Dear colleagues,
It is with pleasure that we launch the University’s Research Cultures Strategy, which reflects our commitment at the University of Aberdeen to fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and forward-thinking research environment. This strategy provides a clear and purposeful approach to strengthening how we work together as a research community and includes all staff who undertake and enable research across the University. It embodies our belief that how we do research is as important as the research itself, with excellence defined not solely by outputs and impact but also by the culture in which research takes place.
Drawing on conversations with colleagues across the University to understand priorities within our diverse range of existing research cultures, the strategy focusses on embedding four positive ways of working:
- Shared Standards of Excellence
- Collective problem solving and sharing good practice
- Recognising contributions and supporting career development
- Developing evidence-informed approaches to culture change
By focusing on how we work together, this strategy recognises the importance of retaining and supporting our existing diversity of research cultures, while looking for opportunities to find synergies between them and to connect these to our broader institutional vision.
As we launch this strategy, we are also taking important steps to put it into action. Going forward, we will share updates on key initiatives, including PORTAL, an online platform for researcher development resources across the institution, a reimagined annual review process, and tools to support evaluating and evidencing our research cultures.
We encourage you to explore the strategy and our planned and ongoing activities through the Research Cultures webpages.
We are proud of what we have achieved in co-developing this strategy, and are excited about the journey ahead. This is a living strategy that will continue to evolve in response to feedback and evidence. Together, we will drive positive change and achieve our ambitions for the future.
Best wishes
Nick and Ben
Nick Forsyth
Vice-Principal for Research
Ben Tatler
Dean for Research Culture