Some of the UK¡¯s leading scientists have called on universities and funders to sign up to a new set of principles that they say will stamp out bullying and harassment in research amid concern about the ¡°insufficient progress¡± made to date.

The seven principles, set out in a letter published online by Times Higher Education, include requiring institutions and funders to publish annual statistics on complaints about bullying, harassment and discrimination, and the adoption of sector-wide standards on sanctions that funders can apply when individuals or organisations fall short.

The signatories to the letter, in a personal capacity, include Jackie Hunter, the former chief executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; Sir Robert Lechler, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences; and Ruth McKernan, the former chief executive of Innovate?UK.

In the letter, they say that recently ¡°a?number of specific incidents, reports and surveys have shown that bullying and harassment are widespread in the research and innovation culture of the?UK¡±.

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¡°This is unacceptable ¨C it damages individual lives, stifles outstanding research and hinders innovation,¡± the letter says. ¡°The need for change has been highlighted numerous times in the past 20 years, but insufficient progress has been made.¡±

The signatories call for institutional heads to lead by example by signing up to the principles, which also include:

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• Creating a single way of reporting harassment within an institution, or improving communication across offices, to allow patterns of behaviour to be identified
• Ensuring that all supervisors undertake regular and accredited training in issues such as equality and diversity, and
• Understanding how research incentives contribute to stress, competition and insecurity.

The letter says adopting its principles would ¡°empower individuals to speak up, protect alleged perpetrators against malicious accusations and enable institutions and funders to together develop processes that are fair and transparent¡±.

UK Research and Innovation, the country¡¯s funding umbrella body, set out plans for tackling bullying earlier this year, requiring institutions to have training and guidance in place and allowing ¨C when problems occur ¨C for suspension of funding until remedial action can be taken.

Professor Hunter told THE that there was an urgent need for ¡°more action¡± on tackling harassment, and a ¡°real opportunity¡± with Dame Ottoline Leyser¡¯s appointment as UKRI¡¯s new chief executive.

¡°Although there are a lot of nice words about having a good research culture, we¡¯ve got to see some way of holding people accountable to make sure that happens,¡± Professor Hunter said.

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Another signatory, Sara Rankin, professor of leukocyte and stem cell biology at Imperial College London, said the principles were born out of ¡°frustration that things are still not changing, despite decades of work¡±.

¡°People can see there is little consequence to behaving badly,¡± she said. ¡°But these are simple actions institutions can do; why wouldn¡¯t you sign?up?¡±

A UKRI spokesman said there was ¡°no place for bullying and harassment¡± in research and that all recipients of its funding ¡°must have robust systems in place for preventing and addressing¡± misconduct.

¡°We welcome additional ideas for how to tackle this important issue and will consider the recommendations made by the group as part of our ongoing work in this area,¡± he said.

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anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com