CEDARS is a national survey designed to gather anonymous data about working conditions, career aspirations and career development opportunities for research staff and research leaders in higher education institutions (HEIs).
Queen Mary University of London ran the Culture, Employment, and Development in Academic Research Survey (CEDARS) for the first time in 2021.
The survey was compiled through a collaborative effort between Vitae (and the CEDARS Steering Group), researchers and researcher developers from across the UK HE sector.
CEDARS replaces the Careers in Research Online Survey (CROS) and Principal Investigators and Research Leaders Survey (PIRLS), as one of the principal research culture survey instruments used across the UK HE sector.
The question set was adapted, based on questions from CROS and PIRLS, with a new section on environment and culture. All questions are mapped to the 2019 version of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers.
Each of the major groups listed above gets routed to a slightly different set of questions, to keep them relevant to each group. Common questions – including those directed at doctoral students – mainly focus on research environment and culture, and do not replicate questions from other sector surveys, like PRES.
Input from CEDARS provides long lasting benefit to staff and institutions by: