC.
Our focus today is on working well together, in a research environment.
We talk a lot about collaboration in research. The term has become a real buzz word.
Everyone does it.
Everyone assumes we know how to do it.
But when do we actually discuss - and even agree on - what a good collaboration looks like?
- Why is a good collaboration essential to research?
- Why is it such a skill, if not an art?
- And why is having conflict in collaborations normal, and even a necessary part of working together?
See what Warren has to say - his interdisciplinary look at collaboration certainly gives him a rare perspective. And of course, we also talk about careers. How a research career can open doors, why you don't always have to have a firm career plan, and why it is never too late in life to add your voice and perspective to a research community.
If you want to connect with Warren Beardall and learn more about his thought leadership, here is a link to Warren's fascinating blog projectswithinprojects blog and LinkedIn profile.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about Research Culture, Open Research, Postgraduate Researchers, and Research Impact.
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 4, which focuses on Researcher Careers.
Ruth Winden, the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, is your host for this season.
Today, we are meeting Dr Niclas West, a researcher and Leeds alumni who is so curious about living in different cultures, he has moved across continents to explore new challenges, new roles, new sectors and even learn new languages.
Originally from the US, Niclas came to Leeds to do his postdoc in Space Physics, destined for a career in Aerospace. But it didn't come to it - for many reasons.
From having to change direction because of his nationality, exploring a new career path that let him fulfill his love of complex technical instruments, to finding an employer willing to support his VISA application, Niclas has managed to overcome many challenges with grace, grit and plenty of optimism.
You can connect with Niclas via LinkedIn and Twitter.
Niclas and I talk about
- making the most of LinkedIn to attract recruiters and hiring managers; and how you need to adapt your profile and communications on LinkedIn to land opportunities in industry
- how his background as a postdoctoral researcher has helped him transition into industry and change course when his original plan didn't work out
- the power of speaking to people in your community about careers and opportunities (socalled "informational networking") and how it can help you make sound career decisions
- Career Architect, and the impact this postdoctoral career transition programme has made to him
- how sometimes, you have to follow your heart and move on again, even if it means leaving behind a super job, great colleagues and a fantastic employer.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about Research Culture, Open Research, Postgraduate Researchers, and Research Impact.
Links:
- Career Architect, our flagship programme for postdoctoral career transitions
- UK government website listing employers who support VISAs
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This trailer introduces Season 5, hosted by Ged Hall (all of the season hosts were introduced in Season 1, so check out Ged's episode).
But more importantly, the trailer asks for your engagement with developing content for the final episode of the season. We are all actors and change agents in the ever changing and developing world of research culture, so we really want to hear what you want it to be and how you are making that happen.
This is all described more fully in this LinkedIn post:
What is the future for research impact culture?
But if you want to go straight to the Padlet, mentioned in the trailer, to contribute, then you can:
https://universityofleeds.padlet.org/ghall76/theFutureforResearchImpactCulture
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds, @HallGed
Connect with us on LinkedIn: @ResearchCultureUncovered, @GedHall
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 4, where we are focussing on Careers with Research. In this episode your host Ruth Winden is joined by Marianne Talbot.
Marianne chose to become a postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds in mid career, whilst carrying on with her successful career in educational training and consulting. Marianne's specific area of expertise is in assessment in secondary school education and training educationalists to reach chartered status with the Chartered Institute of Assessors.
As a self-funded, remote PhD candidate with limited opportunity to come onto Campus regularly, Mariane represents researchers who are keen to do high-level research whilst using technology to maximise their PGR experience and engage with their researcher communities.
Listen to our conversation about
- The pros and cons of being a mature PGR
- What you need to think about before committing to doing a PhD
- Inductions, and why a personalised approach that recognises mature PGRs' rich and varied professional backgrounds could make a big difference to researchers feeling recognised
- How universities and departments can create a stronger sense of community, belonging and engagement with their PGRs
- The value of life experience in research
- How to pro-actively seek out opportunities for research interaction and collaboration, wherever you are based.
If you would like to find out more about Marianne Talbot, please connect with her on LinkedIn or via her University profile.
Links Marianne mentioned in the podcast:
Marianne Talbot's Research Profile at the University of Leeds, School of Education
Hillary Place Papers, University of Leeds, School of Education
The Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the range of careers our researchers have chosen.
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 4, where we are focussing on Careers with Research. In this episode your host Ruth Winden is joined by Dr James Warren.
James is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leeds who works in biomaterials. He left academia after his PhD to explore a career in consulting and returned to academia to continue his research in a promising new field in tissue engineering. James is a well-known, highly engaged member of the researcher community at Leeds, from faculty based postdoctoral groups to representing his community on the University's ECR Steering group.
