Our ways of working were written and agreed collaboratively by our staff and students.
They underpin our work towards creating an inclusive and positive research culture.
Respect and inclusion
We will treat everyone in our community with respect, regardless of background, role, seniority, contract type, or institution. We work towards creating a culture where people feel able to speak up, ask questions, raise concerns where they arise*, and express uncertainty without judgement.
Collaboration
Our research community spans our institutions and the wider ecosystem, including patients and industry partners. We commit to creating an infrastructure that enables effective collaboration across these parties by connecting people.
Research integrity and open research
We prioritise rigour, transparency, and reproducibility over speed or output volume, expecting adherence to institutional research/data integrity policies. We work to make REACT an environment where we treat the open acknowledgement of null results, as well as errors, as a normal and valued part of good research practice.
Credit and authorship
We will discuss authorship and credit as early as possible, using the CRediT taxonomy as a contributor framework, and documenting our conversations. We will ensure that assigned credit in outputs reflects actual contribution, including the contributions of technicians and other specialist roles, and prevent work from going unrecognised.
Training, mentorship and development
We treat training, mentoring, supervision, and development as core responsibilities. We will support trainees, ECRs and technicians to build their research skills and professional development – committing to a minimum of ten days’ professional development annually, as set out in the Researcher Development Concordat, and upholding the Technician Commitment.
Leadership
Leadership at all levels (centre, group, supervision) within REACT is understood as a responsibility to model positive behaviour in line with our agreed ways of working. We will make decision-making transparent and open to discussion.
Protected time and recognition
We recognise that activities to promote research culture and others’ development can be time-consuming and come at the expense of other research work. Where within our remit, we will provide protected time for these activities.
Equitable access and fair distribution
We will monitor the distribution of opportunities and resources across demographic groups within REACT, and work to address inequalities where these are observed.
Where to go for advice
*The REACT research culture team can be contacted at any time for independent advice. Anything shared is kept confidential, and the team can offer guidance and signposting to institutional support where helpful. If you prefer to raise concerns anonymously, you can do so via an online form available on our Sharepoint, which comes directly to the team. We will review the information and follow up where appropriate.
