Published: 01 Jul 2016 | Last Updated: 10 Aug 2023 11:35:35

The European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award, acknowledges an institution’s alignment with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their Recruitment.

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is proud to announce that we have been successful in retaining this prestigious award following our four-year review by the UK HR Excellence in Research Panel.

“The RVC is a small specialist research college with c 100 researchers therefore does not have the critical mass of large universities or dedicated internal career paths for researchers. However, it has undertaken a wide range of initiatives in support of its researchers and provided clear evidence of the impact of these. In particular, it is active in supporting their longer term career development via using alumni as career advisors and raising the profiles of its researchers via the research highlights day.” - UK HR Excellence in Research Panel.

Following the launch of the Research Concordat in 2009 the RVC established the Research Concordat Working Group (RCWG) which is made up of representatives from the various stakeholder communities (Researchers, Principal Investigators, HR and Senior Managers) and is chaired by the Vice Principal for Research & Innovation.

“This is a great achievement, recognising the collaborative efforts of the Research Concordat Working Group in its commitment to developing our research community.”  - Rebecca Costello, HR.

In 2012 the RVC was proud to be one of the first 50 UK HE institutions to achieve the award, building on this there have been continued developments in supporting the Research community including:  

• Creation of the Researcher Association
• Development of a training programme that specifically delivers on the career development needs of our research community
• Creation of the Research Highlights day – an annual event showcasing the great research across our College and providing a platform for our contract researchers to gain experience in presenting their work 
• Through the Researcher Association, contract researchers now have representation on strategic committees making academic decisions at the RVC Development of the HR induction programme to include a section on ‘Supporting the Career Development of Researchers’ 
• Developed briefing sessions for PIs to increase awareness and understanding of their responsibilities in supporting contract researchers to develop their skills and career pathways.      
• Published case studies that describe various career paths that contract researchers have taken after leaving RVC. 
• Creation of a list of experienced PI’s who can be approached for career development advice as well as an alumni list   

“Consistent initiative and efforts towards implementation of the Research Concordat Act at the RVC has been vital to the professional development of its researchers during my time as part of this community. Researcher Association members have benefited directly from this cross-college initiative and the reinstatement of the HR excellence in Research Award for the RVC is great recognition of our work” - Mazdak Salavati, Senior Vice-President of Researcher Association.

Further information on the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ award and information on the resources available to support research careers can be found on the RVC Research website. 

Press Office Contact

Uche Graves / Zoe White
T: 0800 368 9520
E: uche.graves@plmr.co.uk / zoe.white@plmr.co.uk

Notes to Editors

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a constituent College of the University of London. The RVC offers undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences, being ranked in the top 10 universities nationally for biosciences degrees.  It is currently the only veterinary school in the world to hold full accreditation from AVMA, EAEVE, RCVS and AVBC. A research-led institution, in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) the RVC maintained its position as the top HEFCE funded veterinary focused research institution. The RVC also provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals; the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital in central London, the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (Europe's largest small animal referral centre), the Equine Referral Hospital, and the Farm Animal Clinical Centre located at the Hertfordshire campus.