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(S8E2) From Collaboration to Innovation: How the N8 is leading the way shaping Research Culture
Episode 2 • 22nd May 2024 • Research Culture Uncovered • Research Culturosity, University of Leeds
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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:

All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:

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:

Transcripts

Intro:

Welcome to the research Culture uncovered podcast, where in every episode we explore what is research culture and what should it be. You'll hear thoughts and opinions from a range of contributors to help you change research culture into what you want it to be.

Emma Spary:

Hi, it's Emma, and for those of you who haven't met me yet, I lead the researcher development and culture team at the University of Leeds. My podcast episodes focus on research leadership and research culture. And today I'm really pleased to be joined by doctor Annette Bramley, director of the N8 research partnership. And Annette is going to be telling us more about a research culture campaign they've been running. But before we get to that, Annette, would you like to do a quick introduction to tell us a bit more about yourself and the role that you do?

Annette Bramley:

Hi Emma, thanks for having me on your podcast. I'm really excited. So I'm the director of the N8 and in that job I try and encourage universities to work together. But prior to coming to the N8, I did 20 years of service with the EPSRC, one of the research councils in the UK. I also like to do some crafty stuff in my spare time and I'm a fully qualified sound therapist. So that's a bit of multidisciplinarity in there, right there, as you say. Also co authored a book on research collaboration called research a step by Step Guide to Success, which is available through the Institute Physics ebooks library. I don't know if University of Leeds subscribes, but if you do then you can download it free of charge from the IAP ebook library.

Emma Spary:

Brilliant. And I'll make sure that I put any of these links and acronyms into the show notes as well so that people can find out more. So the reason we're here today is to talk about the research culture campaign. But before we get into that, our podcast goes beyond Leeds, it goes beyond the north of England and actually now beyond the UK. So for those of our listeners who may not have heard about the N8, can you just give us an overview of what it is and what it aims to achieve?

Annette Bramley:

Yeah, so fantastic that the podcast is so successful, and congratulations on that. So the N8, or to give us our full name, the N8 research partnership is the strategic alliance of the eight most research intensive universities in the north of England. So that's Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester in the northwest, Leeds, Yorkshire, Sheffield in Yorkshire, and Durham and Newcastle in the northeast. And our vision is to be an exceptionally effective cluster of research innovation and training excellence. It's a big focus there on the kind of excellent research piece, as you might expect from research intensive and to bring benefits to the economy and communities in the north of England and beyond. Brilliant.

Emma Spary:

So, as I mentioned in the intro, we're here today to talk about the active research culture campaign that you've been running that started in response to a talent commission report with a commitment to research technical professionals who make those valuable contributions that often go hidden in the research that happens in our institutions. The campaign is running until the end of April, I believe, but can you tell us more about the campaign and also why it's really important that you do this?

Annette Bramley:

So I'll start off by saying that for the N8 universities working together, research culture is an area where we've been working together for a long time. It's really important for us to recognise the contributions made by all members of the research body, as you say, including research technical professionals, but also professional services colleagues, librarians, academic researchers, postdocs and students. And one of our collaborative priorities is creating healthy and collaborative cultures and environments where excellent research can thrive. And we really think that that's tied into the part of our mission which aligns to excellence. So the aims of the campaign are to increase the awareness of the work that N8 does collaboratively in research culture and the thought leadership that's coming out of the region, but also to really importantly share tools and good practice for building healthy research cultures between us, but also between all the people working in our universities and any people that want to engage with the work that we're doing on research culture. And also, finally, the third benefit is to show the benefits of healthy research cultures, trying to bust some of those myths and preconceptions, you know, maybe that healthy research cultures might be a bit soft or might not lead to as excellent research. So we really, we really want to kind of address those three aims. And as well as that, we, we want the people in our member universities to know bit more about N8, to think that we're relevant to them, that we're committed to change and building healthier research cultures.

Annette Bramley:

It's a really tough time in higher education at the moment and I think an awareness of some of the fantastic activity that's going on across the region. We hope that they'll be able to feel proud that their university is playing a part in driving forward change on this really important agenda and that they can take advantages, take advantage of some of the toolkits and case studies that we're providing and we've gathered together and use those to support their practice. And then maybe themselves to act as role models for the kinds of places they want to work and the kind of research cultures they want to work in.

