Imperial partners in a £4.5m national initiative to strengthen research culture and enhance career pathways for research professionals.
Imperial College London is co-leading a £4.5 million programme funded by the Research England Development (RED) Fund to transform how research is delivered and supported across the UK. The RED Fund supports innovative, high-impact projects that strengthen research and knowledge exchange across the higher education sector.
The four-year Research Professional Futures project will strengthen the visibility, recognition and career pathways of the UK's "research professional" workforce. Research professionals are the specialist professional services staff whose expertise underpins high-quality, ethical and impactful research and who support research delivery and culture. Their work includes research development and strategy, knowledge exchange, research project management, public engagement and research culture. Despite their contribution to research excellence, these careers have often lacked visibility, recognition and clear progression.
Research Professional Futures is led by professional services staff and is research-informed. Imperial is working in partnership with Teesside University as the lead provider, alongside Durham University and the University of Warwick. The project will be professionally led, with research professionals leading each work package. A team at the University of Oxford's Department of Education, led by Professor Alis Oancea, will undertake the project's evaluation and analysis, working in partnership with Research Consulting Ltd, a Nottingham-based firm specialising in research and innovation policy. Sector partners include the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA) and the Professional Research Investment and Strategy Managers (PRISM) Network.
Imperial supports the Professional Research Investment and Strategy Managers (PRISM) Network, the UK's cross-institutional network created by and for PRISMs. The network provides a national community of practice, supports career development, and advocates for greater recognition and job security for specialist research project management staff. This work complements Imperial's contribution to the Research Professional Futures programme and helps connect the project to a broad professional community.
"Sustaining world-leading research depends on highly skilled professional staff whose work shapes research quality and impact, and has a key role in enabling a research culture that fosters excellence, but their careers have lacked both visibility and clear progression pathways. Research Professional Futures will help fill this gap, providing an evidence base and practical tools to strengthen these careers and so support the wider research ecosystem," said Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), Imperial College London.
Over the lifetime of the project, the partners will analyse the current landscape of research professional roles, co-create the sector's first unifying framework of skills, behaviours and career pathways, and pilot new institutional and regional initiatives, including work on emerging technologies and shared service models. A strategic blueprint will be produced to embed lasting change across the sector. A national Commission, chaired by Professor Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Leeds, will also provide input and advice to the programme, bringing together perspectives from across the research system to help shape its direction and impact.
More than 750 participants and 75 organisations are expected to take part in interviews, surveys and focus groups. Findings will inform tools and resources that help institutions to develop and sustain skilled, motivated and future-ready research professional communities.
"It is very exciting to have secured national recognition and investment into these critical but often hidden roles. We are looking forward to delivering insights and support for research professionals and employers nationally over the next four years," said Dr Isabella von Holstein, PRISM Network Lead and Senior Research Community Manager, Imperial College London.
The programme begins in January 2026 and runs until December 2029. Its legacy will be sustained through an open-access digital platform hosted by ARMA and a national community of practice.
