1 of 20

2 of 20

Abstract

Britain has a rich industrial and scientific heritage, with an established and diverse research culture anchored within a world-leading University sector. Successfully sustaining and building on the reputation of British research means addressing the challenges and criticisms of how research culture has developed in the 21st century. I will review some of these challenges - hypercompetition and excessive workload, employment precarity, perverse metrics, unfortunate publishing practices, lack of transparency, irreproducibility of findings and threats to international collaboration - and suggest ways forward.

3 of 20

Tom Stafford

Professor of Cognitive Science,

& Research Practice Lead

University of Sheffield

Senior Research Fellow

Research on Research Institute

Chair, UKRN

Institutional Leads Group

tomstafford.github.io

4 of 20

Image: Trinity College, Cambridge By Andrew Dunn

CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

The British University Model

- autonomous (“amateur”?)

- collegial competition

- hybrid (research AND teaching)

5 of 20

Challenges for UK research culture

Under-funding

Employment Precarity

Perverse Metrics

Profiteering in publishing

Low standards of rigour

Marketisation

Nationalism

Hypercompetition

Workload

Career progression

Threats to public trust

Diversity and inclusion

6 of 20

…and Responses

1. Responsible Metrics

2. Changes to national research assessment

3. Increases in reproducibiilty practices

4. Open Research

5. Valuing process rather than outputs

6. Metascience

7 of 20

https://rori.figshare.com/articles/report/Harnessing_the_Metric_Tide/21701624?file=38515103

Responsible Metrics

8 of 20

https://www.ukri.org/blog/voices-people-culture-and-environment-are-at-heart-of-research/

Research Assessment:

9 of 20

https://www.ukrn.org

“The UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) is a national peer-led consortium that aims to ensure the UK retains its place as a centre for world-leading research”

a growing global network