Research Culture Uncovered

In this episode of Research Culture Uncovered, host Emma Spary speaks with Professor Tracey Reynolds, Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Greenwich and Director of the Institute for Inclusive Communities and Environments, about designing and delivering a week-long Research Culture Week. Tracey explains how the init...

Host Dr Emily Ennis is joined by colleagues from the University of Leeds Researcher Development and Research Culture team, Dr Taryn Bell , Dr Shareefa Fadhel , and Malaika Khalid , for a post-conference reflection on the International Research Culture Conference (IRCC) . Following presentations, workshops, networking, and conversations at Warwick, the team share what stood out, what surprised them...

In this episode, Nick talks to Monica Westin, Director of Open Policy Development at Cambridge University Press, about her wide-ranging work across the open knowledge movement - including roles with DORA , NISO , COUNTER Metrics , and Wikimedia UK . We discuss some of the challenges facing research communication, and explore knowledge equity, responsible research assessment, and the future of open...

In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Catherine Noakes to explore the Civic Exchange — an initiative at the University of Leeds that's rethinking how universities and communities work together. We cover: 🔸 What the Civic Exchange is (and isn't) — it's not about doing new things, but about connecting what's already happening across research, education, and engagement 🔸 Moving from "doing thi...

Who deserves to be named as an author? It sounds like a straightforward question, yet authorship remains one of the most contested issues in research. Decisions about who receives credit are often influenced by disciplinary norms, power dynamics, unwritten rules and of course, research culture. In this episode, Dr Emily Goodall explores four authorship dilemmas drawn from workshops with researcher...

Is the job market really as bad as the headlines say? How can researchers better understand and communicate their skillsets? And how can they manage the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with the current employment climate? In this episode, host Taryn Bell talks with co-host Ruth Winden, as well as King’s College London's Laura Johnson and Anna Favalessa, hosts of the Careers in Your Ears podcast...

Episode overview Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of the research landscape—from finding and making sense of literature to supporting academic writing and feedback. But how can researchers use AI productively without losing ownership of their ideas or compromising the critical thinking at the heart of research? In this episode, Heledd speaks with Dr Marc-Oliver Gewaltig, co-founder...

Episode overview Exploring a career beyond academia can bring excitement and possibility, but also uncertainty, questions about identity and a sense that moving on means leaving something behind. In this episode, Heledd speaks with Dr Holly Prescott about the practical and emotional realities of career transition. They explore why researchers may struggle to recognise their skills, why leaving aca...

In an environment of low success rates, rising research costs, and shrinking opportunities, the research funding system appears to be at a crisis point. This isn't just a funding crisis but a culture crisis, intensifying workloads, stress, and precarity, especially for early career researchers seeking funding to stay employed. A complete overhaul of the funding system is needed - but seems unlikel...

🎙️In our latest episode, host Dr Ged Hall interviewed another of his #ResearchImpactHeroes Dr David Phipps, Assistant Vice President of Research Strategy and Impact at York University in Toronto and co-founder of Research Impact Canada! Discover how a 40-year journey from HIV research to knowledge mobilisation helped build one of the world's most influential impact networks. 🔹 Hear David's windin...

The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is delighted to share a special episode featuring Dr. Jim Baxter, Academic Development Consultant at the University of Leeds, recorded ahead of his retirement after 36 remarkable years studying and employed at the institution. Join host Ged Hall as he sits down with his long-time colleague and former manager to reflect on Jim's extraordinary career spanni...

In this episode Nick speaks with Dr Eike Rinke , Lecturer in Politics and Media, Co-Director of the Social Research Methods Centre , and Local Network Lead for the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) . Eike discusses his academic journey, and reflects on how his experiences as a social scientist led him to become involved in the open research movement. The conversation explores why transparency, rig...

🎙️ Technicians at the heart of research culture: insights from Tech Exchange at Leeds In this special episode of Research Culture Uncovered , Dr Emily Ennis hands over the mic to Lily Caprioli , a student ambassador at the University of Leeds, who interviews colleagues across the annual Tech Exchange Fair — a showcase of the people and skills powering research behind the scenes. What you’ll hear:...

