Flourish@Durham was initiated with the aim of ensuring the best environment possible for all those involved in research at Durham to develop and thrive. This is a shared endeavour which engages with our research community: researchers, professional services staff, technical staff and research infrastructure colleagues.
Those involved need to own the vision in order to take up and progress the actions and behaviours that will support it. We are all responsible for culture change, even if not engaged in undertaking specific actions, because it requires shifts in behaviours, language and ways of interacting with others and expectations of people and processes, as well as specific actions. This all takes time.
Culture change is not about an end point. It is a process of evolution and development: of people, of structures, and of environment. It involves regulation (and compliance) but also the idea of creative and spontaneous growth, nurtured by high quality leadership but engendered by the participants themselves. Some of what we may be able to achieve will happen quickly; some more subtle aspects of culture take time, and require buy-in from everyone and clear policies for addressing behaviour that falls short of our expectations as a flourishing community.
Diversity and inclusion
Not confined to protected characteristics, this also encompasses diversity of career track, diversity in research approach and respect for all staff involved in research.
Good relationships
Including supportive mentoring and leadership, feeling like you ‘belong’, a civic commitment to the regional community.
Avoiding silos
We value a joined-up and co-ordinated approach to research culture, one that is characterised by shared expertise and endeavour that embeds cross-institutional working to the benefit of all.
Research ambition
Durham staff are ambitious wanting to strive to be the best they can be, and encouraged and supported by research leaders.
Having enough time
Recognising that time for research is different in quality and extent to time for teaching, there is a need to find ways to release more time.
High quality spaces and resources
Co-location of research teams in well-designed and pleasant spaces where people can eat and drink together is important as well as facilities for research.
Spaces to make mistakes and learn from failure
A positive culture requires safe spaces where there is freedom and time to fail, ask ‘stupid questions’ and have fun.
High Quality Enabling Support
Processes and structures need to enable research to be like ‘running down hill’. Polices and processes need to be quick and easy to find and understand.
Values-driven Approach
We commit to adopting a values-driven approach that oversees everything we do from developing a strategy to how we live, work and study together.
Developing a positive culture
We seek to develop a positive culture as an iterative process. Some actions may be simple to finalise but other may take more time to develop.
Valuing everyone’s role
We recognise the value of everyone’s role in creating a positive research culture: staff (professional, technical, academic), research students, undergraduates; and of the influence of place (this City) on our culture.
Celebrating success
and recognising process
We will celebrate and recognise not just successful outcomes of research, but success in process: building teams towards grant applications, supporting and mentoring colleagues, contributions to a more inclusive research ecosystem.
Affirming interdisciplinary research
We value the contribution of research across disciplines and modes, including discovery and challenge-based research. We understand that fundamental research starts with generating research questions often in interdisciplinary contexts and for which the impacts may not be immediately obvious.
Fostering a global research community
We want to encourage the development of a research community drawn from talent across the world recognising that this brings challenges in learning and respecting others and inducting others into a research culture that may be very different from their own.
Learning from others
We will demonstrate a commitment to a culture of openness and collegiality through continuous learning from others across the sector (such as colleagues in the N8) and collaborating on possible joint projects to improve culture across Higher Education Institutions.
Openness in communication
We commit to being open and reachable in our communications. We want to take people with us, enable our community to feel and be involved, to understand when things might be difficult to achieve and to be engaged in finding solutions.
Action
Detail
Commitments and Values
Measure
Joined-up approach
We need a joined-up approach ensuring culture change being effected elsewhere in the University is part of this process and identifying where there are conflicts. This requires a mapping of strategies and structures internally and externally that drive or influence research culture.
Developing a Positive Culture
Good Relationships
Avoiding Silos
Engagement with Flourish Project from both internal and external stakeholders
Attention to language
Our ongoing commitment to behaviour and culture change is led from the front and disseminated through key research leaders and influencers in the University. We need to replace words like competition with collaboration; performance management with nurturing; success with thriving and flourishing. Our approach to culture change will not emphasise the end points of compliance but the continual aim of striving to improve. This is not something that is amenable to action planning or policy statements but is about modelling behaviour, as well as ensuring the internal and external structures and drivers do not militate against achieving change.
Openness in Communication
Diversity and Inclusion
Communicating Flourish@Durham
A communications plan will be developed and we are committed to regular consultation and feedback with staff groups. Trust and belief is critical to the success of Flourish and we want to demonstrate when we have achieved positive outcomes but also be honest when things are more difficult.
The Flourish Team will work to ensure information goes out about how we are striving to change culture and so that the language we use is reflected in external communications. We want prospective staff to have a positive message about change in Durham and to experience that change when they come here.
Engagement with Flourish Sharepoint Site
Attendance and feedback from Research Culture Cafes and events
Engagement with external site
Flourish@Durham internship programme
The Flourish Team will appoint four students interns to work alongside the RSA, technical staff, open scholarship working group and Faculties to deliver the projects leading from these actions.
