Insights from the I-REACCH Annual Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the Wellcome I-REACCH (Inclusive Research Environment Achieved through Culture CHange) project’s first year, covering the period from May 2024 to April 2025.

I-REACCH is a two-year, Wellcome-funded initiative based at the University of Leicester, focused on piloting and evaluating new approaches to creating a more inclusive and supportive research culture.

Project context and aims
I-REACCH was established in response to persistent challenges in research culture, particularly the lack of sustained progress in fostering inclusion and equity. The project seeks to specifically address the “leaky pipeline” of reducing ethnic diversity at each stage from postgraduate research to professor and senior leadership. To do this, it aims to create a more inclusive research culture for all research-active and research-enabling staff and postgraduate researchers. It seeks to create an environment where all researchers can thrive, recognising that inclusive culture enhances the quality and impact of research.

Project structure and approach
The project is structured around five interconnected workstreams: inclusive recruitment, career progression, inspiring research culture, leading with empathy, and evaluation. These workstreams are supported by Co-Investigators, a dedicated project team, a Mirror Leadership Team (comprising research staff and postgraduate research students who offer challenge and guidance), and wider governance structures including an Internal Advisory Group and a Critical Friends Network. The approach is values-driven, collaborative, and grounded in co-design with those affected by the issues under investigation.

Key achievements in year 1
In its first year, I-REACCH has made significant progress, both in laying foundations for long-term change and delivering visible outputs. Notable achievements include:

• recruitment of a multidisciplinary project team and expansion of the Mirror Leadership Team;
• delivery of two major University-wide events;
• launch and funding of 15 researcher-led culture improvement projects;
• development of a prototype career passport to support inclusive career planning;
• co-design and piloting of an empathic leadership toolkit; and
• sector-level engagement through events, evaluation design, and learning dissemination.
  In addition, research culture conversations have become more visible at senior levels, with emerging evidence of shifts in language, priorities and behaviours.
  
  Workstream highlights
  Each workstream has progressed according to its goals:
• Workstream 1: Rethinking equitable recruitment has reviewed policies, gathered data, and begun co-designing inclusive recruitment interventions.
• Workstream 2: Inclusive career progression has developed and tested a flexible, user-led career passport model, with platform design underway.
• Workstream 3: Inspiring research culture has run events, is starting to embed research culture in performance development discussions, and launched a small grants scheme.
• Workstream 4: Leading with empathy has delivered co-development workshops and drafted a practical toolkit for inclusive leadership.
• Workstream 5: Evaluation & dissemination has developed a real-time developmental evaluation framework, launched a baseline survey, and begun disseminating early insights.
  
  Plans for year 2
  The second year of I-REACCH will focus on embedding, testing and evaluating pilot interventions. This includes trialling inclusive recruitment approaches, launching a live pilot of the career passport, assessing the impact of researcher-led projects, finalising the leadership toolkit, and continuing dissemination. Ongoing engagement with researchers and leaders remains a priority to ensure that the project continues to reflect the needs of the community.