Skip to content

Support for Researchers

At NTU, we are dedicated to developing and nurturing the next generation of researchers. We’re increasing our capability and capacity for research and are continuing to build an ambitious, supportive and inclusive environment in which researchers can excel.

Dedicated researcher development programme

Images of Research winners

Our researcher development programme offers a range of workshops, training sessions, mentoring, interactive research cafes, career development opportunities, online courses and webinars. We have opportunities for researchers to reach their full potential through schemes such as the Vice Chancellor’s Future Research Leaders Programme, an annual programme developing a cohort of strong research leaders at the University, and our Women in Academia programme, a dedicated space for women working in academia at NTU.

Here at NTU, we are championing an approach that we are calling Research Inclusive. Inclusive in engaging with local communities and organisations to identify the topics to be explored; inclusive in diversifying the backgrounds of colleagues who lead that exploration, and inclusive in the ways our findings are shared with our partners.

We also offer opportunities for our researchers to engage audiences with their work to demonstrate impact, develop networks and improve presentation skills. Each year, we host a series of events including our annual Images of Research competition for all researchers and 3-Minute Thesis competition for doctoral candidates.

Award-winning support

NTU fully endorses the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers - a national agreement to promote research careers and improve research for the benefit of the UK society and economy.

In recognition of our commitment to the concordat, we are proud to have retained the European Commission HR Excellence in Research Award since 2013. The award recognises the excellent systems and practices we have in place to support our researchers’ careers and professional development in line with the Research Development Concordat.

Our action plans

The Concordat and UK route to the HR Excellence in Research Award process is managed by Vitae, the national organisation championing the personal, professional and career development of researchers.

Ways we can help you

We provide professional support to research leaders, research active staff and doctoral candidates across NTU to maximise impact and support a culture of research excellence.

Publications are one of the main outputs of research, and NTU recognises that these are a key asset to researchers and the University. Our Institutional Repository (IRep) enables us to share our research and intellectual outputs - such as journal articles, conference papers, and data sets - both internally and externally.

We actively support researchers with their data research management requirements, as we recognise that managing, preserving and making data discoverable is a key component of good research practice and supports a culture of research excellence. NTU also provides you with tools and solutions for the preservation and discoverability of the outcomes that result from our collaborative and supported research.

We are experts in developing strategic partnerships with businesses and working with industry to maximise the full commercial potential of our world-class research. Working closely with our academic colleagues, we identify, protect, and develop intellectual property assets arising from research with a clear and constant focus on potential applications and target markets.

Santander Universities has been a key partner to NTU since 2012, and the partnership has gone from strength-to strength in this time. The Santander Universities programme is Santander’s global flagship Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, and as of July 2022, has provided €2bn of support to the Higher Education sector over the past 25 years.

As part of this programme, Santander have provided funding opportunities for hundreds of NTU students to gain valuable work experience and to drive enterprise, benefitting both the local and wider regional economy, as well as supporting international student initiatives.

Going forward, through three pillars of Education, Employability and Entrepreneurship, the aim of the programme is to:

  1. help students by giving them access to skills for jobs
  2. help businesses prosper by building skills and providing support that fosters innovation and creates jobs
  3. contribute to social mobility to help further level the graduate level employability playing field.

Our Research & Partnership Development Managers (RPDM) and our Research & Partnership Development Officers (RPDO) are part of the Research & Strategic Partnership Team (RSPD). They are able to assist you throughout your research journey, with support available in the following areas:

  • Early concept ideas
  • Matching you with the most appropriate funders
  • Helping you build the right research partnerships
  • Reviewing draft bids
  • Introducing you to the Research Operations team to support with costing and submission

RSPD will provide a range of awareness raising events across the funding landscape and invite your input to thematic and institutional bids. Through the Researcher Development team, they will also provide a range of capacity building training opportunities.

There are a range of funders that NTU collaborates with. Please note that the below is not an exhaustive list:

  1. UKRI with a range of funders
    1. Health & Life Sciences – MRC; EPSRC; BBSRC; STFC
    2. Engineering; Advanced Materials Physics etc – EPSRC
    3. Arts & Humanities – ESRC; AHRC
    4. Industrial Collaboration – Innovate UK
    5. Public Procurement – SBRI – MoD (DASA) ; NHS ; DeFRA ; DoT ; etc.
  2. Charities
    1. Leverhulme/Wellcom

NTU receives and distributes Quality Research (QR) funding on an annual competition basis through the schools and Strategic Research Themes.

NTU has been recognised with a Queens Anniversary Prize for our Global Heritage Strategic Research Theme as a Research Peak for its international performance.

  1. 2022 Awards
  2. 2021 Awards

Social media has become an integral part of research over the past few years. Since research is all about producing new information, social media offers you unique opportunities to present these new ideas to a wide and varied audience.

We have social media resources and workshops available to teach you everything you need to know about being a researcher on social media, and how you can best use it to your advantage. Please contact research@ntu.ac.uk to gain access to these materials.

College for Leadership Engagement and Research (CLEaR)

NTU’s College for Leadership Engagement and Research (CLEaR) launched in 2020. CLEaR promotes a culture of sustainable research and engagement leadership at NTU. It supports the Researcher Development Concordat and aligns with our ‘University, re-imagined’ strategy to 'develop and nurture the next generation of researchers'.

Get inspired

Re:searchers Re:vealed

Here at NTU, our researchers come from a variety of backgrounds, and they all have a powerful story to tell. In this series, we share their stories. From the mothers, the dancers and the engineers, to the refugees, the survivors and the volunteers.

This is their re:search, re:vealed.

Meet the team

The Support for Researchers team help to support and facilitate research across the University, and provide a range of services and specialist support for researchers. Meet the team below.