1. Understanding how research at the OU works Dr Dorothy Faulkner Associate Director, Academic Professional Development 1

2. Structure of talk The external research funding environment Research leadership and organisation Support for doctoral research students 2

3. Funding for university research Higher Education Funding Council The UK Research Councils The European Commission Charitable Organisations 3

4. Research Assessment - RAE 2008 At the OU: 87% of all research - ‘internationally recognised’ or better 80%of research in Art and Design - ‘internationally excellent’ or better 70%of research in Earth and Environmental Science and Computer Science - ‘internationally excellent’ or better 100% of research in Computer Science & Art History - ‘internationally excellent’ or better Art & Design was ranked third in the UK and Development Studies ranked fourth 4

5. OU Quality Research Funding 5 Strategic investment in central academic units, studentships, central research support services

6. The Research Councils Arts and Humanities Research Council - AHRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences – BBSRC Engineering and Physical Research Council - EPSRC Economic and Social Research Council – ESRC Medical Research Council – MRC Natural Environment Research Council – NERC Science & Technologies Facilities Council - STFC 6

7. Research Leadership at the OU Martin Bean VC Tim Blackman PVC Research, Scholarship & Quality Astrid Wissenburg, Director RSQ Associate Deans and Directors (Research) Directors Research Degrees and EdD 7

8. Open University Research Centres Citizenship, Identities and Governance CCIG Research in Education and Educational Technology CREET Research in Computing CRC OpenSpace Research Centre Physical and Environmental Sciences CEPSAR Biomedical Research Network BRN Innovation, Knowledge and Development IKD 8

9. OU Faculties and Institutes Science Social Sciences Health & Social Care Education & Language Studies Institute of Educational Technology Business & Law Arts Mathematics, Computing & Technology Knowledge Media Institute 9

10. Committee Structure 10 Research Committee Research Degrees Human Research Ethics Research Examination Results Approval

11. Central research support at the OU The Research, Scholarship and Quality Unit looks after: The Research Degrees Office manages: The Virtual Research Environment The research student registry and advice and guidance services to students Research degree policy and practice, regulations and QAA requirements Collaborations with The Affiliated Research Centres 11 Institutional Quality Review Funding for Research Intellectual property & legal agreements Research Communications Research data management Research Degrees Research performance & REF Research ethics

12. Postgraduate policies, quality assurance and career development Research Councils UK – RCUK UK Council for Graduate Education Quality Assurance Agency Vitae The Vitae Researcher Development Framewor k 12

13. Doctoral researchers – vital statistics 1049 Total 757 OU 292 ARCs 361 FT OU 436 PT OU 13

14. Research Council Doctoral Training Partnerships at The Open University Consortia for Humanities and the Arts South East – CHASE (AHRC) Design Star (AHRC) Central England NERC Training Alliance CENTA South East Physics Network – SEPnet (HEFCE) 14

15. Affiliated Research Centres British Antarctic Survey Institutio Clinico Humanitas. Milan MRC Unit, The Gambia Mahidol, Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit 15 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Missouri Transport Research Laboratory. UK

16. Support for you Research Degrees office Dedicated supervisory teams Virtual Research Environment World-class library Subject specific and generic skills training Careers advice Postgraduate student society 16

17. The Virtual Research Environment 17

18. Opportunities for doctoral researchers The Postgraduate Internship Programme The Brilliant Club The Santander Entrepreneurship Awards The Santander Research and Scholarship Awards and Mobility Awards. 18