Emma Spary:

So you've mentioned there about the toolkits and case studies and making these available for other people to learn from and build on. So how can people find out more? If this is the first time they're hearing about the N8 and or the campaign you've been running, how do they get involved? Where do they go to?

Annette Bramley:

So we have a website, www.N8research.org.uk, and there you will find a whole section on research culture and environment. Underneath that there is a set of resources under the N8 European Research Culture Observatory, which is about the work that we do on research culture with our european colleagues. And we're going to also have a new bit which gathers together all of the other materials associated with this campaign and the weekly themes of the campaign that they're aligned to. So each week, as you said, we started off with research technical professionals, each week has had a theme. So some of these themes have included anti bullying, inclusivity in research, women in research, decolonialisation of research, open research team research. So what we're going to do is build into the website a more structured way of diving into those resources. We also have a newsletter which you can sign up to on our website, which will contain a bit more information about the campaign and direct people towards those resources. And for really to dive into it in depth, you can go on social media, use your platforms and use the hashtag hash N8 research culture all one word.

Annette Bramley:

And you can scroll through those, those, all those tweets and see fantastic examples of case studies from right across all the universities, people from technical professionals right through to pro vice chancellor's research, talking about why this is important and their own experiences and benefiting from healthy research cultures and what things are like in their universities. Yeah, loads of resources there.

Emma Spary:

We saw quite a few coming up on social media and I was personally surprised at the breadth of research that we do. And it was really interesting to find out, you know, what is happening across our institutions and who's also involved in this. So I would encourage people to have a look. And again, I will drop all the links into the show notes. So it seems like there's a real focus on showcasing the work that's being done across the partnership and raising the profile of those researchers in that wider context of everyone involved in the delivery of research. Are there any particular projects that have surprised or interested you?

Annette Bramley:

Well, I think one of those things is like asking who your favourite child is. Right? Like, you know, nobody really has favourites. I mean, but, you know, obviously you do have things that kind of resonate with you. And I agree with you, Emma. One of the things that has been really encouraging for me is to see the strength in the breadth and the depth of activity that's going on across the north of England and the willingness of our universities to tackle some really ingrained, structural and longstanding issues. And that comes with all sorts of challenges, we know, but there's a real. You know, there's a real keenness to. To kind of move some of these really kind of what you call wicked problems forward.

Annette Bramley:

But, you know, you did ask me to pick some. So I've been really sort of inspired by the work on inclusive and anti ableist research projects that we featured. And because I feel like this really speaks to one of the values which is close to my heart, which is about drawing on all the talents and the importance of diversity to really, you know, from my perspective, as someone who's probably more expert in research collaboration, it's the diversity of perspectives and backgrounds that we bring to problems that help us come up with better solutions and better research questions. So for me, learning about some of those projects and how we can really bring all the talents together was really inspiring. There's also a project led out of Sheffield that's led, which is anti bullying, which is. Which is literally led out of the HR. So a recipient of research England funding is, you know, is in HR, which is probably not something which you'd normally see. And I'd also highlight from Leeds, I'm particularly inspired by the work done, which was giving leadership and development funding to cohorts of black women to support their development, which has led to really positive impacts, developing their networks, increasing their visibility, and also enabling them to feel really seen and valued by the university, which I think is just so important.

Annette Bramley:

When you think of the small numbers of black women professors in the UK, it's just such an important issue that we need to address. Sort of aligned to that. I'm picking quite a lot now, but aligned to that. There's a fantastic edi toolkit in Newcastle University. Again, that's got like loads of tools for people to dive into, including some stuff on, like active bystander, which, you know, is something that I think is really important. I need to develop my skills as a. As a better kind of bystander and an ally. And the other thing I really want to highlight is the ingenuity and simplicity of the Matharu plots developed by Avtar Matharu at the University of York, which, you know, is just about prompting, thinking about what research is cited, what research we're citing, why we're citing it.

Annette Bramley:

So just really thought provoking, but a very visual approach that he's got there. And it's so simple, but really gets you thinking, and that's the whole point of it. So, yeah, there's some of my favorite children. So I should say that this is developing all the time, and we've highlighted some of these things in this particular campaign. But as N8 will continue to highlight brilliant activities that are going on in research culture across the N8 universities and amplifying them, the work that's being done. So don't feel that because our campaign is coming to an end that the N8 is going to stop. Please do kind of keep following us to find out more about what's going on in this important space.

