(Episode 100) Celebrating 100 episodes: Research Culture Uncovered Reflecting on 2024 and Looking Ahead

Research Culture Uncovered

In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter? In the milestone 100th episode of the Research Culture Uncovered podcast, host Emma Spary and her co-hosts Ged Hall, Ruth Winden, Nick Sheppard, Taryn Bell, Emily Goodall, and Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths review a particularly eventful year.

The podcast celebrates winning the Vitae Impact Culture and Engagement Award, welcoming new team members, and the retirement of Tony Bromley. Each host shares personal highlights from 2024 and their predictions for 2025.

Each host shares personal highlights from 2024, including expansions in career support, successful fellowship programs, earning UKCGE accreditation and supporting others to apply, attendance at key conferences, and launching the University of Leeds Open Research Hub.

The discussion then shifts to predictions for 2025, with the main topics including:

• helping researchers to deal with the uncertainty around careers and encouraging them to spend time on their career planning
• the changes and challenges in the higher education sector funding landscape and the implementation of narrative CVs
• the implications of a new UK government for research
• a new researcher development framework from Vitae and the need for health, wellbeing and mentoring for researchers
• the role Open Research will play in REF2029
• the impact of AI in research
• the upcoming REF changes with the inclusion of the people, culture and environment statements.

Several links were mentioned in this episode:

• Vitae Impact, Culture and Engagement Award
• University of Leeds Fellowship Accelerator
• UK Council for Graduate Education Supervisor Recognition Scheme
• University of Leeds Open Research Hub
• AESIS Conference
• LIBER Conference
• Research Excellence Framework 2029

All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:

• Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on LinkedIn)
• Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on LinkedIn)
• Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on LinkedIn)
• Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on LinkedIn)
• Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on LinkedIn)
• Research co-production
• Research Leadership
• Research Evaluation

Connect to us or leave us a review on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)

Follow us on Bluesky: @researcherdevleeds.bsky.social (new episodes are announced here), @openresleeds.bsky.social , @researchcultureuol.bsky.social

Leeds Research Culture links:

• Researcher Development and Culture Website
• Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
• University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
• University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
• University of Leeds Open Research Statement
• University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023