RESEARCH THAT MATTERS
In the last decade, we have made substantial progress in the quality, ambition, and impact of our research. We will build on this platform as we continue to increase the delivery of Research that Matters: research with outcomes that are important to other people, organisations, and academic fields, and are widely disseminated to achieve lasting, transformative impact in the world.
Our value to society is grounded in the authority and breadth of our core disciplines. By generating new knowledge and understanding of the world that we live in, our research outcomes will lead to positive change. Our distinctive and broad research portfolio will span from ground-breaking discoveries, interpretation and critique – in areas such as Particle and Astrophysics, Genomic Biology, and Textual Editing – to research that translates our expertise and capabilities for more immediate economic, societal, and cultural benefit, for example Green Transport, Maternal Health, Regional Economic Development, and Shakespeare Studies.
We will use our extensive disciplinary breadth and research expertise to establish Birmingham as a leading university internationally for collaborative and interdisciplinary research that addresses contemporary challenges, including post-Covid recovery and pandemic resilience, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals – such as Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Cities and Quality Education. We will exemplify our roots as a civic university, addressing cultural, societal, and economic issues in our city, region, and nationally in areas such as Youth Mental Health, the Circular Economy, and effective utilisation of Health and Genomics Data.
We will enable our talented researchers to be even more productive in their research endeavours, creating an inclusive, supportive, and ‘fizzing’ environment where researchers at all career stages can flourish. They will be supported by Professional Services and technical teams who are integrated into our research culture and goals, sharing the recognition and celebration of our successes. Through our distinctive PhD training, and development of early career academic staff, we will attract and train the next generation of talented researchers.
We will ensure that the symbiotic relationship between research and education is meaningful to our students and staff and that our university is recognised as a place where world-class research and education, and the delivery of impact, are mutually inspiring and reinforcing.
Read our Birmingham 2030 goals
See our key priorities
Discover our case studies
Our Birmingham 2030 goals are to:
Grow our research excellence by increasing the number and scale of our globally recognised research themes
Deliver research that matters more, with far-reaching impact
Increase and diversify research funding to enable more ambitious and impactful research
Influence and respond to regional, national, and international research priorities
Underpinning these goals are our key priorities
Our key priorities will be:
Focusing investment in our key research themes
We will invest to build and sustain these strengths, utilising our extensive disciplinary breadth and interdisciplinary capabilities to build critical mass, and to become world leaders in a select number. We will respond quickly and effectively to funder calls, government needs, business, the NHS, and third sector, allowing us to build world-class research infrastructure, attract global talent, and nurture high quality, diverse research teams with outstanding academic leadership. The Birmingham in Action campaign will prioritise these themes, ensuring they benefit from exceptional alumni and philanthropic support.
Building impact through our interdisciplinary capabilities
Utilising the strength of our Institute for Global Innovation and establishing new interdisciplinary institutes, we will reduce barriers to internal and external collaboration, sharing and extending research methodologies such as data science and open research across disciplines. We will convene research teams that combine approaches from across the University to tackle contemporary challenges in areas such as Urban Renewal, Inclusive Education, and the Societal and Legal Implications of New Technologies. We will introduce more interdisciplinarity into our PhD programmes.
Creating an environment for individuals and teams to flourish and be productive in their research
We will support our researchers to deliver more, higher quality research outcomes, with an increased emphasis on knowledge sharing, mentoring, wellbeing and research integrity. Our systems and infrastructure will be tailored to support the breadth of our research, and our Professional Services (including technicians) will be valued in playing their full role.
Working more closely with research funders, government, and other stakeholders
We will shape evolving priorities in key research domains such as Sustainable Energy, Advanced Clinical Trials Methods and Translational Medicine, Superdiverse Populations and Regional Leadership. We will enhance the number and quality of our strategic relationships, utilising our extensive alumni base to support these partnerships.
Enhancing the benefits that our broad education portfolio brings to our research
We will develop greater mutual benefit between our research themes and educational programmes, increasing the availability of student research projects with clear links to the University’s research themes, engaging students in research impact and public engagement activities, and aligning degree and Continuing Professional Development programmes with our research expertise.