Research at the University of Nottingham

Lorraine WatsonHead of Research Operations

Research and Graduate ServicesJanuary 2015

Providing effective and interconnected global research and graduate services

Vision

“Our vision is to deliver research excellence across academic disciplines, at all of the University’s campuses. This will be achieved by prioritising behaviours and investments to generate research leaders and teams; investing in sustainable and emerging research priorities; providing a supportive physical, financial and policy infrastructure in which excellent research will flourish”.

• The Strategy sets out clear aims and objectives, updated and revised KPIs and a series

of delivery mechanisms.

• The Research Strategy interfaces with the University’s Knowledge Exchange and

International Strategies, and underpins Strategy 2020.

Research Strategy 2015-20

Strategic Drivers

Focus on quality

• Awards, publications ,increased esteem, prizes, studentships, REF

• Research leadership - excellent individuals and teams

• Formative peer-review and mentoring

• Outstanding research outcomes and impact

• Collaborations with world-leading institutions

• Challenge-driven research (RCUK, EU)

• Understanding the policy landscape: open access, research data, research integrity

The Research Strategy has six mutually reinforcing goals which apply across all of the University’s campuses: 1. Excellent individuals and teams2. Delivering outstanding research3. Adopting a systems approach to research

management4. Research collaborations with world-leading

institutions5. The quality, size and diversity of the

University’s research portfolio6. The impact of outstanding research

Goals

Global Research Themes & exemplar

Research Priorities

MechanismsInitiative Objective/Outcome

Anne McLaren, Nottingham Research and International Research Fellowships.

Three years funding for attracting excellent researchers to the University, including fostering mobility between the University’s campuses

External Fellowships (Research Councils, ERC, Marie Curie, Royal Society etc.)

Increase numbers of externally funded Fellowships through targeted support: ERC Excellence Programme

Developing Research Leaders

Develop leaders who can inspire others and integrate the efforts of their peers to deliver greater impact.

Discipline Bridging Awards Enabling dialogue between different fields of research to identify and tackle key research questions at the interface.

International Research Collaboration Fund

Pump-prime international collaboration to catalyse international research excellence and impact.

The Graduate School provides:

• Input into the University’s strategic decisions on postgraduate student and research staff matters

• A comprehensive range of development opportunities to help postgraduate students and early career researchers foster and improve the skills required in their research and future careers

– Courses, workshops and events– Faculty programmes and other bespoke activities – Online training and development opportunities – Placements and internship opportunities

• Management of funding awards that support research students• Support for those involved in supervising and managing researchers• Infrastructure (Graduate Centres) that supports specific postgraduate

and research staff communities• Individual support for postgraduate students

95

50

28

21

1716 4

UK Research Councils 41%

HEFCE QR 22%

UK Govt. 12%

Industry & Commerce 9%

EU Govt. 7%

Charities 7%

Other 2%

External Research Funding

2013/14 Research Awards (£231M)

33%

23%

23%

4%1%

1%15%

2013/14 Research Awards - £180million

Medicine & Health Sciences 59

Engineering 42

Science 41

Social Sciences 7

Arts 2

Other 1

Research Rel (inc CDTs & DTPs) 28

External Research Funding

Heading Indicators

Research Excellence Framework (REF)

Ranked 8th nationally by ‘research power’ – quality and critical massGenerates c.£50m per annum

QS World Rankings Ranked 77th, top 1%

Research awards £180m per annum

Research portfolio £544m, 2000+ projects

Academic & Research staff c.3000

Postgraduate 3622 PGR + 5944 PGT = c.9566

International research Collaboration (publication co-authorship) with 2300+ institutions worldwide

Key Indicators

REF2014 headlines

• Ranked 8th nationally by research power

• 30% increase in research power from 2008

• Increase in GPA from 2.67 to 3.09

• 20 units have GPA above 3.00

• 50% of units ranked in the top 10 in UK by research power

• 28 units have 75% or more outstanding (4* & 3*) impact

• Nottingham has increased market share

REF2014 market share

Major research platforms – actively managed– Europe – Americas (e.g. Brazil, USA)– Asia & the Pacific (e.g. China, S Korea,

Australia)– Africa & the Middle-East

Watching brief – opportunity driven– e.g. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore,

Indonesia

Link with International Office prioritiesStrategic Partnerships

‐Birmingham, Lund, Universitas21 member

International Research

The University’s International Research Collaboration Fund aims to catalyse international research excellence by

pump-priming the development of new, collaborative projects with international partners.

The £375M Newton Fund supports science

and innovation partnerships with

researchers in middle-income countries

and emerging economies. Range of calls

from Summer 2014.

Research and Graduate Services : supports the development and delivery of the University’s Research Strategy. Our expertise spans all research and doctoral activities including: research policy and funding development, contracts and governance, research operations, outcomes and impact, and the Graduate School.

Director Dr Richard Masterman

Research Policy & Development Vacant (covered by Lorraine Watson/Steven Hardy)

Research Operations Lorraine Watson

Research Contracts and Governance Paul Cartledge

Research Outcomes Steven Hardy

Graduate School Dr Jane Wellens

Research and Graduate Services

Research and Graduate Services:

www.nottingham.ac.uk/fabs/rgs

Support for research staff (Graduate School):

www.nottingham.ac.uk/researchstaff

University research:

www.nottingham.ac.uk/research

E-mail: lorraine.watson@nottingham.ac.uk

Information