Two members of the Consortium for Research Excellence, Support and Training (CREST) – the University of Chichester and Glyndwr University – have joined a growing network of HEIs across Europe and the UK in gaining the HR Excellence in Research Award from the European Commission. CREST is a sub-association of GuildHE, and both institutions are also members of GuildHE.

The announcement of the awards was made by Vitae, an organisation supported by the Research Councils, which coordinates submissions to the review panel for the award. Other HEIs that have secured the award in this round include the Courtauld Institute of Art, Glasgow Caledonian University, Keele University, Manchester Metropolitan University, St. George’s University of London, University of East London, University of South Wales and University of Sunderland.

 

CREST Members are also collaborating with Vitae to implement the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, and recently jointly subscribed to the Research Development Planner.

 

Andy Westwood, GuildHE CEO, said:

 

“It’s great that these institutions have been awarded the HR Excellence in Research Award, which reflects their commitment to the career development of their research staff. This is also great for CREST, which does a lot of work to support postgraduate training through events, seminars and pooling of research training expertise.”

 

Dr. Andy Dixon, Director of CREST, said:

 

“I’m delighted that Glyndwr and Chichester have achieved this excellence award. Smaller and specialist HE institutions have a lot to offer researchers in terms of support and opportunity and also tend to punch above their weight in terms of research output. So congratulations to the two successful CREST members and I look forward to supporting other members to achieve this mark of distinction.”

 

Dr. Alison Green, Associate Director of Glyndwr University’s Graduate School, said:

 

“We are delighted to have gained the Award. The HR Excellence in Research Award indicates our commitment to enhancing working conditions and career development for research staff, which will in turn improve the quantity, quality and impact of research for the benefit of society and the economy.”

 

Ends

 

Notes to editors:

  1. About GuildHE
  2. The Consortium for Research Excellence, Support and Training (CREST) is a sub-association of GuildHE that works to support ‘islands of excellence’ across its through its collaborative projects, symposia, skills and subject-based seminars and Virtual Research Environment, the Consortium works to enhance the research cultures of its 20+ member institutions, and to communicate their on-going achievements to stakeholders, the wider Higher Education community and the general public.

 

Useful websites for journalists:

To read the full story on the Vitae website, visit https://www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/375-658301/10-more-UK-universities-have-gained-HR-Excellence-in-Research-Award-from-the-European-Commission-.html

HR Excellence in Research Award https://www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/353501/European-Commission-HR-Excellence-in-Research-Award-.html

 

www.crest.ac.uk – CREST

www.chi.ac.uk – University of Chichester

www.glyndwr.ac.uk – Glyndwr University