Abstract
<ns5:p>Wellcome’s Institutional Fund for Research Culture (IFRC) supported UK and Irish institutions to experiment with new approaches to improving research culture, with a focus on collaboration, inclusion, equity, and wellbeing. Alongside the funding programme, the Institutional Research Culture Community (IRCC) brought together all applicant teams to share learning, build cross-institutional connections, and explore how collective action might accelerate culture change across the sector.</ns5:p> <ns5:p/> <ns5:p> Wellcome appointed Studio Susegad as embedded social researchers within IRCC, supporting community learning and evaluating whether this approach to funding and convening could create the conditions for positive and inclusive change in research culture. Through two years of engagement with 40 institutions, Studio Susegad developed the <ns5:bold>4C Framework</ns5:bold> for research culture change: <ns5:bold>Care, Creativity, Connection, and Composting</ns5:bold> (the embedding and sustaining of change over time). </ns5:p> <ns5:p/> <ns5:p>This report shares the findings from that work, exploring what enabled and constrained culture change across the community, highlighting lessons from participating institutions, and offering recommendations for funders, universities, and research leaders seeking to build more inclusive, sustainable, and supportive research environments.</ns5:p>