Research Culture

Research culture describes the environment in which research happens, and includes the norms in behaviours, expectations, attitudes, and values of our research communities. In line with the wider ambitions of the University, the School is working to deliver a thriving research culture so we can attract and retain the best researchers and empower them to do their best work.

Research Culture Champions Network

The Research Culture Champions Network is a cross-School collective of proactive individuals who are working across all Departments and Institutes to promote a positive research culture. The Network meet monthly to discuss relevant research culture issues, share best practice and identify priority areas for future intervention.

Roving Researcher Scheme

The Roving Researcher Pilot Scheme in the School of Biological Sciences aims to mitigate the impact of medium- or long-term leave on our researchers and their scientific programmes. This innovative scheme provides experiment support (or other types of support, for example, to help Principal Investigators on leave with lab management) to scientists on leave, enabling research momentum to continue in the lab.

Find out more about the Roving Researcher Scheme.

Commitment to DORA

The University of Cambridge, as a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), is committed to transparency, fairness, integrity and diversity in all matters of staff evaluation, and with staff feedback taken into account. In response to this, the School of Biological Sciences, with the School of Clinical Medicine, have proposed a series of recommendations with assessment guidance for recruitment, probation and promotion procedures in each School.

Find out more about the Guidance on the Implementation of DORA Recommendations for Research Assessment.

Support for Research Fellows

The School of Biological Sciences aims to attract a diverse community of the very best Research Fellows, supporting them with mentoring, researcher development training and a defined career progression pathway to enable them to flourish and achieve their full potential.

As an institution, we are committing to providing eligible Fellows with a tailored package of support aiming to maximise their professional development and competitiveness for their chosen career, including relevant established University Teaching Officer (UTO) vacancies in the School of Biological Sciences.

Find out more about the Research Fellowships scheme.

Research Themes

The Research Themes in the School of Biological Sciences are designed to facilitate interactions across traditional departmental boundaries and all activities are founded in the principles of openness, inclusion and mutual respect.

The Themes provide new opportunities for leadership across the School, bringing people together from a variety of perspectives and career stages, with applications actively encouraged from groups traditionally under-represented in such roles.

Theme leadership teams are supported by the School's research strategy facilitation team, and active engagement in these strategically important leadership roles is recognised in the University's new Academic Career Pathways promotion scheme.

Find out more about the Research Themes.