The External Voice in Defining an Engaged and Inclusive Institutional Research Culture: Engaged & Inclusive Research Culture Alliance (ERICA)

University College Cork has identified a power dynamic in its research culture that places barriers around the meaningful empowerment of excluded external communities in its research ecosystem. The university sees this as a challenge to positively enculturating Early Career Researchers into a healthy research environment that is inclusive in design and practice, ethical and engaged. The university proposes to embark on a change process to shift its research power dynamic from the institution to the community and enable the voices of excluded external communities in the co-design of actions leading to engaged and inclusive research excellence. It is seeking to mobilise community led engaged research as a mechanism to catalyse and accelerate deep and lasting transformation across the institution. To accelerate societal participation in research culture transformation, in partnership with the British Science Association and Health Research Charities Ireland, it will establish an Engaged & Inclusive Research Culture Alliance (ERICA). In a first for Ireland, through an open innovation Living Lab, they will provide wrap around research incubation support to community and early career researcher teams through a Community Led Research Scheme, co-situating early career researchers in communities to co-produce research for public policy impact.