At Loughborough, feedback from CEDARS has been instrumental in shaping and delivering key initiatives (as outlined below), as well as tracking progress towards our strategic research and innovation goals. We’re grateful to everyone who responded previously and shared insights through other stakeholder consultations over the past two years. 

CEDARS 2025 launches next week, and we now strongly encourage all colleagues in research-active and research-enabling roles to take part. Your input will be vital for us to understand what’s working well and how we can continue to improve your experiences.  

If you have any questions about CEDARS and/or the initiatives summarised, please contact Dr Katryna Kalawsky. 

Amplifying the voice of our R&I community

We recognise how important it is for us to listen to our R&I community and act on what we hear. In response, we’ve strengthened how feedback is gathered, communicated, and used to inform meaningful change. Examples include:  

• Shaping and influencing the work of the newly established R&I Culture Working Group, with representatives from across all our research communities. 

• Reinstating Loughborough University’s Research Staff Association Committee (LURSA) with representatives from all Schools and embedding it in both School and Institutional-level R&I committees, ensuring the voices of Specialists Supporting Academic Research (SSAR) colleagues shape key decisions. 

• Enhancing governance structures to better support and monitor the University’s commitment to various R&I initiatives, including the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the HR Excellence in Research Award. 

Improving visibility and access to R&I development opportunities 

We offer a wide range of development opportunities for our R&I community. In response to feedback, we’re continually improving their visibility, accessibility and impact to better support your needs. Examples include: 

• Undertaking a thorough review of the Researcher Development and Pathways Programme, a Loughborough-first which led to the instigation of several spin-out projects based on its outcomes and recommendations. 

• Creating the Researcher Development and Pathways Programme Directory, which contains information about all researcher development opportunities offered by each Professional Service at the University, including how to access resources and book live sessions and events.  

• Redesigning our Supervisor Development Programme, to ensure the content is current and strategically aligned with the UKCGE’s Good Supervisory Practice Framework. The new programme will launch for aspiring and existing doctoral supervisors at the start of the new academic year. 

Building stronger connections and celebrating our research community 

Encouraging a connected and supportive research culture is essential to the success of our R&I community. The examples below show our continued commitment to tailored support, meaningful networking, and celebrating the talent within our research community: 

• Extending the Young Academy Application Support Scheme, a highly successful programme of mentoring and development for Loughborough UK Academy and Global Young Academy applicants.  

• Revamping our monthly research staff bulletin to improve how we communicate our wide range of upcoming internal and external development and networking opportunities. 

• Creating a bespoke orientation package for SSAR colleagues and their line managers to ensure new members of our research community feel welcomed and well-informed about R&I, including job role expectations and entitlements. This package is in development and will be available at the start of the new academic year. 

• Revitalising the Annual Research Conference to ensure greater engagement from the entire research community.