Research excellence

Deep dives into university research practices around the world, including supervision, community engagement, funding and publication.

Advice on shaping meaningful community engagement through research projects

In this together: developing meaningful community engagement

Anna Walas offers advice for facilitating community engagement with research by considering ways in which effective engagement design can help overcome common barriers

Anna Walas

University of Nottingham

How to have an "overnight" scientific success in 20 years

How to create an overnight scientific success (in 20 years)

Inspirational moments don’t usually happen by chance. Instead, many enabling factors must be put in place over the course of a career, say Peter Hogg and Jo Cresswell

Peter Hogg, Jo Cresswell

University of Salford

Now could be a good time to move into environmental research in universities

Now could be a smart time to move into environmental research

Against a backdrop of increased funding and publishing output, aligning yourself with the green economy early could be a shrewd move, says Tim Smith

Tim Smith

IOP Publishing

Advice on what matters most to students in effective research supervision

Lessons from students on effective research supervision

Richard Godwin shares lessons in effective research supervision based on his former students’ feedback

Richard Godwin

Harper Adams University

Yellow butterfly in a group of blue butterflies

Research supervision: working with the individual in front of you

Lorraine Hope explains how to mitigate student anxiety and avoid toxic competition with a person-centred approach to supervision

Lorraine Hope

The University of Portsmouth

Megaphone shouting. Researchers at universities must overcome the struggle with self-promotion

Researchers: fight back against your struggle with self-promotion

Postdoc or professor, the self-promotion struggle is real. So, how can we promote ourselves without sounding too ‘sales-y’? Emma Williams has the answers

Emma Williams

EJW Solutions

How to ensure online teaching benefits the education of sustainability issues

Engaging students in applied research to tackle Sustainable Development Goals

Jen O’Brien describes a pedagogical project that engages students in applied research carried out in partnership with external organisations, related to the Sustainable Development Goals

Jen O'Brien

The University of Manchester

Randomised control trials are crucial for good science, but we can also improve their ethics

We can make research more ethical without compromising its quality

The debate on the ethics of randomised control trials isn’t getting us anywhere – it’s time for solutions, says Stefano Caria

Stefano Caria

The University of Warwick

Advice on fostering interdisciplinary research collaborations early in your academic career

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: investing in early career interdisciplinarity

Three PhD students share tips for embracing an interdisciplinary approach to research from the start of one’s academic career to aid progress towards tackling the Sustainable Development Goals

Roxanne Keynejad, Poushali Ganguli, Manisha Yapa

King’s College London, UNSW Sydney

Advice on creating a university research culture that is accessible, transparent and reproducible

Eight ways your university can make research culture more open

Parveen Yaqoob and Robert Darby share eight actions institutions can take to foster a culture of research that is more accessible, transparent and reproducible

Parveen Yaqoob, Robert Darby

University of Reading

Considerations for embedding public engagement into your research projects

Enhance your research through public engagement and collaboration

How can academics shape research around mutually beneficial public engagement and collaboration? Emily Burns outlines the key considerations

Emily Burns

Queen Mary University of London

Advice on how to successfully use your research in your teaching to benefit students and enrich the research

How to refine, enrich and expand research through teaching practices

Adrian Lam offers tips on how academics can use their teaching to refine, enrich and expand their research methods

Adrian Man-Ho Lam

The University of Hong Kong

Insight on funding options for arts and humanities research

The arts and humanities have not been forgotten: finding funding post-pandemic

Edward Harcourt on why the arts and humanities are vital to tackling societal challenges and what funding streams are available to research within these disciplines

Edward Harcourt

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Step by step advice on embedding public engagement into university research and teaching

How to embed public engagement into your teaching and research activities

Carenza Lewis shares a step-by-step guide for embedding public engagement into your institution’s research and teaching

Carenza Lewis

University of Lincoln

Advice on shaping research around community needs

Directing research to engage and support local communities

How can academics shape their research around key community needs and encourage participation from multidisciplinary faculty, students and local people? Helen Szoor-McElhinney and colleagues offer insight

Helen Szoor-McElhinney, Alette Willis, Liam Gilchrist

The University of Edinburgh

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

Making practice publishable: a journal article-cum-podcast

Helen Wolfenden from Macquarie University presents a podcast offering advice on publishing or communicating research in new formats beyond the scope of traditional academic journals

Helen Wolfenden

Macquarie University

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