Research related support

The Research Support Office (RSO) helps researchers at the faculty with information on grants and potential scholarships, both national and international. For example, if you wish to pursue a further career in academia, RSO may inform you about the possible grants that you could apply for. RSO also offers workshops, coaching, and has extensive experience with writing grant applications. Contact RSO also if you need advice on data management and privacy (see below).

In order to guarantee transparency, replicability and good science, Utrecht University developed a university policy framework for research data management. It also provides courses, advice and background information on data management, through RDM support. Please note that ethics and privacy play an important role in research data management as well (see for example the overview of online RDM tools). You can contact RSO (see above) for advice on data management and privacy.

If your research involves working with human participants, you or your supervisor may want to obtain ethics approval before starting your research. Try to get approval for a whole research line, rather than for one specific experiment. Ask your supervisor(s) about the guidelines and procedures within your research programme. You can contact the Science-Geo Ethics Review Board for ethics reviews. 

Everyone involved in academic teaching and research at Utrecht University shares in the responsibility to maintain research integrity. There is a research integrity contact person at faculty level, and confidential advisors for research integrity at university level, who you can contact in confidence for questions, dilemmas or complaints regarding research integrity. For more information, see Personal Support.

Cartography Design, of the Communication and Marketing department, supports the design of posters, PhD theses and other cartographic and graphic illustrations. 

In addition to the quality of your research, the potential impact (relevance) your research outcomes have on society has become equally important. The document ‘Societal impact of your research - How to design and organise your impact activities?' has been created to help to recognise potential impacts, create awareness for it and to help you to make it happen. You can discuss societal impact in the context of your research with your supervisor. For more information on whom to contact within Utrecht University if you have any questions in creating societal impact, please consult the aforementioned guide.