Research Innovation

A row of books on a shelf in Stopford Library.

Developing Humanitarian Medicine

The Library was delighted to partner with the University’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) on a major Wellcome-funded project on Humanitarian Medicine, led by Professor Bertrand Taithe. This four-year project, Developing Humanitarian Medicine: from Alma Ata to Bio-Tech, a history of norms, knowledge production and care (1978-2020), includes the appointment of our first Humanitarian Archivist, Flora Chatt. Flora will continue the development of the Humanitarian Archive that was launched in October 2021.

Woman walking with container for water in wartorn region

Office for Open Research

Now in its second year, the Office for Open Research has launched several new initiatives to support a more open and responsible research environment.

Purple background
MECD foyer during an event
MECDE foyer during an event
Woman in a laboratory using equipment
Woman in a laboratory using equipment
Researcher looking at a poster at an event in MECD

Open Research Accelerator Fund

The Open Research Accelerator Fund supports the development of open research practice by supporting grassroots projects across The University of Manchester.

This year there was a record number of applications across all three Faculties, highlighting the diversity of the open research movement at the University. Through the fund, over £130,000 has been awarded to open research projects as part of Research England’s Advancing Research Culture allocation.

From a very strong field of over 30 applicants, those successful displayed a commitment to the University’s open research principles and demonstrated how they will contribute to sustainable culture change. Funded projects included the following:

  • Continuing support for CrimRxiv, the global hub for open access publications in Criminology hosted by The University of Manchester.
  • Developing strategies to archive data from the International Ocean Discovery Programme.
  • Creating discipline specific guides to adopting open research practice in Political Science.

Open Research Fellowships

The Office for Open Research has appointed seven dedicated Open Research Fellows, supporting their individual projects with salary coverage for one day a week over 12 months, as well as additional funding for project-related expenses. These projects cover a variety of open research topics, including:

  • Plain English abstracts
  • Research data management
  • Promotion of alternative research outputs
  • Open research software
  • Patient involvement in research
  • Metadata standardisation

These projects have broad impact and will contribute to reproducibility and transparency in research.

Our Fellows form a network of academic and research professionals across disciplines advocating for open research in their respective departments, fostering a vibrant community of practice.

They have access to resources and support from the Office for Open Research and connect with open research communities across The University of Manchester.

Progress on Open Research Strategic Plan goals

In our Open Research Indicator Framework Project, we launched the Open Research Tracker and initiated a pilot with DataSeer. This collaboration helps us gain insights into data, code, and preprint sharing, as indicated in journal articles. We will release regular University-wide reports in 2024.

Our Open Research Skills Training Project has kicked off the Open Research Fellowship Programme to enhance skills development. We’ve also established institutional partnerships with Open Science Framework and Protocols.io through our Trusted Open Research Systems Project, strengthening our open research infrastructure.

In addition, our Data Stewardship Project is expanding, with a growing network of data stewards enhancing data management and sharing across the University. For a detailed overview of our ongoing projects and achievements, visit Open Research projects. Through all these efforts we continue to drive momentum in advancing open research at the University.

UKRI Open Access (OA) monographs policy

We established a project to prepare for the implementation of the UKRI OA Monographs Policy in January 2024.

The project has sought to gain a better understanding of the University’s long-form publication activity and the potential implications of the policy in terms of budgets, workflows and advocacy.

The project has also produced an assessment framework to help make decisions about investment in OA monograph schemes, and an acquisitions strategy that outlines the Library’s priorities in this space.

Metrics consultancy

The Library’s Research Metrics service provided bibliometric analysis and guidance to support Schools and Faculties across the University in demonstrating research impact, including for the University’s Annual Performance Review exercise. The Team led the procurement for additional modules within the SciVal research intelligence tool to expand the University’s understanding of its policy impact, trends in authorship collaboration, and contributions to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Bespoke consultancy support was provided to the National Graphene Institute (to support their Queens Prize submission) and Manchester Institute of Innovation Research to highlight the impact of their research on national and international government policy.

Metrics Power BI report

The creation of bespoke Power BI analyses for several strategic initiatives, including Artificial Intelligence and Health Equity, demonstrated the value of metrics which quickly connect University researchers with tailored, curated datasets.

The success of these bespoke analyses has driven the Library Metrics Team’s focus towards providing alternative solutions for the University’s research intelligence in 2023. Powered by the rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence, work is underway to explore a new solution for research intelligence at Manchester – The Data Triptych – set to launch in 2024.  

Data stewardship

The project to introduce the practice of formal Data Stewardship at the University is ongoing. Building on a successful workshop in April 2023, this continues to target support for the nascent network of disciplinary data stewards, helps to formalise role definitions, and provides advice to researchers who wish to add data steward resources to their projects and groups.

Data stewards will play a vital role in the University’s response to the 2023 cyber incident and our agile project will expand its scope to reflect this.