Enabling collaboration
We champion interdisciplinary and collaborative research, and opportunities to share and learn from and with others to strengthen our research culture.
Engaging with the wider research sector
Cross-institutional networks, such as the Early Career Development Network, enable our early career researchers our postdoctoral communities to shape and direct their own development.
We engage with the wider sector on research culture and environment through existing networks, such as the Research Culture Enablers Network, the Midlands Research Culture Network and the Wellcome-funded Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health (EDIS).
We also work closely with Russell Group peers and UKRI’s research and innovation culture team to develop shared expectations of inclusive research and grant cultures.
Our partnerships with other higher education institutions and a varied range of organisations create new opportunities to advance understanding and solve some of the biggest challenges we face.
Collective action for inclusive demand management
Overview
Demand management refers to the approaches used by funders and Research Organisations to manage the quantity of applications that are submitted to a funding opportunity. When funders set limits on the number of proposals an organisation can submit, Research Organisations may implement internal selection processes to decide which applications can proceed for external assessment.
In other cases, funding bodies may encourage institutions to monitor the quality of applications and prioritise applications for certain calls or schemes, to help manage the overall demand for funding and maximise success rates.
Research Organisations may also choose to manage applications to calls which are larger-scale and strategic, very competitive, and/or where a significant financial contribution from the host organisation is required.
EDI in Demand Management - A Call to Action
The University of Oxford’s 2023 report on Equity and Inclusivity in Research Funding identified demand management as one of a number of areas of the research funding process that are at risk of bias and unaddressed inequalities.
A Funding Forum was then set up to implement the sector-wide recommendations made by the report. The initial meeting of the Forum in 2024 brought together 30+ Universities and 11 funders to develop a shared action plan for a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive funding ecosystem, focussing on areas where joint action was necessary.
As a result of this action plan, the EDI in Demand Management working group was set up by members of the Forum in mid-2024. The group is co-lead by the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham, and York and includes representatives from a range of different Research Organisations and funders. The working group has produced a set of sector guidelines and resources to help organisations address inequalities in funding selection processes.
A pioneering approach to research strategy, engagement and impact
How we engage with our partnersOur internal teams reflect our commitment to collaboration, with the University’s Research Strategy and Services Division bringing together several teams to facilitate high quality strategic research development and services across the entire research life cycle. In a Russell Group first, our business engagement and research impact functions sit within one team.
Explore the ways we are enabling collaboration
Our case studiesThrough Research England's Quality-related Research (QR) funding, we are enabling collaboration within and across the University, and with external partners. Check out our case studies for a snapshot of researchers and research-related staff's work.