May 15, 2025, by Rob Ounsworth
Good news on research performance
Research update by Professor Sarah Metcalfe
I am delighted to share encouraging news about the university’s research performance.
Our research income has grown by 23% between 2019 and 2023, putting us in the top ten of the Russell Group. We are top six for industry-linked income.
In a blog supporting his RKE performance report to University Executive Board, Director of Research & Innovation Strategy, Niall O’Loughlin also revealed:
“The last two academic years have been record-breaking in terms of research awards, and this year looks just as promising. Our Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) trend – a solid measure of research quality – has outperformed our Russell Group peers for four years running.”
But as Niall adds: “We’re not there yet…income per FTE, while improving, is still below the Russell Group median – closing that gap would realise an annual £184m in research income. Our QS ranking has slipped to 108th, which we need to address with better dissemination of our research, sharper strategic partnerships, and stronger international visibility.”
Please take a few minutes to read Niall’s blog – it highlights our positive responses to a tricky external landscape while remaining realistic about the challenges, both internal and external, we face.
Building strategic partnerships
One such positive is our ability to grow strategic partnerships. The university has joined Forging Ahead, a new £16m coalition of 15 Midlands universities aiming to revolutionise how research and innovation are translated into real-world impact across the region. The East Midlands is home to 11% of the UK’s high-growth companies and is a vibrant hub of innovation and enterprise, yet only receives a 5% share of total investment into these high-growth companies in 2020. Forging Ahead, announced by Science Minister Lord Vallance, aims to redress this imbalance and accelerate the impact of research by East Midlands universities.
This month, an established regional partnership, Co(l)aboratory, received £2.3m from the Research England Development Fund. The project that brings together academia and the community to support growth and development, broaden prospects, drive change, and improve wellbeing. The new funding extends Co(l)aboratory to Leicester’s two universities, as well the universities of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent, and Loughborough. The programme successfully recruits PhDs and community researchers from diverse backgrounds within local communities, and now has 77 civically engaged PhD projects, along with a number of citizen-scientist research placements and student-led civic projects.
Supporting teamwork
The University of Nottingham’s capacity for such strategic partnerships grows out of our supportive research environment, where people, teamwork and inter-disciplinary collaboration are valued and encouraged.
Here’s a round-up of activity and support in these areas, and opportunities to sign up for interesting events.
UNICAS funding for new research projects
UNICAS, the university’s inter-disciplinary internal funding scheme, has funded 15 innovative new research projects, in research areas including conservation, climate change and therapeutics. While celebrating these outcomes, the Internal Funding Team is continuing to work hard to ensure all internal schemes, including UNICAS, are aligned with our strategic priorities for research, support the careers of our research community and ultimately result in future external funding success.
RKE celebration event – submit your nomination
The next Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) celebration event takes place on 25 June. Please submit nominations by Friday 23 May via this short form. These quarterly events recognise and celebrate the achievements of all our colleagues working in research and knowledge exchange and impact at the university. The 90-minute reception, hosted by Pro-Vice-Chancellor for RKE, Professor Tom Rodden, provides an opportunity to celebrate success, build interdisciplinary connections and grow relationships.
Showcasing research facilities
We are also celebrating our research facilities at three online events in June. These sessions are a taster for researchers who would like to know more about a particular facility, and for colleagues from any job family who are just interested in finding out more about our research. Each of the three sessions take place over lunchtime and feature a total of 17 facilities.
Celebrating Engineering research
The Faculty of Engineering is also hosting an event celebrating its research and KE, people, and the societal, economic and environmental impact of their work in the UK and across the world.
It takes place on Wednesday 18 June, 9.30pm to 4.30pm at the Engineering and Science Learning Centre, University Park.
Research in Action week – book now
The annual Research in Action Week returns from Monday 23 to Friday 27 June 2025, offering a diverse programme of free, expert-led sessions designed to strengthen research integrity, enhance practical skills and explore current debates in the research landscape.
Previously known as Research Integrity Week and now titled Research in Action 2025: Skills, Tools, and Current Debates, it reflects the evolving nature of research and the wide range of support available across the university.
Research and Knowledge Exchange Culture Conference
This conference takes place on 24 June on Jubilee Campus. It explores how to deliver a key pillar of our research strategy – helping our researchers develop and achieve excellence in a supportive environment.
The conference brings together research and teaching staff; postgraduate researchers; research-focused staff (including research associates, fellows and postdoctoral researchers); research technical professionals; and professional services staff and teams that support/enable research
Researcher Academy short story competition
Have you a flair for storytelling? Or just seeking creative ways to raise the profile of your research? The Researcher Academy is holding a short story competition, which is open to all who contribute to our research ecosystem.
Whether inspired by a discovery, a personal insight, or a memorable moment, participants will craft 2,500-word narratives that bring research to life in creative, accessible ways. The top 20 entries will be published in an anthology in October 2025, showcasing the creative voices of our research community. The deadline is Thursday 31 July.
Celebrating our technical workforce
No less than five of our technical staff and teams have been shortlisted for the Papin Prizes, the UK’s only awards dedicated to recognising technical excellence and innovation in higher education and research.
Congratulations to: Rhiannon Denham (Apprentice category) , Lorelei Robertson (Contribution to Outreach) , Lee Hibbett (Excellence in Sustainability) , Sally Schofield (Best Newcomer) , Plant Growth Facilities Technical Team (Technical Team).
Sustainability Action Week
This week is Sustainability Action Week, which has seen a number of events promoting environmental issues and action taking place across our campuses.
A good fit for Sustainability Action Week is news of an interesting Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Trelleborg Applied Technologies, a Retford-based firm taking a more sustainable approach to polyurethane (PU) manufacturing. The project focused on life cycle assessment modelling of Trelleborg Applied Technologies’ internal products to evaluate the carbon footprint of existing materials and processes, and benchmark these against more sustainable alternatives. It has raised Trelleborg Applied Technologies’ profile as an industry leader in sustainability.
The project was underpinned by both partners commitment to the United Nations Sustainability Goals (SDGs). An annual report on how UoN is supporting the goals can be found here.
Share your thoughts on research at Nottingham
Finally, my thanks for your continuing support and dedication, which has allowed as to deliver the progress shared in Niall O’Loughlin’s blog. There remains much we can do together to strengthen research at Nottingham – and Niall also wants to hear your thoughts on “where we’re heading, where we’re strong, and where you think we can push further”; please do consider sharing these, with niall.o’loughlin@nottingham.ac.uk.
Best wishes
Sarah
Professor Sarah Metcalfe
Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange
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