PROMOTING GLOBAL RESEARCH MANAGEMENT · 2019-10-12 · steph bales Chair of ARMA. CONTENTS editor Rosemary Peters commissioning editor ... discuss the latest developments in the sector,

S U P P O RT I N G P RO FES S I O N A L I S M

STRATEGIC FORESIGHTARMA unveils its strategic

plans and introduces its

newest committees

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FRAMEWORKDiscover the progress that has been

made towards launching KEF

BREXIT’S IMPACTExplore how the uncertainty

surrounding Brexit is

affecting European nationals

in UK research offices

ISSUE 7 Spring 2 0 1 8

PROMOT ING GLOBAL RESEARCH M ANAGEMENTINORMS 2018 IS TAKING ON GLOBAL RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN THE STREETS OF EDINBURGH

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The PR

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ISSN

2397-1665Issue 7 Spring 20

18 www.arm

a.ac.uk

Edinburghinorms 2018

Join us for the 7th INORMS conference from Monday 4th – Thursday 7th June 2018 at Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

For more information and registration, visit www.inorms2018.orgor drop us an email at [email protected]

With a wide variety of workshops and seminars, opportunities to develop networking and other professional skills, and a vibrant social programme INORMS 2018 is a conference not to be missed.

We appreciate it’s not always easy to see the impact of research in the real world.

That’s why we’re bringing research communities together to find better ways to make meaningful change happen.

Developed in conjunction with Dr Julie Bayley, our Impact Literacy Workbook helps you to develop an impact plan tailored to the needs of your institution. We would love to hear your thoughts and how we can make a real impact together.

Request a free copy by emailing us at: [email protected]

emeraldgrouppublishing.com/realworldimpact.htm

#RealWorldImpact

Making Research Count.

Together we can make a Real Impact

15795 RealImpactAd_Protagonist_AW.indd 1 08/05/2018 10:39

No 1

T H E P R O TA G O N I S T

T O T H E 7 T H I S S U E O F T H E P R O TA G O N I S T !

W elcome to the spring edition of the Protagonist, which launches

ARMA’s Strategic Plan 2018-21, greets the newly formed UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), and looks ahead to INORMS 2018.

During the last year, the Board reviewed ARMA’s direction and developed a strategic plan to support members and respond to an evolving research environment characterised by internationalisation, open science, responsible metrics and systems interoperability.

As a Board, we wanted a strategy that could support fellow professionals in navigating the changes ahead and help them develop the resilience needed to operate in uncertainty. An overview of ARMA’s Strategic Plan (2018-21) can be found on pages 12-13.

Explore the changes our sector is facing more broadly in the Policy section of this publication. On pages 27-29, Hamish McAlpine – Senior Policy Adviser for Knowledge Exchange at Research England – introduces KEF, explaining what research administrators should expect regarding the framework. On pages 30-31, Sarah Richardson of *Research Professional asks what we can to do help the recently launched UKRI

– which brings together the seven Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England – stand up to its potential. James Wilsdon then takes these conversations one step further on pages 34-36, where he addresses progress the sector has made towards adopting more

responsible metrics as well as the prospects that lie ahead for furthering this important trend.

At ARMA, we recognise the importance of being able to talk about these topics, as well as the complexity of implementing policies such as open science, internationalisation and impact in the global political context of resurgent nationalism, alternative facts and public mistrust in research. Recognition of this importance shows in the programme we have compiled for the 7th biennial Congress of the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS). Indeed, our theme as hosts of INORMS 2018 of Promoting Global Research Management, Supporting Global Research Challenges addresses many of these issues through the plenary sessions of alone.

INORMS 2018 is taking place in Edinburgh on 4-7 June 2018 and already has attracted nearly 1,000 delegates from 50 countries. With almost half of all delegates coming from overseas, we have lined up a truly international programme of plenaries, workshops and pecha kucha sessions delivered by speakers from across the world. The international programme is complemented by a social programme that celebrates the best that Scotland has to offer. The programme is available at www.inorms2018.org and your guide to conference can be found on pages 5-10.