Listen to our open and frank conversation about
- why it is important to stay open-minded about your career direction and what James has learnt about himself by working in consulting before returning to research
- how a demanding hobby he is deeply passionate about has helped him become a better researcher (and win records along the way)
- the benefits of reaching out to people and building a supportive community across campus, even if you think you don't have the time
- what researchers like James can do to co-create a positive, collaborative and productive research culture
- how to make the most of the many professional development opportunities open to researchers and how to choose them wisely.
If you would like to find out more about Dr James Warren, please connect with him on LinkedIn.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the range of careers our researchers have chosen.
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is the beginning of a new season, focusing on Careers with Research.
Here, Ruth Winden shares insights about the way we facilitate our researcher community's career development: our philosophy, our collaborative approach, our offering, as well as the challenges and opportunities we encounter whilst helping researchers navigate their careers.
Ruth Winden is the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, overseeing the career development of our researchers. She brings a wealth of experience from many years working as a careers professional running her own consultancy business. She has designed, and delivers, our flagship Career Architect and Career Accelerator programmes.
If you have questions or comments, please reach out to Ruth via the University (r.winden@leeds.ac.uk), LinkedIn and Twitter.
In this episode, Ruth talks about:
- The meaning of her unusual job title “Careers with Research Consultant” - and why it is the perfect descriptor for what she does
-
The rationale behind our career development support for researchers:
-
Working in partnership
- Provision based on need over role or grade
- Finding the balance of support & challenge
- A broad and inclusive offering
-
Creating opportunities for deep transformation
-
Why researchers must become comfortable with negotiating, especially job offers
- When it is important for researcher developers to benchmark researchers with professionals at the same career stage in other sectors - and when not!
- The power of cohort based career development programmes and why learning alongside peers, in a safe environment, is so effective and popular with our researchers.
Be sure to check out the other seven episodes in this season to find out more about researchers and their career stories, as they join Ruth. They will openly share their career transitions, the strategies they used to move forward, and their top tips for researchers in similar situations.
Links:
- The Career Support Offering at Leeds
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implemention plans and progress
- Dr Emma Spary's Podcast on The Researcher Development Concordat
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 3, hosted by Nick Sheppard, who is speaking to colleagues from both the University of Leeds and from other universities and organizations about open research, what it is, how it's practised in different disciplines, and how it relates to research culture. In this episode Nick is joined by Dr Alexandra Freeman, the creator of Octopus, an innovative new open science platform designed to replace journals and papers as the place to establish priority and record your work in full detail.
Dr Freeman is Executive Director for the Winton Centre for Risk & Evidence Communication at the University Cambridge. Previously she had a 16 year career at the BBC, working on series such as Walking with Beasts, Life in the Undergrowth, Bang Goes the Theory, Climate Change by Numbers and as series producer of Trust Me, I’m a Doctor. Her work won a number of awards, from a BAFTA to a AAAS Kavli gold award for science journalism.
You can connect with Alex via Twitter.
In this episode we talk about:
- Alex's professional background and her long standing interest in science communication
- Her work at the Winton Centre to help patients make evidence based decisions about healthcare
- How academic journals aim to both disseminate useful findings to practitioners and to act as the primary research record, which can pull them in different directions
- Problems with how research is incentivised, rewarded and assessed which can lead to 'questionable research practices' and contribute to the 'reproducibility crisis'
- How she came up with the idea for Octopus and how it aims to address these fundamental issues
- The Octopus model which disaggregates the journal article into its component parts in a structure that more closely matches the actual process of research: problem, hypothesis, protocol, data, analysis, interpretation, real world use, review
- The sheer ambition of her vision for Octopus and the challenge to fundamentally change the research ecosystem, to encourage and incentivise intrinsic research quality
- How Octopus is currently STEM focussed, reflecting Alex's own background, but that she has begun to explore the model for the social sciences and humanities
- How you can start using Octopus right now by visiting https://www.octopus.ac/ and publishing your first research problem
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season!
Links:
- Octopus - https://www.octopus.ac/
- Octopus: A new way to open and transparent research (blogpost and recorded virtual talk at University of Leeds, March 2022)
- Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication
- AAAS Kavli gold award for science journalism (2015)
- Baker, M. 1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility. Nature 533, 452–454 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/533452a
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 3, hosted by Nick Sheppard who will be speaking to colleagues from both the University of Leeds and from other universities and organizations about open research, what it is, how it's practiced in different disciplines, and how it relates to research culture. In this episode Nick is joined by Hugh Shanahan, Professor of Open Science at Royal Holloway University of London.
Hugh has expertise in computational biology and statistics. He's co-chair of the Codata, RDA Schools of Research Data Science, and Vice-Chair of the World Data System Scientific Committee.
