In 1996 representatives of institutions and the principal funders of research in the UK agreed a concordat concerning the management of staff appointed on fixed term contracts to carry out research in UK universities and colleges. The Research Careers Initiative (RCI) was subsequently set up under the chairmanship of Professor Sir Gareth Roberts FRS, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, now President of Wolfson College, Oxford. The RCI monitors progress towards meeting the commitments of the Concordat and identifies and encourages good practice in the career management and development of contract research staff. The secretariat of the Research Careers Initiative is shared between OST (for the funders) and Universities UK (for institutions).

The PDF documents below contain the various reports of the RCI (including annexes), most recently the final report.

• RCI report: Final report 1997 - 2002 (178Kb)

• RCI report: (including Annexes 1-3) (66.7Kb)
• Annex 4: Analysis of questionnaires completed by research staff employed by HEIs on Research Council grants (95.7Kb)
• Annex 5: Selection of initiatives reported to the RCI by HEIs. (43.8Kb)

• RCI report 2000 (41Kb)
• Annex 1: Progress against recommendations (26Kb)
• Annex 2: Background (8Kb)
• Annex 3: Concordat questionnaire return (80Kb)
• Annex 4: Initiatives by institutions (69Kb)

• RCI report 1998 (43Kb)
• Employing Contract Researchers - Guide To Best Practice (47Kb)
• Report from the RCI working group on training (75Kb)
• Report from the RCI working group on career guidance (48Kb)

• Concordat (22Kb)