Research professionals provide specialist expertise that enables university research to be developed, delivered and translated into impact, yet their contribution is not always fully recognised.
Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Shearer West explains how Research Professional Futures aims to change this – and invites research professional staff to contribute to its UK-wide survey by 18 September 2026.
When we consider university research, our attention can naturally turn to academic researchers as the people who frame questions, make breakthroughs, and share new knowledge with the world. But behind every major research endeavour there is a much broader community of professionals whose expertise makes it possible. They collaborate to develop proposals and build partnerships, secure funding and negotiate contracts, protect integrity and security, and promote knowledge exchange and impact to ensure excellence in research.
Valuing research professionals
These research professionals work across many different roles and settings, with some in dedicated research and innovation services, and many more in faculties, schools and institutes. Some may recognise the term; many may never have encountered it. What they have in common is the skilled and professional contribution they make across the increasingly complex research lifecycle. Research projects cut across disciplinary, institutional and national boundaries and benefit from intricate partnerships and fast-moving technologies. Academic researchers cannot pursue their endeavours without professional expertise and advice: academic, technical and professional colleagues should be allies, working in partnership to develop new knowledge.
Research professionals need to be visible, valued and supported, with meaningful opportunities to progress.
Our sector has not always thought about the research professional workforce as a profession in its own right. Roles have developed in response to needs, job titles and roles vary widely, and career pathways are not always obvious. It is perhaps unsurprising therefore that we currently lack a reliable evidence base showing who our research professionals are, the skills they deliver, and the capabilities that universities will need in the years ahead. Building that evidence base should be important to every Vice-Chancellor and the institutions they lead.
At my own institution, the University of Leeds, we recognise research professionals through our Research Culture Strategy and provide dedicated career development and opportunities for them to shape institutional research practice. These are some of the essential foundations, but we could go further in providing clearer career pathways, strengthening attribution, and ensuring that our approach to recognition and reward properly reflects professional contributions to research.
Research professionals need to be visible, valued and supported, with meaningful opportunities to progress. Their expertise improves the quality, pace and resilience of research across an institution. Research by UK universities is of the highest quality, but at a time of acute system pressures we need to better understand where this specialist expertise sits and how the research ecosystem can be deployed to make better use of the talent we are already fortunate to have.
Listening to research professionals
Research Professional Futures (RPF) has been established to do just that, in a four-year £4.5 million programme to bring institutions and research professionals together to create a practical blueprint for change. RPF is mapping the current landscape of roles to develop a shared vision for the future, including a framework covering core skills, career pathways, recruitment and development. It will also pilot new institutional and regional approaches to supporting research professionals as a distinct and recognised staff community. I am pleased to chair the RPF National Commission which is helping to shape the programme's direction and test its emerging insights, ensuring the work is ambitious and grounded in the experience of the colleagues it is intended to serve.
To build a credible picture of this community, the Commission needs to hear from the people doing this work to better understand their routes into the profession, the skills and networks they rely on, and what will help or hinder their development. That is why we have launched a UK-wide survey of research professionals whose work supports the delivery, management and impact of research. The survey should take no more than 30 minutes to complete and is open until 18 September 2026. It provides a valuable opportunity to influence how universities recognise their research professional communities and ensure that RPF reflects the variety of roles and career experiences.
If this describes your work, even if you have not heard the term research professional, I encourage you to take part and contribute your views at RPF Individual survey.
Universities rightly prize the quality of their research. We should place equal value on all the people whose expertise makes that research possible. I hope that research professionals across the sector will add their voices and help RPF build a future in which their contribution is fully understood and supported.
