The award demonstrates the University’s commitment to the long-term career development of researchers; there are currently 100 institutions in the UK with the award, a third more than in any other country in Europe.

Patrick Carmichael, the University's Director of Research Development, said: "What the retention of this HR Excellence Award reflects is the collective effort that has gone into developing research capacity across the University.

“We were able to report on a range of initiatives including research mentoring organised by our Research Institutes; training provided by the Research Graduate School, the Learning Resources Centre, and the Innovation and Enterprise Service; and conferences, seminars and workshops for students and staff.”

The University has held the award since 2013 but this four year review involved not only scrutiny by VITAE but also peer review of Bedfordshire’s provision by academics from other institutions.

Holders have to show how they are supporting the development of researchers from postgraduate researchers to senior staff.  

Moving forward the University plans to improve its support further with the establishment of an Early Career Researcher Forum, extend the existing programmes of training and support for research students and mentors; and develop a comprehensive programme of research ethics training and support for researchers at all stages of their career.