Research Cultures | Research | The University of Aberdeen

Research Cultures

We envision our research culture as a community that brings together the diverse, vibrant cultures already thriving within our Schools, disciplines, and partnerships. Rooted in respect for these existing practices, our Community of Research Cultures centres around a collaborative approach that promotes effective ways of working to enhance collegiality, professional growth, and ethical standards. By embracing shared standards of excellence, fostering collective problem-solving, recognising diverse contributions, and using evidence to guide culture change, we create a cohesive yet flexible research environment that is distinctly Aberdeen. Together, we advance a research culture that is inclusive, adaptable, and prepared to meet the future needs of our University and the broader society.

Research Cultures Strategy

We are proud to launch our Research Cultures Strategy, reaffirming our commitment to a collaborative, inclusive, and forward-thinking research environment. Click to read the strategy.

As part of our Research Cultures Strategy, we are proud to introduce PORTAL—a new internal tool designed to enhance research training, leadership, and career development.

While PORTAL is an internal resource for our staff and research students, if you’d like to learn more about our approach please get in touch with us researchculture@abdn.ac.uk

Ways of working

Working with shared standards of excellence

Guided by integrity, transparency, and openness, our shared standards ensure ethical, accessible research, fostering mutual trust, respect, and accountability across all levels.

Collective problem solving and sharing good practice

Focused on sharing best practices across Schools, our approach fosters collaboration to address common challenges and boundaries to strengthen our research culture.

Recognising contributions and supporting career development

Acknowledging diverse contributions, our approach fosters career growth and inclusive leadership through development, reward, and recognition.

Developing evidence-informed approaches to culture change

Guided by evaluation strategies to assess engagement and impact, our approach enables continuous improvement through data-driven insights.

Key People

Research culture is a shared effort across the entire institution, with contributions from researchers, technicians, postgraduate researchers and professional and support staff.

Key individuals are helping to drive this work forward — from leading initiatives to fostering dialogue and supporting meaningful change.

Janine Chalmers

Head of Organisational Development

Susan Halfpenny

Head of Research & Learning Information

Claire Hawes

Research Cultures & Development Manager

Lucy Leiper

Head or Research Cultures and Development, PGR College Manager

Lesley MacRae

Open Research Champion (UKRN)

Nykohla Strong

REF Manager

Ben Tatler

Dean for Research Culture

Rhiannon Thompson

Research Cultures & Environment Manager