Our Research Culture Vision and Strategy

The people that conduct and support our research activity, and the environment that they work in, are critical to our success. In recent years there has been growing recognition that “there is nothing more important than how we attract, retain and develop ... people” (UK Government R&D People and Culture Strategy). 

The University of Bristol’s vision and strategy for research, enterprise and innovation can only be successfully delivered if it can support the people involved in the research process, and create an enabling and supportive environment. The University of Bristol’s commitment to fostering a positive research culture is reflected in the creation of the position of Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research Culture, and the establishment of a Research Culture Committee, a formal sub-committee of University Research Committee. 

Here we set out our aspirational, medium-term vision for research culture at the University of Bristol – the end state we hope to reach by 2030. We also describe our work to date, much of it supported by our Research England Enhancing Research Culture allocation. 

To move us towards realising our vision, Research Culture Committee have published an annual implementation plan that will include specific areas of focus for that year, and how success will be measured against pre-defined criteria. This annual plan will be overseen by Research Culture Committee, which will review progress against these objectives at the end of the year, and approve the plan for the next year. This will allow us to constantly refine our approach, and update our objective and indicators of success, as we as an institution progress and the sector evolves.