New role to drive University research standards even higher

The University of Edinburgh is pleased to announce the appointment of an Academic Lead for Research Integrity and Improvement. Professor Malcolm Macleod from the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences will take up the role from January 2020.

The University has a consistent track record of excellent performance in external assessments of our research quality. However, the recent report from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology makes it clear that, across UK universities, there remains room for improvement, with a need for greater scrutiny of research study design, conduct, analysis and reporting to minimise errors and maximise confidence in results.

With responsibility across the University, the Academic Lead for Research Integrity and Improvement will work will colleagues to recognise best practice, identify areas which might be further improved, and support improvement initiatives.

I am delighted to be taking up this role. I know from my own field of brain research that it is getting more and more difficult to find new treatments, and so our research performance has to improve to meet the challenge. Research Improvement strategies seek to identify minor changes which, taken together, can have a major effect. It has been this same approach in health care which has dramatically reduced hospital acquired infections, and in sport led to the success of the British rowing teams. We believe it can also help our research teams achieve their full potential.

Edinburgh has a rich history of excellence in research, attested by 23 Nobel Laureates who studied or researched in our stimulating research environment.  We now seek to build on that foundation to improve even further the quality and assurance of our research and thus to consolidate Edinburgh’s reputation as a global centre of research excellence.