More than 100 senior leaders and technical professionals from UK universities and research institutions explored what drives research excellence at an event in Nottingham on 12 June 2025.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) partnered with the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy to share insights and examples of high-performance research and innovation culture, showcasing how to leverage people, structures and ways of working to drive research excellence.
Attendees heard success stories from UCL, University of Bath, University of Exeter, University of Warwick and the Hidden REF, where thinking strategically about people and culture has significantly enhanced research performance.
Projects which have reimagined institutional structures, created stronger internal collaborations across academia and professional services and improved staff retention through enhanced career paths have helped drive research excellence.
Nik Ogryzko, Senior Talent Programme Manager for UKRI said:
“UKRI is committed to supporting everyone who is involved in research. People are the research system, they are mission critical, and a diverse research community is vital to enabling world-class research and innovation that can change the world. Thank you to everyone who attended this event and shared their feedback and thoughts during our roundtable discussions. Case studies and themes discussed on the day will feature in a report.”
Kelly Vere MBE, Director of Technical Skills & Strategy and Programme Lead for the Technician Commitment also commented.
She said: “We’re proud to partner with UKRI on this event to highlight success stories from the technical community that have helped drive research excellence within institutions. Given the current landscape, now is the time to have valuable conversations around research infrastructure, governance, leadership and innovative ways of working.
“At a time when universities must become more agile, efficient and sustainable, the contribution of technical professionals has never been more important. I’m confident that conversations that took place at this event helped spark ideas, new ways of working and will help to influence positive changes in the sector.”
UKRI is planning further events around different people, culture and environment themes to follow.