Research culture

We are building a kind, collaborative and open research community, because a supportive environment makes exceptional research possible.

Defining research culture

Research culture is a broad term that, according to the , encompasses the behaviours, values, expectations, attitudes and norms of our research communities.

Recognising and rewarding our researchers at the Research Culture and Research Impact Awards is just one of the ways we are endeavouring to foster a thriving research culture. Openness, integrity, collegiality and leading by example are among the shared values we champion.

Highlights from the Research Culture and Research Impact Awards

  • Video transcript

    Mahmoud Bakar Maina: I won the Outstanding Early Career Impact award

    Joanna Smallwood: I'm part of a team that won the Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration Award.

    Charlotte Rae: I won the award for Best Commercial Impact

    Dominique Makowski: I won the Openness in Research Award

    Tom Wright: I'm delighted to have won the Research Award for Interdisciplinary Impact

    Ali Lacey: We won the Ethical Research Award.

    Katherine Blackadder: I was excited to win the Professional Services Impact Champion award.

    Mahmoud Bakar Maina: So winning this award means many things to us. For one, it helps in increasing the visibility of this work, which is so so important, especially for an early career researcher like myself, because it means perhaps recognition from funders, from the top players in the field, which means more collaboration and eventually more impact towards this work that we are undertaking.

    Tom Wright: We're delighted to receive this award because it helps us develop our work with teachers across Britain.

    Dominique Makowski: This award is a fantastic recognition for us because it shows that the 天美传媒影视 doesn't only value the research output per se, but also all the ground work that makes science possible.

    Ali Lacey: because it really underlines, I think, the university's commitment to the research process and not just to outcomes and results.

    Charlotte Rae: The university provides fantastic support for us as academics to get out there into the real world.

How we are making changes

Our research culture team have already funded many exciting projects to bring initiatives to fruition, enable collaboration and solve problems. We are also working to celebrate examples of great culture in practice, including in depth case studies, news articles, events and awards. Our Research Culture Steering Group guides our programme and our enabling plan details the practical tasks based on four priority areas.

Our Research Culture highlights are: 

For further information, view a full list of funded projects.

Research culture case studies

Meet our team

Our small but mighty team have a broad range of experience. We are continuously communicating and collaborating with professional services staff and academics across the university to make sure that enhancing research culture is a priority. We are here to listen. If you have any thoughts or ideas about improving research culture at Sussex, please get in touch!

Dr Lorna Hards

Senior Research Culture Consultant

Lorna has worked at Sussex since 2020, initially developing collaboration and impact in Social Sciences through the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (having earlier managed the IAA at Birmingham and Oxford). Lorna took on the new challenge of Research Culture in 2023 and is keen to make research at all career stages accessible to a broader range of people, as well as to support Open Research practices to build knowledge equity.

Email: l.hards@sussex.ac.uk

Name

Eilish Purton

Open Research Administrator and Coordinator

Eilish is the Open Research and Scholarship Librarian, having joined the 天美传媒影视 in the summer of 2024. She is keen to support Open Research across the university and provide a link between the Library’s Research and Open Scholarship team, Sussex’s academic community, and the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN).

Email: e.purton@sussex.ac.uk

 

Eilish Purton

Debbie Keeling

Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor Knowledge Exchange

Debbie is Chair of the Research Culture Steering group and leads the Sussex Research Culture programme. She is committed to enabling academic excellence and societal relevance, and has led major initiatives in culture, knowledge exchange, and external engagement.

Email: d.i.keeling@sussex.ac.uk

Debbie Keeling

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