Learning from Others
Feedback from Interns
Engagement with Research Culture projects
Long-term project developments
Early Career Researcher Development
The Flourish Team have been in discussion with those managing the Liverpool University ‘Prosper’ programme which has developed a coaching, training, mentoring platform for ECRs looking for careers beyond academia. Liverpool will be sharing their experience and the practical platform with us and during 2023 we will explore setting up a similar programme at Durham.
Research Ambition
Design and delivery of the pilot programme
Qualitative feedback from ECRs
Leading Researchers Programme
This programme, led by 64 Million Artists, has been successfully piloted at KCL, Edinburgh, Glasgow and UCD. It will enable 24 mid-senior career researchers to spend 6 months working on their next big idea for research supported by a programme of personal and personal development. A key element of the programme will be collaborative working and learning from others.
Space to Mistakes and Learn from Failure
Uptake and qualitive responses to Leading Researchers Programme
Time for Research
University Workload Steering Group has produced a series of workload principles that will lead to a review of ways of working across the institution and across staff roles. The intention is to identify smarter ways of working. The DPVC-R will ensure that the group recognises the nature of time for research which involves ‘chunky’ time – extended period for working on papers/research grants.
Having Enough Time
DU Staff Survey
CEDARS Survey
Use of workload modelling consistency
Celebrating Research
The Flourish Team will explore how to do more to celebrate research in Durham, across staff roles and stages, including the possibility of hosting a celebratory event.
Celebrating Success and Recognising Process
Staff feedback and engagement
Development of the Research Staff Association
The RSA has had no support to run activities or manage meetings and has relied on the good will and efforts of postdocs and ECRs often on precarious contracts. Our consultation demonstrated that this group felt disparate, lacking a voice and unsupported. The RSA will be supported by a Flourish@Durham student intern and in 2022-23 be given a budget to support training and activities.
Valuing Everyone’s Role
High Quality Spaces and Resources
Increased membership of RSA
Feedback from activities
RSA team engagement and qualitative feedback
Recognition and Reward for Technical Staff
The Flourish team have invested funding in the support of the Technicians Commitment and one of our Interns will work to support the technical staff to improve communication tools, support the work of the Technician Commitment Steering Group, and enable preparations for the Technical Staff Survey. Membership of the National Technicians Development Centre is funded through the Enhancing Research Culture budget.
Technical staff report greater job satisfaction.
Increase provision of training opportunities for technical staff
Investment in Staff and Structures
The RIS Directorate have undertaken a review of research support services and are currently recruiting in areas that have been identified as under resourced such as post award. Successful roll out of the staff intranet will be key to staff knowing how to access support. Understanding, appreciating and respecting the expertise of professional and technical staff is critical to recruiting great people and good relationships across staff groups means we can keep them.
Staff report smoother, faster processes in research support
Ensuring that support and policies are easily accessible in the intranet
A new staff intranet is about to be launched and we need to monitor its effectiveness in ensuring staff can access the information and contacts they need.
Intranet works to enable access to support
Respect Commission
The Flourish Team will work alongside the EDI Unit to support progress on achieving the recommendations of the Respect Commission. The DPVC-R and RIS Co-Director sit on the Respect Oversight Group and will connect work on Flourish with work towards progressing the Commission’s recommendations.
Values Drive Approach
Feedback and progress from ROG
CEDARS Survey Responses
Mapping our Training Offer
The Flourish Team interns are mapping training across the university delivered by DCAD, HROD, EDI Unit, RIS, Research Institutes and Centres and Departments. At the moment it is not possible to access our wide training offer on a single site as it is distributed across silos. The mapping exercise will enable us to see what is on offer and detect gaps, as well as offer a clear portfolio of opportunities to our wider community to support development.
Achievement of a single online space for research and development training offers
Improved ability for staff to access appropriate training
Open Scholarship Working Group
The Research Culture Committee has established an Open Scholarship group whose remit is to develop a vision for Open Scholarship across the University that goes beyond compliance with funder requirements. This group will report to RCC and RC and produce its draft vision by the end of 2022-3.
Affirming Interdisciplinary Research
Development of DU’s Vision for Open Scholarship
Production of communications for the OS Working Group
Increased visibility of Open Scholarship across the University
Supporting the provision of Research Infrastructure
Research Infrastructure review underway led by the Dean of Infrastructure, Professor Stefan Przyborski. Investment expected to follow tackling key priorities in the first instance.
Staff feedback on progress made to improve resources/infrastructure
Research Culture focus on Progression and Promotion
Progression and promotion processes reflect behavioural and attitudinal change. We are committed to a focus on process not just outcomes, and to capture effort not just success. Citizenship will have equal value with research and education in the DPPC process in 2022-3.
Space for Mistakes and Learn from Failure
Staff feedback and data from the DPPC process
Get in touch and a member of our team will get back to you.
Research and Innovation ServicesDurham UniversityMountjoy CentreStockton RoadDurhamDH1 3LE
E: research.culture@durham.ac.uk
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