Research Review

MGSE Research Review

The Research Review project was commissioned in September 2018 by the MGSE Executive to review current research activities and inform improvements to drive growth in research quality, output, income and impact. The review focused on the resources and processes which support academics across the school in their research activity, and the Graduate School as a whole to achieve its strategic goals.

The Review highlighted five broad areas of concern:

  1. MERI resourcing and structures were not well understood or well aligned to meet the needs of MGSE to drive and support timely delivery of research.
  2. The production of high-quality ethics applications.
  3. Confusion around performance expectations, processes and structures to manage and supervise Graduate Research (GR) students.
  4. Staff resourcing was under pressure which limited the capability to meet strategic research objectives, including research income and high-quality research outputs.
  5. There was a lack of access to research data.

A number of key recommendations have already been initiated and these include:

  • The introduction of collaborative research workshops and collaborative writing grants in 2019
  • The production of the MERI services guide
  • The Research Data Dashboard was launched at the end of 2018 (currently migrating from Power BI to Micro Strategy)
  • The introduction of Publication Workshops and Research Development Awards (RDA) in 2019
  • The creation of GR supervision and chair expectations guidelines
  • A review of at-risk GR students.

There are still areas, which were highlighted in the review, that will require further attention. These include:

  • Defining and implementing new processes that improve collaborative approaches between MERI, research centres and RIC
  • A review of workforce and workload balance for optimal performance (in partnership with UoM HR)
  • Defining and communicating expectations around publications, grants and contracts
  • Providing training and processes for ethics applications for academics and students
  • Working with the External Relations and the MGSE Communications team to facilitate an external communications strategy for promoting MGSE’s research
  • The installation of a GR panel and review and revise GR screening, application and admission processes.

The Research Review is available for staff to read.