Reimagining Governance for a Flourishing Research Culture asks new questions about how our research governance processes and decision-making enable all to flourish. By governance we mean the structures, rules, norms and actions that are put in place by the University to ensure accountability and to support successful research. This project centres on the effectiveness of processes: on the sense of involvement in decision-making, on the training of our staff to make good decisions, and the attention to language and behaviours that engender a positive research culture.
The project will deploy novel approaches to research governance at department, faculty and institutional levels, to explore and co-design innovative pilot projects aimed at improving research governance in our departments and research institutes, and to share best practice across the sector.
The project's Principal Investigator is Professor Karen O’Brien, Vice Chancellor, who is keenly engaged in the project’s success, and is led by a diverse interdisciplinary team of Co-Investigators including academic, professional and technical staff. This exciting initiative is part of a wider programme of activities to transform research culture at Durham (Flourish@Durham).
Aim: To examine communication, practice and behaviours, and use an action research approach to co-design pilot projects to address challenges identified within structures of research governance.
Participants: Four academic departments and two university research institutes.
Outcome: A deeper understanding of governance across the University, an improved sense of decision making and agency, greater trust in how decisions are taken, and new creative methods to improve decision-making and belonging.
Aim: To see if the process of implementing Shadow Committees for key research committees improvecompetence in inclusive research governance, enable greater autonomy in effective decision-making and enhance connectedness between staff and leadership.
Participants: University Research Committee, Faculty of Science Research Committee, Faculty of Social Sciences and Health Research Committee, Getting on Board and 36 colleagues from across our University community to sit on the Shadow Committees.
Outcome: More diverse participants in governance, professional development of participants to enable better decision making and more inclusive governance practices.
Further details about the activities will be available as the project progresses.
This project is funded by a Wellcome Trust Institutional Funding for Research Culture (IFRC) grant, 228099/Z/23/Z.
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