Iain Cameron on shaping the research culture

Let’s imagine the perfect researcher in five years’ time.

Naturally we would hope that he or she (hopefully more shes) will be undertaking research of international significance. We can have a certain amount of confidence here, since analyses show UK research to be globally competitive. But we would also like our researchers to have fulfilling careers that enable them to plan their professional and personal lives. And we would like them to have the skills to derive the maximum impact from their knowledge, skills and experience.

The Research Councils have a particular responsibility to see that this vision is realised, since we provide the funding for around 30,000 researchers in the UK. Indeed, all eight Councils have been undertaking activities to see that they are as well-equipped as possible to do their research or undertake their studies. Recently, Research Councils UK (RCUK), the partnership of the eight Councils, published a research careers strategy which for the first time brings these activities together within a common framework.

New fellowship scheme

An activity that symbolises our approach is the RCUK Academic Fellowship Scheme. Conceived by Sir Gareth Roberts in his 2002 report SET for Success,(1) the Scheme will create up to 1000 fellows, part-funded by higher education institutions. The participating institutions have an obligation to employ the fellow as an academic at the end of the five-year fellowship, thus providing a route into permanent employment for researchers.

So far, so good, but leaving it at that would be a missed opportunity. RCUK fellowships are highly sought after by the best of our early career researchers. In short, the winners are future research leaders and prime targets if we are to try to shape the research culture. We also have a responsibility to ensure that our fellows are prepared for an academic career.

Impact through outreach

So what impact would we like our researchers to have? UK scientists have been accused of two main failings in recent years.

First, they have failed to engage the public in their work. While surveys suggest high public support for science and scientists, lack of trust in the governance of science is said to have contributed to public anxiety over MMR and BSE, and concerns over the take-up of science at A-level and university suggest that there might be value in bringing researchers into schools.

Second, it has been suggested that they have failed to exploit their research, not just in the economic sense but in promoting its value in shaping public policy and services.

Our scientist of the future is therefore one with the skills and confidence to share their knowledge and ideas with a range of audiences. Currently, the terms of the grant require fellows to spend up to 15 per cent of their time on outreach activities. We do not specify what those activities should be, since the research, the individual, their department and even the location of the institution will have a bearing on the most effective form of outreach.

Some might take an opportunity to work with local schoolchildren; others may work with local or central government, or explore the relevance of their research to business.

Supporting public engagement

We recognise that outreach has to be effective and that fellows require support and guidance for these activities. They should not be undertaken solely to fulfil contractual requirements.

In January this year, we held our first national conference for RCUK Academic Fellows in Birmingham. The aim was to share experiences and best practice in many areas, but with a particular focus on outreach. We learnt that much of the outreach activity undertaken so far has been in schools. The success of the event was such that we will probably repeat it next year, and this might be an opportunity to encourage a broader range of outreach activities.

There are in the region of 150,000 academics working in UK higher education institutions. On the face of it, the fellows funded through the first phase of the scheme will not drive significant cultural change, and indeed this is just one of a number of Research Council initiatives with this goal. The Beacons of Public Engagement – funded jointly with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Wellcome Trust – and the RCUK Business Plan Competition are two notable examples.

Nevertheless, culture change is effected through people and not schemes, and our vision is that the RCUK Academic Fellows become exemplars in their departments, inspiring others by words and deeds.

Reference

1. SET for Success final report

The Research Careers and Diversity Strategy can be found here.

Iain Cameron is Head of the RCUK Research Careers and Diversity Strategy