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Our research culture

Excellent research requires an excellent research environment. We're working hard to develop our research culture and foster a community of inclusion, support and collaboration.

We're building a research culture you can thrive in

At Sheffield, we're proud of our open, inclusive and supportive culture of research.

It's nurtured and developed by colleagues across the University, embracing researchers and research-enabling staff at every career stage.

Like all institutions, however, we know there is still work to do.

We are listening to our research community, piloting new and innovative approaches, and establishing strategic leadership and accountability to grow even further.

Together, we're transforming our research culture for the better and creating an environment we all can thrive in.

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Research Culture Action Plan

The Action Plan for Research Culture – led by John Flint, Deputy Vice President for Research and Meera Warrier, Assistant Director of Researchers and Culture, RPI – is a milestone in the University's institutional commitment to enhancing research culture. 

It has been informed by the work of the Steering Board, and the hundreds of colleagues who have generously and candidly shared their experiences and feedback, positive and negative.

Read the  

What we're working on

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Enhancing Research Culture projects

We've received substantial funding from Research England to invest in developing our research culture, enabling us to explore new and innovative approaches to open research, EDI, and career development.

Explore current and previous projects

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Listening to our research community

We're continuing to engage with our research community to understand the strengths in our environment, identify areas to improve on and create the future of our research culture together.

Surveys, consultations and events

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Steering board for research culture

With representation from colleagues across the University, the Steering Board provides leadership and coordination to develop our research culture.

See how we're leading on research culture

Technical Managers Sam Whitehouse and Melanie Hannah talk to Vice-Chancellor Koen Lamberts about the vital contributions technicians make to the University.

Supporting our technicians

Technical Managers, Sam Whitehouse and Melanie Hannah, speak to Vice-Chancellor Koen Lamberts about the vital contributions technicians make to the University.

Supporting our technicians

Our guiding principles

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Open research

Our strong culture of open research is key to enabling research excellence.

We're committed to making the processes and outputs of our research transparent and freely accessible, wherever possible.

Open research support, events and case studies
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Career development and community

We want to nurture the development of our future research leaders and provide support and development opportunities at every stage.

Supporting careers in research

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Photo by Leon on Unsplash

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We strive to foster an inclusive research environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Our vision for research

We will advance a culture of research excellence underpinned by innovative training and dedication to researcher development and wellbeing.

Strategic priorities for research

Our commitment to developing a positive research culture

We have made a series of public commitments to develop our research culture, and our good practices have been widely recognised.

See our commitments and action plans

Case studies

A PRID3 map showing primary care sites in Sheffield (green squares), combined with Somali (country of origin, census data) population density (rink/pink shading) by lower super output area (geographical segments within the Sheffield boundary).
A PRID3 map showing primary care sites in Sheffield (green squares), combined with Somali (country of origin, census data) population density (rink/pink shading) by lower super output area (geographical segments within the Sheffield boundary).

A new tool for inclusive participation in primary care research

Clinical research should reflect the diversity of our society, but that’s not always the case. Researchers at Sheffield have developed a powerful tool to help recruit more diverse and representative research participants.

Read the case study

prn relationships

Research with, not on communities

Sheffield's Participatory Research Network is a cross-faculty initiative bringing together like-minded researchers who use – or are interested in using – participatory methods in their work.

Read the case study

Get involved

Questions or ideas?

If you want to know more about our research culture work, get involved or provide feedback, please get in touch.

Contact us

Research careers

Discover career development and support in an inclusive environment.

Grow your career at a leading university with a reputation for excellence. 

Research careers at Sheffield

PhD study

We'll deliver support, guidance and development every step of the way.

Begin your postgraduate research journey in a supportive and inclusive environment.

Find PhD opportunities

Two women having a meeting. They are sitting at a table across from each other with highrise buildings visible in the background.