The team in Bedfordshire’s National Centre for Cyberstalking Research (NCCR), have been working with Universities UK to investigate the causes, scope, and impacts of online harassment to develop new guidance for the sector to enhance institutional practice in this area.

The Director of the NCCR Dr Emma Short said: “Working with UUK has given us an opportunity to understand what is happening across the sector, on a wider scale than our research would usually allow. This project unites a number of universities who are actively working towards changing online culture for the better and allows us to learn from each other.”

Recently UUK held a roundtable event, chaired by Bedfordshire Vice Chancellor Bill Rammell, to explore how best to support the sector in tackling online harassment. The outcomes from the discussion will inform the development of the guidance.

The guidance will be available to universities by the end of 2018 and will provide a set of principles to underpin a strategic framework to support an institution-wide approach to preventing and responding to online harassment.