Five Adjectives to Convey What Good Research Culture Looks Like

Research culture has become a growing concern for higher education institutions (HEIs) and the broader UK research community in recent years, highlighting the need for a shared language to cultivate a communal understanding essential for collective approaches to complex challenges. With this in mind, at the University of Warwick, we have devised a concise formulation – the five-adjective summary - 'happy', 'productive', 'creative', 'sound', 'open’ - to encapsulate our goals for a positive research culture. This summary can be delivered in one to two minutes to describe what good research looks like, and to introduce most topics covered by research culture. It can also act as a starting point for strategic and deeper discussion, by unpacking each adjective as required. This reflection discusses our streamlined definition of research culture based on the Royal Society's definition, our five-adjective summary of good research culture, the rationale behind its development and underlines the importance of adaptability to navigate changing perceptions of research culture.