You can connect with Hugh via Twitter or LinkedIn
In this episode we talk about:
- Hugh's varied academic background that led him to a professorship in Open Science
- Different definitions of open science, which in addition to making scientific research more efficient and transparent, also encompasses research integrity, community and equality
- How open research differs from open science, and that it needs to be defined by its practitioners in a specific discipline
- The different professional roles that contribute to open research beyond scientists, researchers and academics themselves
- Openness as a spectrum, that it's not all or nothing: it’s possible to take small, practical and useful steps which can be built on incrementally
- Recent progress embedding open research principles in universities in the UK and beyond
- The concept of the "first class research object" as the components of research - datasets, software and code, protocols - that are often as important as a final published journal article
- Underpinning research infrastructure, and its importance to open science: repositories, preprint servers, computational notebooks and persistent identifiers (DOIs, ORCiD)
- The relationship between open research training, and reward and recognition: people need the skills to be rewarded for the practice
- The FAIR data principles and that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. What do these concepts mean in practice?
- Priorities for open science in the future, in particular bringing together generic support with more disciplinary expertise
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season!
Links:
- CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science
- World Data System Scientific Committee
- Open from beginning to end: addressing barriers to open research (online event with Hugh hosted at Leeds in May 26 2021)
- The Software Heritage Archive
- Project Jupyter
- NeuroLibre - a preprint server for reproducible data analyses
- CORE - the world's largest collection of open access research papers
- GO-FAIR - FAIR Implementation Profile
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 3, hosted by Nick Sheppard, speaking to colleagues from both the University of Leeds and from other universities and organizations about open research, what it is, how it's practiced in different disciplines, and how it relates to research culture.
Episode 5 is a little different from usual, with Nick joined by a co-host, Dr Chris Hassall (Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Leeds) and not one but two guests, Post Graduate Researchers Hira Khan and Bethan Soanes, all from the Faculty of Biological Sciences.
Hira and Beth have been contributing to a project as Wikimedia Champions, working with Nick, Chris and Senior Learning Technologist Joanna Brown, learning about Wikimedia, examining Wikipedia in their subject area, identifying areas of need and making contributions.
In this episode we talk about:
- Their previous experience and preconceptions about Wikipedia
- Their previous knowledge of other Wikimedia platforms such as Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata
- What general skills they developed or were required during the project
- The potential of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia suite of tools for the public communication of science
- The power of diagrams and images to convey scientific concepts, and how these are often lacking on Wikipedia
- Any specific areas of biology they identified that need more work on Wikipedia
- Inequality in Wikipedia, with a lack of representation of women and people of colour, both generally and in the context of science; the role of Wikipedia on promoting diversity in STEM
Links:
- Wikimedia UK
- File:Cryogenic electron microscopy workflow.svg
- Poems championing free knowledge inspired by University of Leeds students
- A physicist is writing one Wikipedia entry a day to recognize women in science (CNN, 2018)
- An editathon for Black History Month citing African scholars on Wikipedia (event dashboard)
- Female Nobel prize winner deemed not important enough for Wikipedia entry (Guardian, 2018)
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 3, hosted by Nick Sheppard who will be speaking to colleagues from both the University of Leeds and from other universities and organizations about open research, what it is, how it's practiced in different disciplines, and how it relates to research culture. In this episode Nick is joined by Dr Martin Poulter from the University of Bristol where he is website editor and technical developer for the School of Economics, Finance and Management.
Martin is former Wikimedian in Residence at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, and in addition to his day job at Bristol, works with academics, librarians, and other experts with Wikimedia to help institutions get the maximum benefit in terms of reach, engaging the crowd and creating educational resources. He is currently Wikimedian for the Khalili Collections, a set of private art collections including the world's largest collection of Islamic art.
With Martin's help we have been exploring the use of Wikimedia platforms at the University of Leeds, including a Wikimedia Champions project you can hear all about in next week's instalment.
In this episode we talk about:
- how his academic background in Philosophy and Psychology led him to become a Wikimedian
- how Wikimedia is more than just Wikipedia, and comprises 16 different platforms including Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata and WikiSource
- opportunities for education and research for universities, including sharing openly licensed research and student assignments
- barriers to engaging with the Wikimedia platforms as an institution and where to go for support
- some of the misconceptions about how Wikipedia actually works
- the issue of bias in Wikipedia, how it reflects a primarily Western white male cultural outlook, and the importance of diversifying Wikipedia through initiatives like Women in Red and translation projects
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season!
Links:
- Martin Poulter - Open Culture, Open Data, Open Education (https://infobomb.org/)
- The Khalili Foundation
- Wikimedia and universities: contributing to the global commons in the Age of Disinformation (Poulter & Sheppard, 2020; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.509)
- Wikipedia:University of Edinburgh/Resources
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red
- Wikimedia UK
- Wilson Armistead - British Quaker merchant, slavery abolitionist and author from Leeds
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 3, hosted by Nick Sheppard who will be speaking to colleagues from both the University of Leeds and from other universities and organizations about open research, what it is, how it's practiced in different disciplines, and how it relates to research culture. In this episode Nick is joined by Dr Madeleine (Maddi) Pownall.
