Pursuing a research career in a university without teaching duties, is it possible?
Yes. In the UK such positions are called Research Assistants or Research Associates. There are also Postdoctoral Researchers.

These are full-time salaried researchers who are employed on specific grant funded projects. The only down-side is that they are often fixed-term contracts linked to the fixed term research grant; however, UK employment law does offer some protection, because if you land several sequential fixed term positions at the same institution you are regarded as a permanent employee with greater rights when the funding ceases.

Such positions are advertised in the Academic press (such as the Times Higher Education Supplement) or on jobs.ac.uk.