Abstract:

Research can often be a fringe or niche activity in many teaching-focused universities, where learning and teaching can often dominate to the exclusion of other activities. This paper aims to evaluate the progress made and techniques used since 2010 to develop a greater research culture in a STEM-focused faculty* comprising 4 schools, 3 of which had little research activity prior to 2010. The paper traces the development of a research culture, based on a Grounded Theory Analysis of interviews with staff, which led to the submission of high quality research from all four schools to the UK Government’s Research Excellence Framework in 2014. It critically examines a range of initiatives that were designed to build capacity for research, which had varying degrees of success. The analysis identifies three elements of a research culture and three related drivers of research culture. Specifically, it suggests that teaching-focused universities in the UK, and similar institutions internationally, that wish to develop a research culture, need to focus on: shared values, beliefs and norms; production of high quality outputs and impacts; and community and trust. This requires values-based leadership, a clear sense of academic identity and collaboration as part of a gradual change process.

N.B. (*In this paper, “Faculty” is used in the UK context to define the largest operational unit of a University below the University level itself).

Keywords:

Research culture, Research Leadership, Researcher Identity, Research Collaboration.