University achieves prestigious HR Excellence in Research Award

The University of Wolverhampton has successfully achieved the prestigious HR Excellence in Research Award from the European Commission, demonstrating its long-term commitment to the career development of researchers.

The HR Excellence in Research (HREiR) Award is a key mechanism for implementing the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. It recognises institutions that support the professional growth and working environment of their research staff. The University of Wolverhampton is one of 78 Vitae UK member institutions currently holding the Award.

The University submitted its latest application for the Award in March 2025, following a process that involved producing a detailed gap analysis, action plan and summary report. These documents are publicly available via the University’s webpage (Concordat to support the career development of researchers - University of Wolverhampton).

There are three key areas of focus in the University's three-year action plan, agreed with Vitae: Environment & Culture; Employment; and Professional & Career Development. Progress against the plan is regularly monitored as part of the University's wider research development strategy.

Professor Laura Caulfield led the University’s submission for the award, supported by a cross-institutional project delivery team, including:

Lindsay Fleetwood, HR Strategic Project Officer; Sophie Cole, Administrator; Dr Kiranpreet Kaur (Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing, Research Associate – fixed-term contract); Dr Nazanin Khasteganan (Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing, Senior Lecturer); Dr Kerry Hadley-Price (Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences, Lecturer); and Dr Joshua Blamire (Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences / Institute for Community Research and Development, Research Fellow).

The team focused on understanding the needs of the research community in an evidence-based way and developed the final action plan through workshops and consultation, ensuring contributions from across the University were recognised.

Professor Laura Caulfield, HREiR project lead, said:

“We are delighted to have received this recognition from Vitae of our commitment to supporting our research community. I am very grateful to the project team for all their hard work. It was important to build a team of early-career researchers, with input from HR, to ensure the project was grounded in the needs of our research community.

“The team did an excellent job reviewing and analysing internal data to produce gap analysis, mapping HR policies and processes, reviewing external good practice, and engaging colleagues from across the University in discussion sessions.”

Professor Prashant Pillai, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange), said:

“Achieving the HREiR award is an important milestone for the University as we continue to develop our research and enterprise activity in line with our Strategy 2035.

“The detailed action plan developed for the award is now being implemented in practice and provides an excellent framework to support the on-going development of our research and knowledge exchange culture and environment and staff development activities.”

Holding the HREiR Award signals that the University of Wolverhampton supports and values the development of researchers and strengthens confidence in the institution's commitment to research excellence.

More information about the HR Excellence in Research Award is available via Vitae:

https://vitae.ac.uk/policy/hr-excellence-research-award-2/