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In this month's edition

• Latest news
• Celebrating successes
• REF 2029 news
• Research network news
• Collaborations
• DRI staff spotlight
• Postgraduate researcher news
• Training and development

Latest news

Public lecture series

Starting in September, this series will host an event each month, open to the public, students and staff. It aims to make our research (and the University) more accessible to those who may not usually interact with it, whether that's attending from outside of the University or engaging with research from a different department. It encourages collaborative approaches, real-world contexts and non-traditional formats.

You are warmly invited to attend any and all events that are of interest to you. Some of the events are still being finalised, but several are available to book. Please feel free to share these events both internally and externally. Please get in touch with series coordinator, Dr Hannah Coombs at hannah.coombs@port.ac.uk if you have any questions. 

Research Culture Connect-Fest - June 2025

Advancing an Inclusive Research Culture

On Tuesday 17 June 2025, the University hosted its first Research Culture Connect-Fest, the first of a new series of events designed to celebrate the work taking place across the university associated with building and enhancing our research culture. More than 60 staff from across the university, including research and academic staff, PGR students, and Professional Service staff, came together to hear from and explore a range of projects and initiatives currently being undertaken to ensure our research culture is inclusive and successful.

Read more

Celebrating success

Portsmouth ranks highly in global Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES)

The ���������� has been ranked 5th in overall satisfaction for research degrees according to the latest Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES).

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����������’s economic and societal impact ranked highly in national assessment

The University’s impact on business and communities is among the best in the country, according to Research England’s Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF).

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Staff member to present at Harvard University

Dr Emre Cinar, Associate Professor in the School of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation, has been invited to present his research at a workshop in Boston, organised by the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University. The opportunity is supported by Harvard, enabling international engagement with leading scholars and practitioners.

The paper, titled “The Political Context of Public Sector Innovation: A Critical Interpretative Synthesis on Ukraine,” has recently been accepted for publication in Research Policy — a Financial Times Top 50 journal and one of the world’s leading outlets on innovation policy. The study examines how multilevel power dynamics and critical junctures have shaped public sector innovation trajectories in Ukraine since 1991.

The research is co-authored with Oksana Prodius and Ivan Sokoly (Odesa Polytechnic National University, Ukraine), Professor Sercan Ozcan (����������, United Kingdom), and Ali Asker Guenduez (University of St. Gallen, Switzerland), and is the result of a UK-Ukraine Twinning Research Grant.

Extraordinary Associate Professor appointment

Dr Paul Gilmour has been appointed as Extraordinary Associate Professor in the School of Accounting Sciences at the Potchefstroom Campus of North-West University (NWU) in South Africa.

REF 2029 news

Updates from Professor Jo Corbett. 

REF update

The UK’s four higher education funding bodies have announced a , allowing time to align with government priorities and sector feedback. While the overall timeline remains unchanged, guidance publication and Code of Practice approvals are delayed. During this pause, to explore reforms including linking research culture performance to funding, lighter-touch assessments for smaller institutions, and incentivising collaboration. In parallel, a , requiring universities to disclose how they spend their £2 billion in annual quality-related (QR) funding. This includes allocations for research degrees, capital, and culture initiatives. The pilot aims to increase transparency and demonstrate the strategic value of QR funding, though concerns have been raised about added bureaucracy. Together, these initiatives signal a shift toward greater accountability and streamlined research assessment. 

���������� academics appointed to REF 2029 sub-panels

The four UK higher education funding bodies have announced the appointment of panels for the criteria-setting phase of , which include ���������� academics.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a vital exercise for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The results provide accountability for public investment in research, demonstrate the benefits of this investment and are used to determine how around £2 billion of public funding is allocated.

Each panel member will have a key role in shaping REF 2029 by providing a rigorous, trusted assessment of UK research. They have been selected from a range of disciplines, from medicine, health and life sciences to the social sciences, and physical sciences, engineering and mathematics to the arts and humanities.

Following a rigorous and open recruitment process, a highly qualified and diverse group of experts have been appointed to support the assessment process in each of the 34 areas of research being reviewed – known as Units of Assessment (UoA).

The appointed panel members from the ���������� are:

• Professor Lisa Jack from the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance: Main panel C and Sub-panel 17: Business and Management Studies
• Associate Professor Dr Ben Davies from the School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics, and Literature: Main Panel D and Sub-panel 27: English Language and Literature
• Professor Anastasia Callaghan from the School of the Environment and Life Sciences: Main Panel A, Sub-panel 5: Biological Science
• Professor Laura Nuttall from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation: Main Panel B and Sub-panel 9: Physics

Read the full article here

New Open Access and Institutional Rights Retention Policy

We are pleased to announce the launch of the ����������’s , which came into effect on 1 September 2025. The policy is designed to make it easier for researchers to share their published work widely and to meet funder requirements for Open Access (OA).

