Partnership to help UK universities track research output activity

Universities in the UK are often under pressure to grow their research output but a complex regulatory environment renders the process difficult for the sector.

Many faculty members, researchers and students are required to make their research available to the public as a means to showcase the university’s extensive body of work. 

But at the same time, UK legislation and agreements with certain publishers or funders also require some research output to be kept private and confidential. 

This dilemma creates a need for a centralised system flexible enough to cater to the various requirements of the UK research community. 

A strategic collaboration between the University of London’s CoSector and Haplo will fulfil this need by delivering an improved academic research management repository to higher and further education institutions in the UK. 

The University of London’s CoSector Digital is a digital solutions provider to over 100 education institutions. This partnership will connect CoSector’s university clients with Haplo’s leading expertise in delivering research information management solutions. 

The multi-faceted repository delivered by Haplo will help academics, students and research managers streamline their research projects in an organised management system. 

Universities will have a comprehensive real-time picture of every aspect of the repository, which can be accessed via an open-source online platform. This enables administrators to generate progress reports and workflow progression with a one-touch process. 

Meanwhile, researchers will be able to store and record all their information related to a project under one system that can easily be accessed by collaborators and other relevant parties. 

The system’s flexible data model can represent any type of information and manage datasets, including traditional and non-traditional output types under one centralised repository. 

This secure, yet flexible repository provides a one-stop-shop for all relevant parties to the research process to seamlessly manage their research information.

“Haplo’s open-source repository has been built in close collaboration with our user community. To be able to team up with a leading organisation like CoSector, who also believe in that collaborative process, is a really positive step in ensuring the technology reflects and supports each institution’s unique requirements,” said Haplo managing director and founder Jennifer Summers in a media statement.  

“CoSector’s extensive experience and expert knowledge of repositories, coupled with their strong service ethic make them an ideal partner for institutions moving to Haplo.”

“CoSector and Haplo share the same attitudes and ways of working – we engage with our community of higher education and further education experts, we listen to what they want and need, and we work with them in partnership to develop valuable solutions,” added CoSector commercial director James Silcock. 

This partnership will also support CoSector’s university clients to prepare for the upcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2021. 

The REF is the national system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. It is an expert review process carried out across 34 subject-based units of assessments by a professional panel. 

With the establishment of a centralised repository, universities will get a clearer view of their research output progress to help with preparation for this assessment.