UCL has introduced a new public profiles system to replace the previous service, IRIS. The new system is known as UCL Profiles, and is the public layer of an expanded RPS service.
Profiles is UCL's new public profiles system. Following a tender process, informed by academic consultation, Profiles was launched in September 2023. The new system incorporates functionality and data from the previous system, IRIS, in a modern, improved interface. IRIS is no longer available to edit, and individual IRIS profiles are redirecting to their equivalent URLs in Profiles.
Training and support materials for users and departments are available. These highlight key actions that users should take, including uploading a profile photo, reviewing data migrated from IRIS and selecting appropriate disciplinary and other labels.
Departments and faculties are invited to contact the Profiles/RPS team to arrange an online training session on Profiles. If you have any questions, see the Profiles FAQs or contact the RPS/Profiles team.
Profiles consultations and development
Prior to launch, the Profiles User & Development Group tested the system and contributed towards configuration decisions. This group continues to advise on the development of Profiles. It comprises academic representatives from all faculties, as well as Professional Services staff. Other stakeholder groups were also consulted, and Vice-Deans (Research) continue to be involved in the development of Profiles.
The Profiles/RPS team is gathering feedback on the service, and is planning a formal and wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders to inform service developments, including ways of presenting the small number of poorly-organised and out of date IRIS data types that - with the agreement of senior stakeholders - were not transferred to Profiles. Planned developments include adding Sustainable Development Goals as a filter/labels, and incorporating grants into users' 'Research' page. Following future system upgrades, UCL will also have the option to take advantage of functionality to show departments and groups (including members and publications). Consideration is being given to whether and how research degree supervision should be represented in Profiles. Some grants/research degree supervision data is already in RPS for the purposes of professorial appraisal only; the data will be improved before being displayed in Profiles (more information on grants and research degree supervision). If you have any feedback on these or other areas, please contact the Profiles/RPS team.
More information on Profiles
Profiles provides greater visibility, additional functionality, and easier data management than UCL's previous system, IRIS, as well as new features in future phases of development. Profiles data is managed in RPS, and all UCL staff and doctoral researchers are eligible for a profile.