The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers
The University is proud to have been awarded the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research badge.
The award was first won by the University in 2010 based on our commitment to implement the principles of the 2008 Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. Since this original award the University has successfully renewed the award recognition following a biennial review process, most recently with a successful review in 2020. In 2021, the university confirmed it's commitment to the Principles of the Concordat by becoming a signatory to the new 2019 Researcher Development Concordat.
Concordat Implementation
As part of our commitment to the implementation of the Concordat the University produces a biennial progress report and renewed implementation action plan. These review documents can be viewed below:
2008 Concordat benchmarking and gap analysis project (December 2010)
In December 2010, the RSG commissioned an institutional and school-level benchmarking/gap analysis against the Concordat principles drawing on data from:
Following completion of the gap analysis, the University produced a Concordat Action Plan 2011-15 and implemented a monitoring process to address areas emerging from the benchmarking gap/analysis.
University of Nottingham's 2008 Concordat Implementation Action Plan 2011-15 and progress report
Actions identified in the 2011-15 implementation action plan were aligned with the University's Strategic Plan 2010-2015 and Research and Knowledge Transfer Strategy.
Original Action Plan for 2011-15
Review and evaluation of the Action Plan
Two year internal self-assessment review of the 2011-15 action plan (September 2013) and the updated action plan with new and ongoing actions.
A review of the implementation of the Concordat action plan 2011-15 was undertaken in Summer 2015. The following report was compiled as part of the 4 year review process and will be considered as part of the external EU HR Excellence in Research peer review process.
University of Nottingham's Implementation Action Plan 2015-20 and progress reports for the implementation of the 2008 Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers
In addition to the review of progress made against the implementation of the Concordat Action Plan 2011-15. A new implementation plan was agreed for 2015-20. Actions identified in the 2015-20 plan are aligned with the University's Global Strategy 2020.
Renew and refresh: 2019 Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers
In 2019, following a sector-wide consultation a new ‘Researcher Development Concordat’ was launched to update and refresh the original 2008 version. The Concordats are agreements between stakeholders involved in supporting research staff and aim to improve employment and support for researchers and research careers in UK higher education.
The 2019 Concordat sets out 3 guiding Principles and outlines the key responsibilities for four main stakeholder groups. The ambitions of the Concordat are and always have been to facilitate a research culture and environment that has greater transparency and stability and support for the researcher community.
The University published it’s ongoing commitment to the Principles of the Concordat, in a letter signed by the Vice Chancellor committing to our implementation of the 2019 Researcher Development Concordat.
A project is now underway to prepare our action plan for the implementation of the 2019 Concordat during 2021, which will be aligned to the University’s Strategy and Visions and Research Strategy.
We will continue to report on the implementation of the Concordat, through a review process commissioned by the institutional Research Staff Group, which will be presented to Senate annually.
Researchers at the University can read more on the Researcher Academy’s Research Staff SharePoint site.