Under this policy, ���������� researchers automatically retain the right to make the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) of their journal articles and conference papers openly available. By uploading your AAM to Pure, it can be made OA on the University’s Research Portal with a , and without any embargo.

The policy aligns with the , and ensures REF-eligibility via the ‘green’ route for the , which begins on 1 January 2026. This is an important step in supporting our institutional commitment to open research by increasing the visibility and impact of your work.

Further guidance, including a short informational video, is available on the to help integrate this into your publishing workflow. For any queries, contact openaccess@port.ac.uk.

Research network news

British Academy Early Career Researcher Network launches in the South East

The (ECRN) has launched in the South East, offering new opportunities for early career researchers (ECRs) in the humanities, arts and social sciences at the ����������. The Network is free to join, inclusive, and open to all UK-based ECRs in these fields, regardless of funding source or background.

Since its creation, the ECRN has grown from a Midlands cluster of 500 members to a nationwide community of more than 7,000 across nine regions. An independent evaluation in 2022 described it as meeting “an important need in the arts, humanities and social sciences landscape” and “an undoubted success among ECRs”.

Membership gives access to an online community platform, peer networks, British Academy Fellows, mentoring, leadership programmes and funding to support research and professional development. ECRs at Portsmouth can register now via the British Academy’s ECRN website.

Collaborations

Introduction to Health Determinants Research Collaboration Portsmouth

The Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Portsmouth is a collaboration between the ����������, Portsmouth City Council, and HIVE Portsmouth. It is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and running for the next five years.

The NIHR highlight that “Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) boost research capacity and capability within local government. They aim to embed a culture of always using evidence when making decisions. HDRCs use research findings to understand how decisions impact on health and health inequalities. They also carry out research where evidence isn't already available.”

Our HDRC partnership began on the 1 January 2024 when the partners were awarded 12 months funding to develop the collaboration. We worked together to build relationships, develop governance and operational structures. This development year was a precursor to the five-year funding which was awarded on the 1 January 2025. The core project team includes Matt Gummerson, Gail Mann, Zoe White, and Sam Belfrage from Portsmouth City Council, Innes Richens and Deborah Hodson from HIVE, and Nikki Fairchild who is the ���������� lead. Alan Tait and Simon Kolstoe from Business and Law and the School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics, and Literature are also a key part of the team.

We have been supporting the development of cross-institutional partnerships consisting of academics, council colleagues, and members of the local community. These collaborations have formed organically and have led to a range of funding bids, including funders such as the NIHR, ARC Wessex, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), British Academy, and Wessex Health Partners.

If you have a project that connects with an aspect of health and wellbeing and want to explore whether this could be part of the HDRC, please email Nikki at nikki.fairchild@port.ac.uk and we can find a time to meet and discuss next steps.

Postgraduate researcher news

Recent initiatives and achievements from our postgraduate research community highlight both the creativity and collaboration of our PGRs and supervisors. The Law and Marketing Writers’ Retreat 2025 brought researchers together for a day of focus and inspiration, while the 7Cs of a Police Researcher Family workshop explored the importance of networks and camaraderie in doctoral study. At the same time, the Interdisciplinary PGR Collective seminar series demonstrated how student-led initiatives can create interdisciplinary links for PGRS across the university and achieve a real sense of community and connection.

Training and development

RISDP review

The Research and Innovation Staff Development Programme (RISDP) is a programme of standalone workshops and career stage cohort training programmes designed to support staff who deliver the University’s Research and Innovation Strategy. RISDP is led by the Doctoral College, as part of the Department of Research and Innovation, and complements training and support offered locally to staff.

Whilst there are regular amendments and improvements made to the workshops and programmes delivered under the RISDP umbrella, it is timely to undertake an assessment of the current offer to review what is working well and what might be improved. To contribute to the review, please - it should take no more than 10 mins to complete.

Training courses

• Research Grant Writing Online Course: 2025/26

Register for this self-paced online course and receive 14 days of access to video lectures and learning materials for research grant writing.

• Researcher’s Induction and Information session (IN-PERSON)

Friday 26 September 2025
9.30am-1.30pm

An opportunity for academic and research staff to find out about the support and resources available to them to help to develop and progress their careers at the ����������.

• Ethics Committee Members training (IN-PERSON) - booking link to follow

Tuesday 14 October 2025
9.30am-11.30am

This session will cover the key components of a good ethics review, and consider common issues that arise out of research projects submitted to faculty (and external) research ethics committees.

• Ethics, Integrity and Governance training session (ONLINE) - booking link to follow

Monday 24 November 2025
1.00pm-3.00pm

This session represents the mandatory training for staff who are applying to research ethics committees; considering how ethics review sits within the wider governance, integrity and research culture landscape.