At HSU, we are committed to creating a positive, inclusive and responsible research culture in which research excellence, collaboration, innovation and societal impact can flourish.
As a specialist health sciences university, we recognise that outstanding research takes various forms and creates value in many different ways. Our approach supports high-quality research, meaningful partnership working, knowledge exchange, innovation, public engagement and research that delivers benefits for patients, communities, professions and society.
We are committed to supporting researchers at all career stages. Through training, mentoring, doctoral supervision, leadership development and research support services, we help researchers develop the skills, networks and opportunities needed to thrive in their careers.
We believe that research should be assessed fairly, conducted responsibly and supported within an environment where all researchers can thrive. Our research culture is shaped by a range of institutional commitments, sector frameworks and international initiatives that help ensure our policies, practices and decision-making reflect these values.
Responsible research assessment
HSU is committed to ensuring that research assessment is fair, transparent, inclusive and evidence-informed. We recognise that excellent research cannot be fully captured by a single metric or indicator. Research quality and impact should be considered in context and informed by expert judgement, alongside the responsible use of quantitative information.
Our approach is set out in HSU’s Statement on Responsible Research Assessment, which promotes:
- Evaluation based on the intrinsic quality and contribution of research.
- Recognition of diverse research outputs, activities and impacts.
- Responsible use of research metrics.
- Fair and transparent assessment processes.
- Recognition of interdisciplinary, applied and collaborative research.
This commitment informs a range of institutional processes, including recruitment, promotion, research funding, annual review and research assessment exercises.
HSU is a signatory to both the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).
These international initiatives seek to improve how research, researchers and research organisations are evaluated by moving beyond narrow measures of research performance and recognising the diverse ways in which research contributes to knowledge and society. Through these commitments, HSU supports more responsible, inclusive and context-sensitive approaches to research assessment.
In 2024, we were awarded funding by the European Union as part of the CoARA Boost Cascade Funding programme to accelerate the implementation of the CoARA principles at HSU. We delivered a project to develop and strengthen the criteria, tools and procedures used in our academic framework. Find out more about the project here.
Research integrity
Research integrity is fundamental to high-quality, trustworthy and impactful research. HSU is a signatory to the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, a national framework that sets expectations for maintaining the highest standards of honesty, rigour, transparency, accountability and ethical practice in research. Through our commitment to the Concordat, we seek to foster a research environment in which integrity is embedded throughout the research lifecycle, from study design and data management to publication, dissemination and knowledge exchange.
We support researchers to conduct their work responsibly through clear policies, guidance, training and oversight. Our governance arrangements include ethical review processes, mechanisms for reporting and investigating concerns, and regular monitoring of research integrity activities. HSU publishes an annual statement on research integrity, providing transparency about our activities and progress in this area.
By promoting a culture of integrity, openness and continuous learning, we aim to ensure that research undertaken at HSU is conducted to the highest professional and ethical standards, strengthening confidence in the quality and reliability of our research.
Visit our Research Ethics and Integrity page to read our latest Annual Statement on Research Integrity and further information about our research ethics policies and governance.
Open research
HSU supports open and transparent approaches to research wherever appropriate. We recognise the value of making research outputs, methods and findings accessible, improving transparency, reproducibility and opportunities for collaboration. Through our policies, support and infrastructure, we encourage researchers to engage with open research practices that enhance the quality, visibility and reach of their work.
HSU is a member of the UK Reproducibility Network and our Open Research Working Group is currently developing an open research roadmap to sharpen expectations across the university in accordance with: the Strategy, People & Research Environment element of REF 2029; the UKRI Open Access policy; the Concordat to Support Research Integrity; DORA and CoARA; and the wider research culture agenda.
You can access our research outputs in the HSU Research Repository.
Equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging
A positive research culture depends upon creating an environment in which all researchers can contribute, develop and succeed. HSU is committed to fostering an inclusive research community that values diversity of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and career pathways. We support internal and external efforts to improve equity and inclusion within the research and innovation system and to remove barriers to participation and progression. For example, in 2026 HSU was a founding signatory to the UK Government’s Women in Research Charter.
Public involvement and engagement (PPIE)
HSU believes that research is strengthened through the involvement of people and communities that it seeks to benefit. As a signatory to the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) Manifesto for Public Engagement, we are committed to embedding engagement and involvement within our research and knowledge exchange activities.
We support researchers to work collaboratively with patients, practitioners, communities, partners and the wider public to shape research, enhance relevance and maximise impact. Our patient and public involvement group SPaCE works with our researchers to co-design and deliver our research.
We are committed to ensuring that involvement opportunities are accessible and inclusive, and we recognise and value the contribution of public contributors through reimbursement arrangements aligned with NIHR guidance.
Knowledge exchange
Knowledge exchange is central to HSU’s mission as a specialist health sciences university. Through partnerships with healthcare providers, professional bodies, businesses, charities, policy makers and communities, we support the sharing and application of knowledge that improves health, wellbeing and professional practice.
Our commitment to the UK Knowledge Exchange Concordat helps ensure that knowledge exchange is embedded within our culture, strategy and decision-making, and that we continually reflect on and improve our contribution to society.
Through our knowledge exchange activities, we support the translation of research into societal, professional, clinical and economic benefit. For example, we are a founding partner in the Shared Virtual Technology Transfer Office for Wessex, which aims to drive jobs and business growth across the South. Furthermore, we support approaches that enable the responsible commercialisation of research and the development of new products, services and ventures arising from university expertise. Our Statement of Adoption of Spin-out Best Practices confirms we have voluntarily adopted the best practice principles for university spin-out deal terms set out in the Independent Review of Spin-Outs (2023).
Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029
The HSU REF 2029 Code of Practice sets out the principles and processes that underpin our preparations for the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The Code reflects our commitment to transparency, consistency, accountability, equality and responsible research assessment. It describes how decisions relating to staff eligibility, research independence, unit of assessment allocation and output selection will be undertaken in a fair and inclusive manner. By embedding these principles into our REF processes, we aim to ensure that assessment practices align with our wider commitment to positive research culture.
Evaluating and improving research culture
Creating a positive research culture requires ongoing reflection, evaluation and improvement. HSU regularly seeks feedback from staff and postgraduate researchers to understand their experiences and identify opportunities for development. This includes institution-wide research culture surveys, monitoring through the HSU Research Culture Index, feedback from postgraduate researchers and national benchmarking exercises.
These activities help us to:
- Understand the experiences of our researchers.
- Identify strengths and areas for improvement.
- Inform institutional priorities and action planning.
- Measure progress over time.
- Ensure that research culture initiatives are evidence-led and responsive to community feedback.
We are committed to using the insights gained from these activities to continually strengthen the research environment at HSU and support a culture in which researchers at all career stages can thrive.
Our commitment
These commitments collectively demonstrate HSU’s ambition to create a research environment that is:
- Fair and responsible in the assessment of research.
- Inclusive and supportive of researchers at all career stages.
- Open to collaboration and partnership.
- Committed to engagement with patients, communities and society.
- Focused on generating meaningful impact through knowledge exchange and innovation.
- Aligned with national and international efforts to strengthen research culture.
By embedding these principles across our research and knowledge exchange activities, we aim to create an environment in which researchers can thrive, excellent research can flourish, and meaningful benefits can be delivered for the professions, communities and populations we serve.
