Join research committees at the University
Tuesday, 23 July 2019
Dear colleagues,
In autumn 2018, we undertook an appraisal of the current arrangements to deliver the 2020 Research Plan and to determine what is working well and what, if anything, can be adapted further as we look towards and beyond the REF 2021 submission.
Based on interviews with researchers, Research Division Leads, Heads of Schools, Deans and colleagues in Functions, the exercise highlighted strong support for the direction and processes of the 2020 Research Plan. It also indicated that we should look at the research governance structure to examine opportunities to reduce overlap between committee responsibilities, improve communication outside the committee membership, and look at the efficacy of individual committees.
In response to this, we have proposed a number of changes to the research committee structure and ways of working, which have been approved by the University Board for Research and Innovation (UBRI) on behalf of Senate in June. An overview of the changed research governance structure, and a summary of the key changes, can be accessesed here.
One key change is that we have established a number of open positions on a number of the committees from 2019/20, for colleagues in both schools and functions who are interested in contributing to research leadership and governance. These include:
- University Board for Research and Innovation
- Committee for Researcher Development and Postgraduate Studies
- Committee for Open Research and Research Integrity
- Committee for Research Infrastructure
- University Committee for Impact, Partnerships, and Engagement
Details about the committees can be found in this document and Expression of Interest Form.We are looking for members interested in actively participating in the discussions at the termly meetings, but also supporting the committees’ activities between meetings. All members of committees will “own” the development of particular activities or programmes overseen by the committee, and can act as sponsors for papers and proposals put forward to the relevant committee.
We are currently working on a short document outlining the changed ways of working of all university level research committees, which we will share with all members in in due course. We will use Microsoft Teams for all university level research committees, to share committee papers and information, follow up and track actions, and to support communication and committee work in between meetings. Training for Teams will be provided in the autumn term.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested and have questions about the roles. The deadline for submission of expressions of interest is 16 August 2019.
With best wishes,
Dominik and Parveen
Dominik Zaum and Parveen Yaqoob
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation)