Loughborough launches new platform to share research ideas with global scientific community

Loughborough University has launched a new platform that enables academics to share research ideas with scientists across the world, allowing greater collaboration and ensuring no idea is wasted.

The Research Ideas Catalogue – Knowledge and Impact (RIC-KI) website has been created by the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, and is initially focussed on research ideas related to physical activity and health, weight management and dietary behaviours, health and wellbeing, and sport.

It features a collection of ‘best’ research questions in these areas that academics wish to share with the global scientific community as potential collaborative research projects. The owners of the ‘ideas’ list their suggestions and how they wish to collaborate, with potential research partners then completing an online expression of interest form. The RIC-KI platform then connects both parties.

RIC-KI is the brainchild of Professor Amanda Daley, a world-leading expert in behavioural medicine, a National Institute for Health Research Professor, and Director of Loughborough’s Centre for Lifestyle Medicine and Behaviour (CLiMB).

She came up with the idea when struggling to fulfil all the research ideas she had. Not wanting them to go to waste, she decided to see if a system could be developed that connected scientists interested in collaborating.

“One of the most effective ways to advance science is to do it collectively, by working together and sharing research ideas,” Professor Daley explains. “As a busy academic I know from experience that it is impossible to pursue all your research ideas. Through RIC-KI I hope that we can stop high quality ideas going to waste and help health researchers be more connected.

“RIC-KI is focused on a willingness to openly share research ideas and collaborate with likeminded scientists. Ultimately this will lead to more mutually beneficial global partnerships, enabling research to go further and faster.”

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive Officer for the National Institute for Health Research commented: “Professor Daley is an NIHR-supported health research leader and it is great to see initiatives such as RIC-KI being launched.

“When people are connected in research, much more can be achieved, which can have important benefits for the health and well-being of the population. It is more important than ever before that researchers across health and social care work collaboratively, both across geographical and discipline boundaries, to tackle the ever-changing challenges for patients and the public. There are particular opportunities here for all researchers, including those at an early career stage, to reach beyond usual ways of working to achieve greater impact.”

Although RIC-KI is currently focussed on health and sport, the team hope this will be expanded to all research areas moving forward. To find out more and subscribe to RIC-KI click here.

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: PR 21/255

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2021 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year for Sport by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2022.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 7th in The UK Complete University Guide 2022, and 10th in both the Guardian University League Table 2022 and the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

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