The new team-driven model for research leadership is not intended to “reinvent the wheel,” but to “shift the dial” toward a more holistic approach, supporters say. It is said that there is.
Thrive, led by the University of Liverpool, seeks to provide an alternative option for running research projects alongside traditional principal investigator (PI)-led approaches. This is aimed at distributing leadership responsibilities among more stakeholders.
The initiative is run in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Advance HE and aims to create a “more inclusive, positive and respectful research culture”.
Project co-leader Georgina Endfield, professor of environmental history at the University of Liverpool, told Times Higher Education that the PI model “works for many people, but not for everyone.” spoke.
“We prioritize traditional leads that ultimately gain reputation and credibility. All of this flows through the PI, but given a typical large research project, there are many other is involved.
“What we were trying to do was find new ways of working so we could bring in different kinds of leadership voices and think more effectively about our teams.”
Thrive’s different approach, which is also Liverpool’s Vice-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, is to give technical and professional services workers, early and mid-career academics and underrepresented groups a ‘voice’ by co-leading projects. said that it can be done. Research environment and graduate studies.
She added that there is “a huge appetite” given that studies have shown the benefits of team-based research, which can lead to improved outcomes.
Launched in September 2023 with two years of funding through the Research England Development Fund, Thrive will identify the right expertise, establish collective leadership, design inclusive governance and deliver development for all. developed a set of “team convening principles,” including identifying ways to incorporate , and engaging in reflective practice.
“It brings different voices to the forefront,” Professor Endfield said. “It leads to a positive research culture within the team, which is great. There’s a lot of things we’re testing and piloting, so it’s experimental.”
Team principles are designed to avoid one person leading a project in a more informal manner. We believe this is one of the major challenges for teams to actually implement the project.
“Some of the things we’ve learned through COVID-19 is that being team-based brings resilience and that people work best when they bounce ideas off each other.” Professor Endfield said.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel. We’re not changing the world with what we’re trying to do here, we’re changing the dial.”
Projects looking to pilot the new model are invited to respond to a live funding call with AHRC, which is open until the end of January.
Jaydeep Gupte, director of research, strategy and innovation at AHRC, said the project had the potential to “fundamentally reshape how projects are led across the research and innovation sector”. “It can lead the way to more open, inclusive and diverse research.” leadership”.
patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com