Maddi is a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds. She completed her PhD in 2022 in Social Psychology and is a Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence (LITE) Fellow. She has contributed extensively to the Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training (FORRT) and was voted HE Psychology teacher of the year 2022. You can connect to Maddi via Twitter.
Maddi talks about how she didn’t know a huge amount about open research when she started her PhD, and that the ‘replication crisis’ in Psychology meant she was having lots of conversations about reproducibility, open science and rigorous research practice. Now, as a teaching scholarship lecturer, open research is central to her work and she is particularly interested in how we can embed it in a pedagogical context.
In this episode we talk about:
- what robust research looks like in social psychology and how it relates to other disciplines
- navigating open science as an early career feminist researcher – power, voice and inequalities
- what’s good for research and what that actually means for the people doing the research
- her work with the Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training (FORRT) community
- her research with FORRT exploring whether open research might actually impact student outcomes in any way
- the need for nuanced discussion around open research and whether it is always appropriate in a specific research context
- the Curriculum Redefined programme at Leeds and a goal to explicitly integrate open research into the curriculum
- the need for empirical evidence of potential impact of open research on student outcomes and her plans to design a research project to explore this nationally
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season!
Links:
- HE Psychology Teacher of the Year 2022
- Leeds Institute of Teaching Excellence (LITE)
- Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training (FORRT)
- Navigating Open Science as Early Career Feminist Researchers (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843211029255)
- The impact of open and reproducible scholarship on students’ scientific literacy, engagement, and attitudes towards science: A review and synthesis of the evidence (preprint DOI: https://doi.org/10.31222/osf.io/9e526)
- Curriculum Redefined at the University of Leeds
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 3, hosted by Nick Sheppard who will be speaking to colleagues from both the University of Leeds and from other universities and organizations about open research, what it is, how it's practiced in different disciplines, and how it relates to research culture. In this episode Nick is joined by Kelly Lloyd.
Kelly has recently completed an ESRC funded PhD in the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences on the topic of investigating decision making in cancer preventative therapy. Kelly is also one of the organizers of the Reproducibilitea Journal Club here at Leeds. You can connect to Kelly via LinkedIn and Twitter.
NOTE: since recording this podcast Kelly has passed her viva and successfully defended her PhD thesis. Congratulations Dr Lloyd!
Kelly talks about her 'origin story' from her undergraduate degree in psychology to her Master's in social research where she was introduced to the principles of open research through Chris Chambers' book "The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology" which she highly recommends and says is applicable across a range of disciplines, not just psychology.
Nick has learned a lot from ReproducibiliTea, and from Kelly personally, especially about preregistration.
In this episode we talk about:
- the problem of replication in psychology which has been found to affect most other disciplines; often referred to as 'the reproducibility crisis'
- that qualitative research can't always be fully open, when interview participants may be identifiable for example
- the importance of detailed methodology to enable research to be reproduced
- the role of registered reports and preregistration in reducing "questionable research practices" such as selective reporting and HARKing (Hypothesising After Results are Known)
- whether preregistration can also be used for qualitative research
- barriers to open research, including the time commitment and current lack of incentives
- how there can be a tendency to gatekeeping, even bullying in open science; so called "bropen science"
- the early career researcher led ReproducibiliTea journal club initiative
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season!
Links:
- Leeds ReproducibiliTea
- The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology: A Manifesto for Reforming the Culture of Scientific Practice - Chris Chambers
- A factorial randomised trial investigating factors influencing general practitioners’ willingness to prescribe aspirin for cancer preventive therapy in Lynch syndrome: a registered report
- Open Science Framework - What is Preregistration?
- Registered Reports: Peer review before results are known to align scientific values and practices
-
bropenscience is broken science
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
This episode is released under Research Culture Uncovered © 2023 by Research Culturosity, University of Leeds is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. If you remix, transform or build upon this material you may not distribute the modified material without explicit permission.
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This short bonus episode with Ruth Winden is released to explain a short gap in our podcasts due to ongoing strike action in UK Higher Education institutions. As a collective we have decided not to release new episodes on strike days so we will be back shortly!
In the meantime, be sure to check out the other episodes from Emma Spary, Ged Hall, Tony Bromley, Ruth Winden and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: researcherdevelopment@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 3, hosted by Nick Sheppard who will be speaking to colleagues from both the University of Leeds and from other universities and organizations about open research, what it is, how it's practiced in different disciplines, and how it relates to research culture. In this episode Nick is joined by Dr Dorka Tamás.
