Our approach to driving change in our research and innovation culture
A community-driven approach has guide how we define and measure progress towards strengthening our research culture.
We want Loughborough’s research culture to reflect our values, by setting clear ambitions for what a positive culture looks like and choosing indicators to track our progress that truly matter to our community, rather than what is easy to measure or what others say is important.
Drawing on existing survey data and reviewing our commitments to concordats and charters, we have positioned ourselves to prioritise action where it is needed most to support meaningful change.
Defining our ambitions through collaboration
Our research communities have directly shaped our Research and Innovation Culture Ambitions and Indicators. Over 150 research-active and research-enabling colleagues and students took part in workshops, following the INORMS SCOPE Framework, to define what a positive research culture looks like for Loughborough.
Those same communities then carefully considered our options for measuring progress towards those ambitions, before selecting those indicators that would minimise the risk of unintended consequences while remaining relevant to what matters most to us.
Building on existing insights
Our communities already have a voice to tell us what’s working and where improvement is needed. Rather than running a new survey, we analysed existing Loughborough data from UK-wide studies such as the Culture, Employment, and Development in Academic Research Survey (CEDARS), the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), and the University’s Staff Experience Survey.
This approach has helped provide some clear baselines, and allowed us to prioritise efforts where they should make the biggest difference, while avoiding adding to survey fatigue.
Connecting ambitions to our wider commitments
Mapping our Research and Innovation Culture Ambitions against Loughborough’s existing concordats and declarations showed where progress is already underway and where new efforts are needed to achieve our goals.
The process also highlighted opportunities for teams to learn from each other and share good practice, helping build a more connected and efficient approach to strengthening research culture across the University.