Research culture

The Royal Society’s research culture programme of work aims to embed a culture of research that will support the science community looking forward to 2035.

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Research culture encompasses the behaviours, values, expectations, attitudes and norms of our research communities. It influences researchers’ career paths and determines the way that research is conducted and communicated. 

The UK has a long history of shaping global research culture, from the times of the Enlightenment scientists, the foundation of the Royal Society and the frameworks of publishing and peer review, through to its recent leadership in championing science as an open enterprise.

Building on this history and the strengths of research culture today, the Royal Society has started Changing expectations, a programme of work to explore how the UK can promote the cultural conditions that will best enable excellent research and researchers here and elsewhere to flourish in the future. The focus of this programme is on the assessment of research and researchers, researcher career development, and open science. 

Watch the videos recorded throughout the Research Culture: Changing expectations conference.

Read more about research culture in our latest blog posts.