WELCOME TO THE Culture Catalyst Fund
The Culture Catalyst Fund (CCF) is a £1M initiative supporting bold, collaborative projects that reimagine research culture and leadership. Open to colleagues across the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St Andrews, CCF champions ideas that challenge traditional hierarchies and open up new leadership pathways.
We fund projects that explore how research is led, focusing on behaviours, roles, and impact, while embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion at every stage.
Together, our funded teams form a vibrant community of emerging leaders, turning transformative ideas into action.
Culture Catalyst Fund Key Themes
The key themes of the Culture Catalyst Fund are to identify, develop, and promote collegial leadership practices, individual and collective, that are effective in transforming research culture by:
Putting Policy Into Practice
InFrame supports projects that go beyond implementing existing research culture policies, they critically examine how these policies work in real-world contexts. We’re interested in ideas that build trust in current systems while asking deeper questions about their impact.
Key questions we invite you to explore:
- What tensions exist between a policy’s intention and its actual effects?
- How do national, institutional, and local policies align or conflict?
- Who benefits from specific policies, and who might be excluded?
- How are policies used, interpreted, or challenged by research leaders?
This theme encourages bold, reflective, and action-oriented thinking to help shape a healthier, more inclusive research culture.
Changing What Counts
InFrame supports practices that broaden how we assess researchers and research, valuing the full range of contributions that make research successful. We’re especially interested in how leadership influences teams and how inclusive, collegial approaches can be tested and refined.
Example areas to explore:
- Novel approaches to improving research culture
- What does collegial leadership look like in your context?
- Testing leadership methodologies and their impact
- Recognising a wider range of research activities and roles
We welcome bold, evidence-informed ideas that redefine leadership and recognition in practice.
Setting The Tone
InFrame promotes pilot activities that foster inclusive, positive research cultures, now and for the future. These projects challenge outdated norms by modelling better ways forward and embedding values of collegiality, respect, and inclusion into everyday practice.
Example areas to explore:
- Leading by example through pilot initiatives
- Scaling successful local practices
- Developing approaches that challenge cultural norms
- Embedding inclusive values into daily research life
These activities aim to build momentum for lasting, meaningful change across the research ecosystem.
Who is Eligible to Lead Change?
The Culture Catalyst Fund was open to colleagues across the research ecosystem, including:
- Academic staff.
- Postgraduate researchers (doctoral).
- Research-conducting staff.
- Research-enabling staff (e.g. research/project managers, PGR administrators, policy and funding specialists).
- Research-adjacent staff (e.g. Learning & Development, careers, communications, HR, libraries, IT, museums).
- Technical staff (e.g. lab and facility managers, technicians).
Leadership can come from any role.
How Applications Worked
Applications to the Culture Catalyst Fund involved three key steps:
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Team Information
Applicants listed the project lead, up to 7 collaborators, and any external partners, including names, roles, institutions, and contact details. -
Project Proposal
Using the application template teams outlined their project’s ambition, vision, and alignment with CCF themes. They addressed research ethics, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI), and budgeting. Responses were submitted via an online form, with the option to upload a Word document. -
Diversity Monitoring
All collaborators completed a short, anonymous EDI survey.
We’re Here to Help at Every Step: Post-Award Support
Our dedicated team of Project Coordinators, Community Knowledge Analysts, and Leadership Developers are here to support awardees from start to finish.
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Project Coordinators are your first point of contact for anything InFrame-related, from timelines and finances to reporting and communications. Through regular check-ins, they help keep your project on track and foster collaboration across the initiative.
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Community Knowledge Analysts capture and share learning across CCF projects, surfacing key themes and connecting insights to build a shared understanding of values-driven leadership.
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Leadership Developers support inclusive leadership through reflection, learning, and access to workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities.
Have questions? We have answers!
Explore our FAQs page to find detailed answers to common queries.
For any further information, feel free to contact us at InFrame Support.
We're here to help!