In an environment where research is working hard to defend its value, it can be easy to forget that we know a lot about what works. One crucial component of a successful, strategic research program is research operations.

This conversation with Kate Towsey, author of “Research That Scales”, and Cath Richardson will delve into the world of ‘Research Ops’ and how designing the right operational model can drastically increase research’s strategic impact. We’ll explore the organisational cultures where research can thrive, unpack the vital importance of defining a research and operations strategy, and navigate emerging trends around AI and research democratisation. Finally, we’ll focus on what it means for research to prove its value and how our practice can evolve for the future.

Speakers

Kate Towsey is an independent strategic advisor, educator, founder of the Cha Cha Club–a members’ club for ResearchOps professionals–and the author of Research That Scales (Rosenfeld, 2024). For more than a decade, Kate has been at the forefront of ResearchOps. The inventor of the widely used acronym PWDR (pau·duh) for “people who do research”, she wrote some of the earliest blog posts about setting up research operations, founded the ResearchOps Community and launched the #WhatisResearchOps movement, putting ResearchOps on the map. Over twenty years, Kate has delivered operations in e-commerce, education, government, retail, and tech. She built the first research systems for the UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) and managed the Atlassian research operations team, providing research services and systems to hundreds of people. Every year, Kate runs in-person masterclasses that help dozens of people deliver strategic impact to their research organizations.

Cath Richardson is a research and strategy consultant with 15 years of experience helping teams innovate to make technology more meaningful to people. Her expertise centers on how foundational insight is adopted and travels within large organisations. At Stripe Partners, she leads projects for world leading technology companies, including Meta, Google, Spotify and Apple. Prior to Stripe Partners, Cath was a senior researcher at Etsy and the Government Digital Service, where she honed her expertise in embedding insights into agile, multi-disciplinary teams.