🎙️ The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is excited to share our latest episode featuring Dr. Rob ter Horst — postdoctoral researcher and the creator behind the popular YouTube channel The Quantified Scientist! Join host Ged Hall as he chats with Rob about his fascinating dual life as a researcher and YouTuber, exploring what it means to treat yourself as an experimental subject, running a Yo...

In this thought‑provoking episode, host Dr Emily Goodall speaks with Dr Jack Wilkinson , Senior Lecturer in Clinical Trial Statistics at the University of Manchester. Together, they explore the growing challenge of problematic and fraudulent research polluting the published literature, what it means for trust in evidence, and how the research community can respond. From “paper mills” to AI‑generat...

The #ResearchCultureUncovered podcast team is excited to share our latest episode featuring a fascinating conversation with Professor Adel Ahmed. Adel worked in the UK higher education for over 20 years before moving to the United Arab Emirates in 2015. Join host, Ged Hall, as he reconnects with his former colleague to explore research culture in the UAE and the wider Middle East and North Africa...

What does it mean to do research on research — and what role do professional staff play in it? In this episode, Alix Brodie-Wray is joined by Dr. Chris Daley (LSE) and Dr. Amy Milligan (Saïd Business School, University of Oxford) to explore the world of meta-research and why research managers, administrators, and enablers have a vital part to play. We cover: 🔬 What meta-research actually is (and...

In this episode Nick talks to Dr Louise Saul, Network+ coordinator for CaSDaR (Careers and Skills for Data Driven Research) , a UKRI-funded initiative aiming to professionalise and build community around data stewardship in the UK. They discuss shared work through the Open Research Competencies Coalition (ORCC) and Louise’s previous UKRN role as an ORCA (Open Research Coordinator and Administrator...

Episode title: How to Turn Your PhD Into a Book Podcast: Research Culture Uncovered Host: Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths (Researcher Development Advisor, University of Leeds) Episode overview Turning a PhD into a book is rarely a straightforward process. It’s not simply about rewriting or revising a thesis — it involves rethinking purpose, audience, and identity as a researcher. In this episode, Heledd s...

If you asked an academic to describe the culture in which they work, 'gentle' is not a word that most would use. But what if academia could be gentler? What would this look like, and how can we get there? In today's episode, host Taryn Bell is joined by Christine Grove, co-editor of the recent volume 'The Gentle Academic'. They discuss what gentle academia is, what it's not, and how both individua...

In this week’s episode, host Emily Goodall speaks with Karen Glerum‑Brooks and Lucy Cheseldine about the Valuing Voices project — a Wellcome-funded initiative co‑created by the University of York and Mahidol University in Thailand that’s helping researchers rethink what equitable, collaborative and responsible research can look like in practice. Episode highlights: A practical toolkit for culture...

🎙️ In our latest episode of Research Culture Uncovered, host Heledd Jarosz-Griffiths explores a deceptively simple question: what actually shapes a researcher? Drawing on reflections from a Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) series, this episode brings together voices from across global research development sessions — exploring research vision, impact, careers, culture, and identity. 🔹 Why rese...

“What if all we have is the now? […] the now is generative and worthwhile.” — Dr Élaina Gauthier‑Mamaril Host  Dr Emily Ennis  sits down with  Dr Élaina Gauthier‑Mamaril  – a disabled philosopher of disability and Research&nb...

In today's final episode of Research Culture Uncovered, hosts Taryn Bell and Emily Ennis discuss how they solved research culture. With no more issues left to fix, and everything running smoothly, they take one last opportunity to sit back, rest, and reflect on how everything went so right... Just kidding. Happy April Fools! In this episode, Taryn and Emily look back at what’s been achieved over t...

In this episode of #ResearchCultureUncovered , host Dr Emily Ennis talks with Dr Amy Mayfield (Lancaster University) and Dr Nicola Simcock (Newcastle University) about how maturity frameworks are helping departments move from good intentions to practical change. What you’ll hear: Why a “maturity framework” (name still up for debate!) helps complex organisations reflect honestly on where they are n...