Our Research and Innovation Strategic Plan 2030 sets out a bold vision: to be a catalyst for regeneration through research that informs policy, drives innovation, and delivers impact locally, nationally, and globally.
Our REF 2029 vision
REF 2029 will assess research across three key areas:
- Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU) – 50%
- Engagement and Impact (E&I) – 25%
- People, Culture and Environment (PCE) – 25%.
We're aligning our institutional research strategy by putting our people, culture, and environment at the heart of everything we do:
- Enhancing research excellence and integrity: Prioritising world-leading and internationally excellent research, while embedding robust open research practices and supporting reproducibility.
- Strengthening societal and economic impact: Expanding partnerships with industry, government, and communities to generate demonstrable impact.
- Investing in people and environment: Developing inclusive research cultures, supporting early-career researchers, and improving research infrastructure.
- Mainstreaming research investment across areas of strength
- Ensuring work is impact-led through our research clusters
- Supporting the next generation of researchers by:
- Doubling our PhD community and expanding doctoral training partnerships
- Targeted support to Early Career Researchers
- Providing access to cutting-edge facilities, data and infrastructure.
Our research strengths
We are investing in areas of excellence through our research clusters:
- John Dawson Drug Discovery and Development Institute: translating knowledge and innovations from laboratory research to the development of novel therapies and products, and their evaluation in clinical practice.
- Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute: focusing on applied health and care research, harnessing the power and potential of interdisciplinary research.
- Institute of Economic and Social Inclusion (IESI): exists to promote positive societal change and to address the causes and consequences of economic and social exclusion within society.
Emerging areas also include: creative industries, education and participatory research, emerging technologies, and smart systems and sustainable manufacturing.
People, culture and environment
We are embedding a research culture strategy that supports:
- Leadership and Governance : demonstrating how the institution’s leadership actively promotes a positive research culture, ensures accountability, and embeds fair decision-making in research practices.
- Open and Responsible Research: commitment to open access, data sharing, reproducibility, and high standards of integrity.
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI): fostering inclusive research environments where all researchers can thrive, with targeted support for underrepresented groups.
- Researcher Development and Careers: providing mentoring, training, and clear career pathways, including support for early career researchers.
- Collaboration and Interdisciplinarity: encouraging cross-disciplinary research, co-creation with partners, and strong industry, public sector, and community engagement.
- Wellbeing and Work–Life Balance: promoting healthy working practices that value wellbeing, collegiality, and sustainable research careers.
- Recognition and Reward: valuing a broad range of research contributions (for example, team science, public engagement, impact activities), not just publications.
- Sustainability and Responsibility: embedding environmental and social responsibility in research practices and institutional decision-making.
Engagement and impact
We are committed to:
- Delivering high-quality, world-leading impact case studies
- Linking impact to commercialisation, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), and civic engagement.
Stay connected
For updates, guidance, and support on REF 2029:
- Email: REF@sunderland.ac.uk
- REF 2029 SharePoint (login required)(opens in new tab)
- REF 2029 website.