The Responsible Collaboration Statement has been updated and colleagues are now invited to review and comment on the statement or to attend a townhall meeting to discuss the statement with Professor Mark Spearing on 1 October 2024.

Review the Responsible Collaboration Statement

The outcome of this consultation and a revised version of the statement will be presented to Senate on 16 October. Please provide online comments by 6pm on 9 October.

Professor Mark Spearing, Vice-President Research and Enterprise, comments:

“With our diverse community of staff, students and stakeholders, we recognise there will be diverging and conflicting opinions and challenges over the organisations and sectors the University engages with as part of its research, knowledge exchange and enterprise activities.”

“This consultation gives colleagues an opportunity to find out more about the principles that apply to collaborative research and serves as a reminder that the University has the mechanisms to make decisions aligned to its values, while balancing opportunities and risks.”

“I respect that this is a busy time of year and my thanks go to all colleagues who are able to provide valued input to this consultation.”

Attend the townhall meeting

Colleagues are invited to attend a townhall meeting on 1 October 2024 (12:30 – 13:30) to share their views with Professor Mark Spearing.

Add the townhall to your diary (click on ‘Add to my calendar’ and then ‘Open File’ in the downloads alert, and then ‘Save and Close’ when the meeting opens). Select the link named Responsible Collaboration in the meeting invite to join. You can also use the following link:

Join the meeting now

About the Statement

• The statement provides guiding principles aligned to our values (research excellence, independence, integrity, care, respect and equity, and risk management) and signposts colleagues to key policies, procedures and support to identify, assess and manage actual or potential risks.
• The statement provides the overarching framework in which to consider issues associated with collaborative research. It is supplemented by an addendum which provides sector-specific considerations that will be reviewed annually by the Research Integrity and Governance Committee (RIGC), a subcommittee of the Research and Enterprise Executive Group (REEG).
• The statement and addendum have been developed and approved by REEG. It has been discussed by the University Executive Board which has approved it for wider consultation prior to discussion at Senate.