The University’s R&I Core Plan takes as one of its three major themes the need to focus on maintaining and improving the culture in which R&I takes place. This is not only in response to significant external drivers to improve culture across the sector, but to internal survey feedback that more could be done to generate a thriving and focussed R&I culture at Loughborough. To monitor progress towards achieving these goals, the R&I Core Plan specifies a small number of culture-related Key Performance Indicators alongside a commitment to make use of the SCOPE framework to develop a bespoke LU Research & Innovation Culture Index.

The SCOPE framework for responsible research evaluation has been developed by the INORMS Research Evaluation Group, and is in use all over the world to develop effective and meaningful assessments, with several UK examples (e.g. Newcastle and Leeds) of its use in developing research culture indicators. This workshop is intended to explore the first element of ‘SCOPE’, i.e. identifying what is valued within a thriving research and innovation culture at Loughborough.