ÌÇÐÄTV

Project Team

Professor Elena Riva

Elena is Head of Department at the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL), a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a National Teaching Fellow.

She has been the Principal Investigator for a number of Enhancing Research Culture projects, including Building Wellbeing Literacy and Embedding Wellbeing into Research Culture.

Dr Amber Tout

Amber is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at IATL. She is currently working with Professor Elena Riva on an Enhancing Research Culture-funded project to map existing wellbeing initiatives for researchers and research professionals.

Before joining IATL, Amber was based in ÌÇÐÄTV Medical School, where she contributed to multiple research culture and wellbeing projects. These included a project examining the challenges faced by women in academia (WinA project) and the co-development of a preventative sleep management programme for shift workers.

Co-PIs:

Dr Carla Toro, Deputy Pro-Dean (Research) / Associate Professor ÌÇÐÄTV Medical School

Professor Nicole Tang, Department of Psychology

Dr Jagjeet Jutley-Neilson, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

PhD Candidates

Katie Cuneen

Titouan Cloarec

Contact

For further information and/or queries about this project, please email Amber.Tout@warwick.ac.uk.

Project Summary

Researchers and Research Professionals face significant challenges, including high workload pressures, limited wellbeing support, and a sense that their contributions are undervalued.

A participatory desk reviewLink opens in a new window – conducted by PhD students Katie Cunneen and Titouan Cloarec – further reinforced these concerns, identifying structural barriers such as workload, time constraints, fragmented initiatives, limited inclusion of professional services and fixed-term staff, leadership, and organisational culture as key determinants of wellbeing.

By engaging key sector stakeholders (funders, professional bodies, higher education institutions), the overarching goal of this project is to consolidate the currently fragmented data on wellbeing interventions for researchers and research professionals using the Health & Safety Executive's Management Standards Framework.

The HSE framework recognises six aspects of the work environment that influence the mental health and wellbeing of staff:

1. Demands – workload, work patterns and work environment
2. Control – how much autonomy people have in the way that they work
3. Support – encouragement, resources, and support provided by the organisation and colleagues
4. Relationships – promoting positive working relationships and addressing conflict
5. Role – clarity about job responsibilities and alignment of expectations
6. Change – how organisational change is managed and communicated.

Applying the HSE model to researcher and research support staff wellbeing offers a structured way to identify which aspects of the research environment are well-supported and where gaps remain, thus helping to develop a coherent, evidence-based foundation for further targeted interventions.

The project can be divided into 4 distinct phases:

• Phase 1: Literature Review and Refinement– completion of a participatory desk review to explore problems experienced by researchers and research professionals, available support mechanisms, and organisational factors related to staff wellbeing.
• Phase 2: Stakeholder Engagement and Co-design– formation of an Advisory Group (Re-Well HE), comprised of funders, professional associations, and higher education institutions, who will work together to identify existing wellbeing initiatives and frameworks.
• Phase 3: Sector Mapping and Analysis– systematic categorisation of current interventions using the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Framework to identify strengths and gaps across the sector.
• Phase 4: Survey and Synthesis– design and implementation of a national researcher & research support staff wellbeing longitudinal survey informed by the evidence base, to validate and expand understanding of key wellbeing factors and effective interventions.

Re-Well HE Advisory Group

Our project Advisory Group includes representation from a number of professional organisations, funding bodies, and higher education institutions who will work together to guide our efforts to embed researcher and research professional wellbeing into Higher Education (Re-Well HE).

Funding Bodies

• Shomari Lewis-Wilson, Equitable Research Systems Lead, Wellcome Trust
• Dr Nik Ogryzko, Senior Talent Programme Manager, UKRI

Professional Organisations, Networks, and Charities

• Dr Jo Rick, Senior Work Psychologist, Science Division, HSE
• Dr Rachel Spacey, Head of Research & Engagement, University Mental Health Advisors Network (UMHAN)
• Jonathan Stuart, Workplace Partnerships Lead, Mind
• Dr Yolana Pringle, CEO Careers Research & Advisory Centre (CRAC/Vitae)
• Dr Claudia Matz – Professional Research Investment & Strategy Managers Network (PRISM)
• Dr Rika Nair – PRISM, Research Enablers Network, Research Culture Manager, and Research Professional Futures Project Co-lead
• Dr Karen Hinxman, Head of the White Rose University Consortium

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

• Dr Rebecca Upsher, Lecturer in Psychology Education, Kings College London (Russell Group representation)
• Dr Sarah Penny, Researcher Developer, University of York (Co-lead of White Rose University Consortium-sponsored project: Supporting Researchers Returning from Parental Leave)
• Dr Amy Cook, Associate Professor in Psychology, Birmingham City University (Post-92 representation)
• Professor Kate Lister, Directory of EDI, Arden University (Open/Online representation)
• Dr Hugh Fulham-McQuillan, Postdoctoral Researcher (Wellcome Trust x University College Dublin research culture and wellbeing project)
• Ashley Collins, Senior Manager for REC-HURDLE (University of Nottingham x Wellcome Trust-funded National Precarity Working Group project)

ÌÇÐÄTV Advisory Sub-group

• Professor Kirstie Haywood, Deputy PVC Research Culture, National Centre for Research Culture (NCRC)
• Dr Rhiannon Martyn, Head of Doctoral College
• Dr Fiona Fisher, Associate Director, Institute of Advanced Studies
• Denver Thorpe, Staff Wellbeing Co-ordinator
• Dr Amy Godfrey, Ambassadors for Better Research Culture Lead
• Dr Rosie Bellamy, Head of Research Integrity & Quality Assurance
• Project Team:Profs Elena Riva, Nicole Tang, Carla Toro & Jagjeet Jutley-Neilson; Dr Amber Tout; PhD candidates Katie Cunneen and Titouan Cloarec

Building Wellbeing Literacy

The Building Wellbeing Literacy project used participatory approaches to develop targeted online wellbeing literacy resources specifically for PhD students and postdoctoral staff.

Principle Investigator

Professor Elena Riva

Research Fellow

Dr Tania Villanueva-Cabello

Funder

Enhancing Research Culture Fund (2024-2025), University of ÌÇÐÄTV

HealthyMindEd

HealthyMindEd aims to raise awareness of student and teacher wellbeing at national and international level and to equip university staff with the knowledge and skills to design digital teaching-learning environments that promote health and wellbeing.

Principle Investigator

Professor Elena Riva

Research Fellow

Dr Tania Villanueva-Cabello

Funder

Erasmus+

The Women in Academia (WinA) Project – Phase 1

The WinA project
used a mixed-methods approach to explore challenges to the progression and retention of early- to mid-career stage women in academia. Results informed a co-developed report of actionable recommendations for funders and higher education institutions.

Principle Investigator

Dr Talar Moukhtarian

Research Fellow

Dr Amber Tout

Funder

Enhancing Research Culture Fund (2024-2025), University of ÌÇÐÄTV