Objectives Research remains a foundation in advancing the field of neurosurgery. We explore attitudes and perceived barriers to conducting research in neurosurgery globally.

Design A 29-item questionnaire, consisting of multiple-choice questions, Likert scales and short answers.

Subjects Clinicians at various stages of the Neurosurgical career.

Methods The questionnaire was distributed through the Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS) and European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS).

Results A total of 324 responses from 29 countries consisted of Clinical Fellows (n=26), Junior Trainees (n=48), Senior Trainees (n=46), Sub-specialty Fellows (n=18), Consultants (n=128) and Professors of Neurosurgery (n=58). Whilst 83% of participants believe research is a crucial aspect of a neurosurgeons’ career, only a third (33%) believed that neurosurgery as a speciality fosters a culture that promotes research. The top three perceived barriers to conducting research were lack of time (78%), insufficient access to funding (58%) and lack of mentorship (49%). Despite these, more than 87% of participants are interested in formal academic roles with 58% willing to interrupt clinical training to pursue research opportunities. The region of clinical practice had no correlation with respondents’ research output or their perceptions towards research barriers.

Conclusions This study identified important barriers to research, elucidating which, allows the neurosurgical community to improve integration of research into clinical practice.