Funded by Research England, Dorka has been working on a series of open research case studies here at Leeds. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Exeter in 2022, examining the presence of the supernatural in Sylvia Plath's poetry. You can connect to Dorka via LinkedIn or Twitter.
With her background in English, Dorka has learned a lot about open research through this role and how it can relate to the humanities as well as STEM disciplines. She talks about how she did not receive any training about open practices through her PhD, which she thinks would have benefitted her.
In thi episode talk about:
- providing open research training for PhD students and PGRs
- differing terminology and concepts across different disciplines including reproducibility, open and FAIR data, preprints and preregistration
- her use of archives in her own research and what 'open research' might mean in the study of English
- barriers to practicing open research that have emerged through the case studies
- her future plans in academia including turning her PhD into a monograph
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season!
Links:
- Case by case: Open research in different disciplines
- Open Research Case studies by faculty
- The Supernatural in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: From Salem to Ariel (PhD thesis, access restricted pending monograph)
- Sylvia Plath’s reimagination of the Grimms’ fairy tales in postwar American culture (Journal article, open access)
- Sylvia Plath and the supernatural
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This bonus episode is released as part of our Concordat Awareness Month at the University of Leeds (January 2023). In this episode your host Emma Spary takes you through an introduction to the Researcher Development Concordat, what it is and how it forms a key part of research culture.
The Concordat is an agreement between universities, research institutes and funders to support the career development of researchers in the UK. In this short introduction we cover everything you need to know to get involved, including:
- One Agreement
- Two Names
- Three Principles
- Four Stakeholders
- How you can get involved
- Why you should get involved
Emma also highlights the Researcher Development Concordat website created by Universities UK. Here you can get a copy of the Concordat and find out who has signed up.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ged Hall, Tony Bromley, Ruth Winden and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Dr Cecile Menard (University of Edinburgh). In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode our discussion covers:
- A research project interviewing long term researchers
- The three identities of long term researchers - 'The candidate', 'The accidental researcher', 'The career researcher'.
- The Sisyphus metaphor
- 'The current academic structure is ill adapted to contemporary research'.
Related links from the podcast:
Link to the paper discussed in the podcast: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0274486
Preliminary results of the follow-up study mentioned at the end of the podcast are available here: Long-term research staff survey: preliminary results from closed-ended questions (figshare.com)
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Further links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Dr Sian Vaughan, Birmingham City University, UK. In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. This episode is based upon the presentation, 'Supporting the jugglers: the challenges and barriers for academics in creative disciplines becoming research active' and covers topics including:
- Juggling identities
- Juggling time
- The practice of practice research
- Othering
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Dr Rachel Handforth (CRAC/Vitae). In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we cover:
- Leaky pipeline? What do we mean?
- Structural inequalities
- Inequalities in entry to postgraduate research degrees
- Inequalities in progression in research for underrepresented groups
- Ableism
- Barriers to disclosure
Related links from the podcast:
Steel City Voices
Profile of a field: neuroscience; the pipeline is leaking - Marcia Barinaga
The Leading Routes Report: The broken pipeline - barriers to black PhD students accessing research council funding.
Qualitative research on barriers to progression of disabled scientists - CRAC 2020
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Professor Åsa Berggren and Associate Professor Ann Grubbström (Swedish University of Agricultural Science). In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we cover:
- Barriers to progression
- Socially included but not intellectually included
- Organisation allocating positions to men
- Lack of investment in women
- Different workloads to male colleagues
Related links from the podcast:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.809661/full
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Dr Jawiria Naseem (University of Birmingham). In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we cover:
- Materialised belonging
- Consciously deciding not to belong
- Opportunities to teach and belonging
- Neoliberal culture, 'I don't want to belong to all of that'
- Most positive experience of belonging in a post-92 University
Related links from the podcast:
https://educationobservatory.co.uk/academicunbelonging/
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Professor Richard Hall (De Montfort University). In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we cover:
- Dimensions of decolonisation at the postgraduate research level.
- Self-audit guide
- How to approach decolonisation at the postgraduate research level
- Impact at De Montfort University
Related links from the podcast:
About Decolonising DMU
Decolonising DMU: A self-auditing guide for Research Centres and Institutes - applying a decolonising lens
Decolonising DMU: a working position
Humanity and Identity are Inextricable from Astrophysics: a Review of the Disordered Cosmos by Dr. Chandra Prescod-Weinstein
Decolonising methodologies: research and indigenous peoples
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Annamaria Carusi (Interchange Research). In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we cover:
- The 'Emerging Research Cultures' project with 23 Wellcome funded PhD programs
- Origins of toxic research culture in doctoral study
- Giving feedback to supervisors
- Working hours, taking leave, mental health
- Community of practice in improving research culture
- ‘We consider everybody equally important in the community and everybody has their say’
Related links from the podcast:
https://inter-changeresearch.com/projects/project-one-wellcome-research-culture
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
Just a bit of fun. Have a listen. You know you want to...