Emma Spary:

And if that hasn't given you some inspiration to go and check out some of these resources, I don't know what else we can do. You mentioned there about the campaign kind of all that is coming to an end, but the work isn't. So what are the plans for the future? What are the next steps for the N8 partnership? And importantly, what are you working on at the moment?

Annette Bramley:

Oh, yeah, I can't hardly wait to get in. So, yeah, the campaign is going to come to an end at the end of April, so probably by the time this podcast has actually gone out. But one of the last things that that kind of finishes the campaign with a bang is a statement that the universities are making together about their commitment to and support for established or mid career researchers. So that's really exciting. And what we'll have also done by the time this podcast goes out is with our colleagues at the Eastern Arc universities who are effectively, it's a similar organization to N8, but for four universities in the east and southeast of England who've also published a report about mid career researchers and their experiences. So what we're doing is we're going to be, by the time this podcast goes out, we'll have had a roundtable conversation with some of the key stakeholders to think about how we might best think about a national approach to better supporting researchers at this career stage, because we have highlighted that there are a lot of challenges that these researchers phase, but they make an enormous contribution to our research environments. So that's really exciting. So hopefully, by the time this podcast goes out, we'll have had that roundtable and we'll have some ideas about really kind of making a difference at scale and how we might take that forward.

Annette Bramley:

I mentioned that we have the N8 European Research Culture Observatory and that's going to continue to grow with a meeting in the Netherlands in the autumn. And we'll continue to build the library of resources there underneath that part of our website. And as some of your kind of listeners, Emma will probably know that five out of eight universities won funding from Wellcome to improve their research cultures. And what we'll be doing as a group is working with all of the eight universities to share the learnings coming out of the Wellcome funded research grants, as well as lessons learned from the use of Research England enhancing research culture funds to again, kind of try and progress change at pace across the eight universities. And we'll continue to talk to research England about the inclusion of research culture in the REF. I'm sure some of our universities will take part in the pilots over the summer and we'll try and inform and influence how research culture is included within that to build on the learnings that we've had. And not only that, there's two really great grants funded by Research England out of the University of Liverpool. So Prosper provides resources to support first time postdocs.

Annette Bramley:

Now that the Prosper portal is already online and available, and universities across the UK are thinking about how they're going to embed prosper within their normal kind of development for postdocs. And that's something we're going to be supporting. And the AHRC funded thrive project is going to be shaping a new AHRC funded call this summer around convener led research. So that's going to be really exciting. So if you're interested in any of that or any, anything else that we might be doing around research culture, then do follow us on socials and sign up for our newsletter. But also, if you have thoughts, ideas or would like us to come and talk at your university about what the N8 is doing in this space, then do get in touch with us, because it's a really important area and the N8 universities are completely committed to pushing forward positive change in this space.

Emma Spary:

Loads of stuff to focus on. Then you're going to be busy for the next couple of years. But yes, there's quite a lot going on around Prosper and thrive. And again, we'll put links in there for you to be able to have a look and see what work is being done and also share with us examples of work that's going on in your own institutions as well. You can drop that into the comments underneath this episode, so we are pretty much up to time there. Thank you, Annette. Anything else that you want to share with us before we wrap up this episode?

Annette Bramley:

Okay, I just say this is research. Culture is really important for the N8, but it is just one part of what we do. So we also have research collaborations around policing and computatioN8lly intensive research. We have a number of communities being built around various net zero themes and we're thinking about how what are the research topics we might work together around in the future. So go and have a dig around our website again. Sign up for our newsletter and if you have ideas for where you'd like to work together across the N8, come and get in touch with us and have a chat. We might be able to network you up with some other people. We might be able to kind of support you with some workshops or advice on building your communities forward.

Annette Bramley:

And also do go and have a look at my book because there is a whole chapter in there on culture so I would be remiss if I didn't give that one final plug.

Emma Spary:

Brilliant. Thank you very much. So with that, I will draw this episode to a close and say thank you once again, Annette, for coming to talk to us today. There's loads of information for people to get involved with and have a look at, and I'm going to leave it to you to have the final goodbye.

Annette Bramley:

Bye.

Intro:

Thanks for listening to the research culture uncovered podcast. Please subscribe so you never miss out on our brand new episodes. And if you're enjoying the discussions, give us some love by dropping a five star rating and written review as it helps other research culturists find us. And please share with a friend and show them how to subscribe. Thanks for listening and here's to you on your research culture.

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