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Researcher Hub supporting research staff

The Researcher Hub is here to support all researchers on fixed-term and open-ended research or teaching contracts at Oxford. Its aim is to help you settle in comfortably, make connections, grow as a person, extend your research expertise, and approach your next career step with confidence.

The Hub regularly hosts welcome events for research staff to introduce you to the facilities and opportunities available to you at Oxford. It has created a Researcher's Trailmap to help you plan your experience and development at Oxford in terms of integrating in the University, developing your skills while conducting your research, and planning your career. It holds professional development courses, notably The Confident Manager Series. The Hub also coordinates the University's Action Plan 2022-25 toward meeting the commitments and opportunities in the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers.

OxRSS receives support through the Researcher Hub in the form of administrative assistance and help with grant funding.

The Researcher Hub sits within OU professional development department People & Organisational Development (POD).

Representation by and for research staff

Discussion of issues and concerns for researchers takes place in Divisional forums and on University-level committees. Research Staff Representatives serve in the academic departments, at the Divisional level, and on University-level committees, and are a two-way link between researchers and governance structures.

Find out who your departmental Research Staff Rep is HERE.

See where Research Staff Reps are sitting on University-level committees HERE.

Learn about the University’s research staff committees and who is serving on them HERE.

Learn about OxRSS's past role in managing research staff representation HERE and on the About Us page.

NOTE on the difference between Research Staff Reps and Union Reps: generally Research Staff Reps will take your issues as matters of policy and address these on a system level through University committees, rather than advocating for individual cases. Union Reps deal with individual cases.

College membership for researchers

Many researchers arriving at the University are linked to a department but not a college. Given Oxford's collegiate structure, where academics are generally members of both a department and a college, some researchers ask about the possibility of having a college association so that they can build relationships with academics in other fields and experience college meals and activities. It is sometimes possible for a researcher to apply for association with a college once they are established with a work contract in a department. You can find out more about this and see a current list of vacancies HERE.

Newcomers' Club welcoming new arrivals and their families

The Oxford University Newcomers' Club (OUNC) welcomes and hosts activities for newcomers to the University and their families. It is run by volunteers, and its aim is to help those new to the University to settle in, find out more about Oxford, and enjoy opportunities to meet people. Membership includes partners of visiting scholars, of graduate students, and of newly appointed academic and administrative members of the University. Ongoing activities and special events have included coffee mornings, a weekly toddlers group, English conversation for newcomers wishing to work on their English skills, a singing group, and parties for a range of occasions.

The Newcomers' Club has welcomed many researchers and their partners and families to Oxford. You are welcome to drop in for their Coffee Mornings on Wednesdays to learn more about what they do.

OxRSS and OUNC sometimes invite each other to their events, and have co-hosted several events together.

Union membership for researchers

A key, but often unknown, fact is that University and College Union (UCU) membership is open to research staff on short-term employment contracts, not just permanent or long-term staff of the University. Moreover, if you are enrolled on (or, prior to graduation, from) a postgraduate research programme and are not in accompanying employment that would entitle you to join as a standard member, you are now entitled to Postgraduate Researcher membership that allows you to participate fully in UCU's democratic processes. You can find more information about different PGR membership options HERE.

The union can provide many services including individual representation on employment issues, and legal advice. 

The union can also advocate for all staff, through industrial relations and by taking collective action. Disputes are generally about addressing fixed-term precarious contracts, pay erosion and pension issues, excessive workload, and inequality in pay and conditions. For an introduction to what UCU does and to the Oxford UCU, click HERE. If you would like more information about matters related to the industrial action and how it might impact you, see this helpful page. The Oxford UCU branch also has a specific Anti-Casualisation Network, with a focus on campaigning for staff at the University who are casualised and precarious.

See also the UCU's researchers' survival guide.

Would you like more information personalised to research staff about industrial action and the union? Let us know by clicking HERE.

NOTE on the difference between Research Staff Reps and Union Reps: generally Research Staff Reps will take your issues as matters of policy and address these on a system level through University committees, rather than advocating for individual cases. Union Reps deal with individual cases.