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In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?
Be sure to check out all the episodes in our seasons!
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Paula Espeche and Laura Colombo (Centro de Investigaciones Cuyo, Argentina and Universidad de Buenos Aires, respectively). In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we cover three key questions:
- What are the causes of loneliness in doctoral studies?
- How virtual writing groups can help combat loneliness
- How virtual writing groups provide safe spaces to address wider issues of research culture.
Related links from the podcast:
Colombo, L., & Rodas, E. (2020). Interdisciplinarity as an opportunity in Argentinian and Ecuadorian writing groups. Higher Education Research & Development, 40(2),1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1756750
Rodas, E., & Colombo, L. (2018). Writing groups in Ecuador as support for academics on the road to publication. Revista Pucará, 29, 147-167. https://publicaciones.ucuenca.edu.ec/ojs/index.php/pucara/article/view/2690
Rodas, E. L., Colombo, L., Calle, M. D., & Cordero, G. (2021). Looking at faculty writing groups from within: some insights for their sustainability and future implementations. International Journal for Academic Development, https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.1362021.1976189.
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Dr Tanvir Ahmed: In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we look at changing the culture of researcher development programmes:
- Individualised approach to researcher development
- Workshops and lack of learning 'sticking'
- Heutagogy - self determined learning
- No workshops!?
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Dr Katie Nicoll Baines: In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we look at a University of Edinburgh project to retain precariously employed research staff. Our conversation covers topics including:
- Precarity of contracts
- Qualitative interviews with research staff identifying pinch points in research career paths with recommended interventions around
- Navigating 'mid career' in research
- Equality, diversity and inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths disciplines
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In conversation with Professor Louise Owusu-Kwarteng (https://twitter.com/louisekwarteng): In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In Season 2, we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode we cover three key questions:
- How do we redress the balance to ensure that there is equality in terms of opportunities for research?
- Do we need to re look at what counts as an ‘expert’ in HE? And also re consider what is seen as ‘valuable’ work in this context?
- With regards to students from marginalised groups – how do we reframe the narratives which assume their ‘underattainment’? Do initiatives aimed at addressing the attainment ‘issue’ need to go wider and include opportunities for research?
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 1, where we get to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they go on to host seasons on their specialist topic. In this episode we mix things up a bit and bring you the insights from one of the driving forces in the work on Research Culture across the sector. Your host Emma Spary is joined by Professor Catherine (Cat) Davies.
Cat Davies is the Dean for Research Culture at the University of Leeds, leading on our work to create and implement a Research Culture Strategy to drive cultural change, built around 5 areas:
- Professional Development, Reward and Recognition
- Open Research and Impact
- Responsible Research and Innovation
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research
- Collegiate and Supportive Environment
You can connect to Cat on Twitter (@Cat_Davies or @ResCultureLeeds).
I ask Cat what she thinks the biggest challenges are for cultural change, what is happening across the sector, where she thinks we can improve and what she hopes to see in the future. Her main messages include:
- What interested her in this new Dean for Research Culture role at Leeds, her personal and professional motivations
- The acknowledgement across the sector that poor research culture results in a loss of great talent and failure to attract other great talent
- The enormous role research technicians play in delivering research and how this needs to be better recognised
- In taking stock of her first 12 months in role, she is most proud of the grassroots initiatives and what they are achieving
- How she hopes the gains we have made in Open Research will become business as usual over the next few years, and that Research Culture is more prominent in funding calls
Cat also references several initiatives including:
- A case-study we produced at Leeds on sharing interview questions in advance
- The Black Women Professor scheme
- Our Research Culture Awards
- Research Culture Crucible
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ged Hall, Tony Bromley, Ruth Winden and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter:
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 1, where we get to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they go on to host seasons on their specialist topic. In this episode we mix things up a bit and bring you the insights from one of our colleagues doing a lot of work on Research Culture across the sector. Your host Emma Spary is joined by Dr Elizabeth Adams.
Elizabeth Adams was previously at the University of Glasgow where she helped to establish the Lab for Academic Culture before branching out on her own with her company Scafell Coaching. You can connect to Elizabeth on Twitter (@researchdreams). Elizabeth is working with us at Leeds as a critical friend helping us to create our Research Culture Strategy.
I ask Elizabeth what she thinks the biggest challenges are for cultural change, what is happening across the sector, where she thinks we can improve and what she hopes to see in the future. Her main messages include:
- The crucial role Research Integrity played in the Research Culture work at Glasgow
- How surveys must have an outcome and be clearly communicated to improve engagement
- How changes to research contracts and simplifying or aligning application processes would help researchers
- The need for reviewer training to help recognise skills and avoid bias when reading both traditional and narrative style CVs
Elizabeth also references a case-study we produced at Leeds on sharing interview questions in advance.
