The new fund aiming to boost Wales’ research culture  

A new fund we are launching, in partnership with Medr, aims to encourage a strong research culture in Wales and support researchers and their networks at a time of pressure for higher education.

Investing in research culture is key to sustaining excellent research in Wales and therefore ensuring it continues to deliver social, cultural and economic impact.

The Wales Research Culture Networks grant scheme will offer up to £3000 to grassroots projects that find collaborative ways to help strengthen Wales’ research culture.

A research network, for the purposes of this grant, is a group of researchers who address a specific challenge or gap within the research landscape. A key principle is that the money will be targeted at existing or emerging grassroots networks, those which are driven from the bottom up by communities of researchers.

Such networks, and the themes they explore, can take many forms. Examples include those that focus on challenges faced at a particular career stage; or on removing barriers for researchers with protected characteristics; or communities organised around specific disciplines or cross-disciplinary research interests.

“I’m delighted to see the launch of this grant scheme, which provides essential investment to support the creation of research culture networks across Wales. Based on my experience as Dean of Research Environment and Culture, grassroots funding is the best way to catalyse innovation and culture change from the bottom up.”

Professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, Cardiff University Dean of Research Environment and Culture, LSW Council member and Chair of the grant award panel.

With these broad aims in mind, funded activities will primarily focus on events which might include conferences, workshops, roundtables, writing retreats, and other formal and informal networking opportunities.

These events will generate creative and visual outputs to ensure the lessons and ideas that emerge are shared, and encourage engagement from a wide audience, not least from outside academia.

The grants will contribute to a strong research culture in Wales by showing the benefits of conducting research with integrity, in an open and inclusive way, and by welcoming and encouraging diverse contributions. This supports research to become an integral part of the wider society within which it sits, contributing to, and influenced by, public policy priorities.

“Helping Wales build positive research cultures is a priority for Medr and we are committed to encouraging inclusive research environments for our researchers and innovators. We are proud to work with LSW in supporting these important grassroot networks to boost collaboration at the heart of our research communities.”

Harriet Barnes, Director, Research, Innovation & Skills, Medr

The scheme is open to all researchers including early or mid-career researchers. The grants will therefore help to future-proof Wales’ research environment by supporting emerging and developing talent.

The benefit for researchers is the opportunity to access resources they couldn’t otherwise, while developing an evidence-base of work that contributes to future career development, and the long-term sustainability of their work.

The fund will support up to 13 projects. The call for applications will be launched in early January 2026. The funded Research Culture activities will run from February to July 2026. The applications and reporting requirements will be light-touch, with a final report delivered by the end of August 2026.