91Ö±²¥

The University of Manchester’s Office for Open Research (OOR) has had a productive second quarter of 2026, delivering a wide range of initiatives that strengthen our services, advance strategic priorities, and contribute to creation of a University environment in which Open Research can thrive. Drawing together activity from across our , , and portfolios, Q2 has been characterised by innovation, collaboration, and investment in future capability.

Building strong foundations

A big focus for this quarter was establishing solid operational foundations for the future. We undertook significant recruitment activity across the OOR, appointing colleagues to key roles that will strengthen our ability to support researchers and deliver ambitious programmes of work in the years ahead. Alongside recruitment, we completed induction and onboarding activity across multiple service areas, helping to ensure sustainable capacity and continuity for future delivery.

We also continued to develop the infrastructure, systems and governance needed to support Open Research at scale. This included:

• Refining our new and quarterly planning processes;
• Exploring new approaches to enquiry management;
• Trialling AI-assisted tools to support service operations; and
• Improving clarity around service ownership and governance.

These developments are helping us create more efficient, transparent and responsive services for researchers and stakeholders across the University.

Strengthening systems and digital capability

Digital innovation remained a key focus for us over the last three months. For Area of Work 1: 91Ö±²¥ Open Research Environment (MORE), we delivered a working authoring application for pilot testing and agreed the technical architecture that will underpin future workflows and services. Through our Research Indicators work, we continued to support University-level exercises and initiatives, including exploring bibliometric methods to connect research papers with our new institutional Platforms, and supporting the Annual Academic Assurance Review (AAAR).

Evolving researcher support services

Our and services continued to evolve during the quarter. Highlights included:

• Progressing development of a support package following changes to Cancer Research UK’s Open Access policy;
• Delivering researcher-facing engagement and training activities;
• Advancing plans for enhanced Research Data Stewardship support; and
• Strengthening operational processes that help researchers manage and share their outputs and data effectively.

These activities contribute directly to the University's commitment to making research more accessible, transparent and reusable.

Advancing strategic priorities

We also made significant progress across several strategic areas of work, including:

• Designing the next phase of the ;
• Supporting preparations for REF 2029;
• Advancing Research Software policy development; and
• Delivering new analyses and methodological frameworks to support and global rankings activity.

The quarter also saw OOR colleagues contribute to a major institutional success, with the University ranked number one in the world for its contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings. This achievement reflects extensive collective effort across 91Ö±²¥, including of the detailed evidence and data work led by the OOR to support the University’s submission and demonstrate the real-world impact of our research, teaching, operations and partnerships.

We hope that these initiatives will contribute to the embedding of Open Research principles across the research lifecycle while supporting institutional strategy and sector leadership.

Sharing progress and looking ahead

Perhaps most importantly, Q2 has demonstrated the value of taking a structured and transparent approach to planning and delivery. To support this, we are pleased to launch our new , which provides University colleagues with a clearer view of our priorities, progress and achievements. The site will be updated throughout the year and offers an accessible way to follow our services, strategic programmes and continuous improvement work as we move through each quarter. 

We look forward to building on this momentum during Q3 and continuing to work with colleagues across the University to advance Open Research at 91Ö±²¥.

More information

• You can find out more about our strategic via our website.
• UoM colleagues can access our to read more about our latest Quarterly Plan and progress against these goals.
• We highlight progress throughout each quarter, alongside institutional and sector news and opportunities, via our monthly newsletter, the .

Lucy May, Open Research Manager, Office for Open Research