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ged Hall, Tony Bromley, Ruth Winden and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances.
Links:
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode introduces Season 2, where we are in conversation with a number of presenters from the Researcher Education and Development Scholarship International Conference of 2022. In this episode, your host for this season, Tony Bromley, explains the background to the conference and talks you through the 11 podcasts upcoming in the season including the main aspects of research culture that each conversation will cover. Tony will let you know the release date for each podcast in the season so hopefully you can earmark the ones you most want to listen to. The season will cover many aspects of research culture including:
- Do we need to re look at what counts as an ‘expert’ in HE? And also re consider what is seen as ‘valuable’ work in this context?
- Retaining precariously employed researchers
- Loneliness and isolation in doctoral research
- The student supervisor relationship
- Decolonising postgraduate research
- Progression of women in research careers
- and many more...
Be sure to check out all the episodes in this season!
Links:
- Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference
- Researcher Development and Culture Website
- Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
- University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
- University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
- University of Leeds Open Research Statement
Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds, @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds
If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 1, where we get to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they go on to host seasons on their specialist topic. In this episode your host Emma Spary is joined by Dr Tony Bromley. Tony Bromley is an Academic Development Consultant at the University of Leeds, leading our provision for Postgraduate Researchers, supporting them through their PhD and what comes next. He is passionate about dynamic development, putting the researcher at the heart of their professional and career development, and is a huge advocate of LinkedIn Learning. Tony also organises the https://conferences.leeds.ac.uk/reds/ (Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference (REDS)). You can connect to Tony via https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonybromley (LinkedIn) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/Tony_Bromley (@Tony_Bromley)). Learn more about dynamic development and REDS on his website https://tonybromley.com/ (www.tonybromley.com) I ask Tony what he thinks the biggest challenges are for researchers, what we do well at Leeds, where he thinks we can improve and what he hopes to see in the future. His main messages include: An introduction to Dynamic Development and putting researchers at the heart of their development plans How postgraduate researchers may experience research culture differently to other researchers Highlights some of the biggest challenges in this area How our model of development has changed for the better, meaning more development is available when people need it
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ruth Winden, Ged Hall and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances. Links: https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/ (Researcher Development and Culture Website) https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/the-concordat/ (Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress) https://sway.office.com/34Cy6nshbNsWwHl2?ref=Link (University of Leeds Research Culture Statement) https://sway.office.com/eoaz5y0gPuNaGma4 (University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement) https://sway.office.com/eTmCGvyk1wl0yWGj (University of Leeds Open Research Statement) https://conferences.leeds.ac.uk/reds/ (Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference)
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/ResDevLeeds (@ResDevLeeds), https://twitter.com/OpenResLeeds (@OpenResLeeds), https://twitter.com/ResCultureLeeds (@ResCultureLeeds) If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 1, where we get to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they go on to host seasons on their specialist topic. In this flipped episode your host Tony Bromley is joined by Dr Emma Spary. Emma Spary is the Head of Researcher Development and Culture at the University of Leeds, providing professional and career development for all researchers and those supporting research. She is passionate about research culture and supporting people. She also leads our Researcher Development Concordat implementation work, delivers our Research Culture Crucible and supports our Research Culture Community network. You can connect to Emma via https://uk.linkedin.com/in/emmaspary (LinkedIn) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/EmmaSpary (@EmmaSpa)https://twitter.com/hallged (ry)). Tony asks Emma what she thinks the biggest challenges are for researchers, what we do well at Leeds, where she thinks we can improve and what she hopes to see in the future. Her main messages include: Changing research culture involves many different stakeholders, including individuals, institutions, funders and publishers Culture can be experienced differently depending on your role and career stage Policy can be good, but you won't change culture with a piece of paper The role the researcher development concordat can play to change culture
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Ged Hall, Ruth Bromley, Tony Bromley and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances. Links: https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/ (Researcher Development and Culture Website) https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/the-concordat/ (Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress) https://sway.office.com/34Cy6nshbNsWwHl2?ref=Link (University of Leeds Research Culture Statement) https://sway.office.com/eoaz5y0gPuNaGma4 (University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement) https://sway.office.com/eTmCGvyk1wl0yWGj (University of Leeds Open Research Statement)
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/ResDevLeeds (@ResDevLeeds), https://twitter.com/OpenResLeeds (@OpenResLeeds), https://twitter.com/ResCultureLeeds (@ResCultureLeeds) If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 1, where we get to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they go on to host seasons on their specialist topic. In this episode your host Emma Spary is joined by Dr Ged Hall. Ged Hall is an Academic Development Consultant at the University of Leeds, leading our Research Impact provision. He is passionate about working with researchers to embed a culture of impact across the institution. He has designed, and delivers, our fantastic Building Impact Momentum programme and supports the University Impact Network. You can connect to Ged via https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgedhall (LinkedIn) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/hallged (@HallGed)). I ask Ged what he thinks the biggest challenges are for researchers, what we do well at Leeds, where he thinks we can improve and what he hopes to see in the future. His main messages include: The differences in how we define research impact Impact taking many forms and the need for researchers to define what their impact looks like Once identified, how do you make it happen? How cohort based programmes can play a role in creating an impact culture How time and resource can be barriers to achieving impact
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ruth Winden, Tony Bromley and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances. Links: https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/ (Researcher Development and Culture Website) https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/the-concordat/ (Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress) https://sway.office.com/34Cy6nshbNsWwHl2?ref=Link (University of Leeds Research Culture Statement) https://sway.office.com/eoaz5y0gPuNaGma4 (University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement) https://sway.office.com/eTmCGvyk1wl0yWGj (University of Leeds Open Research Statement)
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/ResDevLeeds (@ResDevLeeds), https://twitter.com/OpenResLeeds (@OpenResLeeds), https://twitter.com/ResCultureLeeds (@ResCultureLeeds) If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 1, where we get to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they go on to host seasons on their specialist topic. In this episode your host Emma Spary is joined by Nick Sheppard. Nick Sheppard is an Open Research Advisor at the University of Leeds Library, supporting our researchers with Open Research. He also runs our popular https://leedsunilibrary.wordpress.com/tag/open-lunch/ (Open Lunch seminar series), discussions with internal and external open research experts. You can connect to Nick via https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nicksheppard (LinkedIn) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/mrnick (@mrnick)). I ask Nick what he thinks the biggest challenges are for researchers, what we do well at Leeds, where he thinks we can improve and what he hopes to see in the future. His main messages include: How open research is much bigger than open access How data cannot always be open but should always be FAIR - findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable How journal metrics are still seen as the most important driver in research The need for greater investment in skills development to support open research
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ruth Winden, Ged Hall and Tony Bromley with a few special guest appearances. Links: https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/ (Researcher Development and Culture Website) https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/the-concordat/ (Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress) https://sway.office.com/34Cy6nshbNsWwHl2?ref=Link (University of Leeds Research Culture Statement) https://sway.office.com/eoaz5y0gPuNaGma4 (University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement) https://sway.office.com/eTmCGvyk1wl0yWGj (University of Leeds Open Research Statement) https://conferences.leeds.ac.uk/reds/ (Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference)
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/ResDevLeeds (@ResDevLeeds), https://twitter.com/OpenResLeeds (@OpenResLeeds), https://twitter.com/ResCultureLeeds (@ResCultureLeeds) If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This episode is part of Season 1, where we get to meet the hosts in a bit more detail before they go on to host seasons on their specialist topic. In this episode your host Emma Spary is joined by Ruth Winden. Ruth Winden is the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, overseeing the career development of our researchers. She brings a wealth of experience from many years working as a careers professional running her own consultancy business. She has designed, and delivers, our fantastic Career Architect and Career Accelerator programmes. You can connect to Ruth via https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthwinden (LinkedIn) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/RuthWinden (@RuthWinden)). I ask Ruth what she thinks the biggest challenges are for researchers, what we do well at Leeds, where she thinks we can improve and what she hopes to see in the future. Her main messages include: the importance of support from senior leaders the need for open, honest career discussions between researchers and managers acknowledging the challenges researchers face with fewer roles in academia available to them the power of cohort based career development programmes to share experiences and build confidence
Be sure to check out the other episodes in this season to find out more about the hosts Emma Spary, Ged Hall, Tony Bromley and Nick Sheppard with a few special guest appearances. Links: https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk (Researcher Development and Culture Website) https://researchersupport.leeds.ac.uk/the-concordat/ (Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress) https://sway.office.com/34Cy6nshbNsWwHl2?ref=Link (University of Leeds Research Culture Statement) https://sway.office.com/eoaz5y0gPuNaGma4 (University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement) https://sway.office.com/eTmCGvyk1wl0yWGj (University of Leeds Open Research Statement)
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/ResDevLeeds (@ResDevLeeds), https://twitter.com/OpenResLeeds (@OpenResLeeds), https://twitter.com/ResCultureLeeds (@ResCultureLeeds) If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk
In our weekly Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? This trailer tells you what you can expect, the topics we will cover and why Research Culture is important. Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/ResDevLeeds (@ResDevLeeds), https://twitter.com/OpenResLeeds (@OpenResLeeds), https://twitter.com/ResCultureLeeds (@ResCultureLeeds) If you would like to contribute to a podcast episode get in touch: academicdev@leeds.ac.uk