In closing, I would like to say a huge thank you and fond farewell to David Coombe as he steps down from the ARMA Board in June this year. As Conference Director, David transformed

the conference experience, increased attendance and has been a collegiate Board member. David’s ‘final note’ is on page 48.

I hope you enjoy this edition of the Protagonist. The editorial team and executive office have worked hard to source features from members. If you would like to write an article related to the world of research management and administration please get in touch with the team at [email protected].

I look forward to seeing many of you at INORMS 2018.

W E L COM E

steph bales

Chair of ARMA

C O N T E N T SeditorRosemary Peters

commissioning editorHamish Macandrew [email protected]

contributorsAlexandra CassidyAlison CarminkeAlison HayAna Serra BarrosAnna GreyBikram SinghCarolyn BrockCharles ShannonDavid CoombeEhsan MasoodEllen ThompsonFiona DeansFiona MillarGill WellsGurpreet JagpalHamish McAlpineHelen YoungJane WinnJames WilsdonJenn ChubbJess VantJo EdwardsJon HuntJulie BayleyJulie SwinbankKeith DingwallLachlan SmithLauren TempelmanLauren WilsonLinsey DicksonLorna WilsonMargaret ReesMark ReedNicole Van der WesthuyzenPauline MuyaPhil WardSarah RichardsonSimon KerridgeSteph BalesStephanie MaloneyValerie McCutcheon

designMike HillPaul Martin

S T R A T E G I C F O R E S I G H T

K N O W L E D G E E X C H A N G E F R A M E W O R K

B R E X I T ’ S I M P A C T

As times change, so too must ARMA’s strategy for the future. Find out what strategic plans are on the horizon

Hamish McAlpine introduces the Knowledge Exchange Framework, explaining what research administrators should expect in the future and how KEF relates to REF and TEF

Gill Wells explores what future EU research workers have in the UK and how ARMA members can advocate for them

F E A T U R E S

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R E G U L A R S

4The bulletin

4 8The final note: With his final days on the ARMA Board nearing, David Coombe reflects on his commitment to professional development via the ARMA Conference

A R M A

5With INORMS 2018 right around the corner, this special section highlights what is to come at the Congress and gives advice for how to get the most out of this must-attend international event 11

If you are new to the sector of research administration or you are ready to push your knowledge to the next level, ARMA has a learning opportunity for you

14

Director Stephanie Maloney explains how ARMA's new Stakeholder Engagement Committee will help the Association better meet the evolving needs of members now and in the future

16

Linsey Dickson, Chair of ARMA’s new Professional Development Committee, discusses what benefits members can expect to see flow from the Committee

18

From the impact of gender on research funding awards to the difference between management information and key performance indicators, ARMA members share their stories

P O L I C Y

2 4Ehsan Masood, Knight Fellow at MIT, picks out some of the highlights from his diary from his year as a research student in America under Donald Trump

3 0UK Research and Innovation is here, so let’s talk about its performance, says Sarah Richardson, group editor at *Research Professional 3 4

James Wilsdon follows up on his recent The Metric Tide report and shares his latest view with regard to metrics and research evaluation

P R O F E S S I O N A L P R A C T I C E

37Pauline Muya explores the benefits of collaborating with sister associations and explores ways to facilitate building these relationships

3 8Several of ARMA’s Special Interest Groups provide updates on how they have been filling their time

4 0Helen Young and Anna Grey describe how ARMA’s Research Excellence Framework SIG is promoting knowledge and best practice sharing leading up to REF 2021

41Margaret Rees introduces medical case reporting and explains why research managers and administrators should encourage their researchers to develop such reports

4 4Simon Kerridge reviews the book Research Management – Europe and Beyond. He explains why it is a must-read for research managers and administrators 4 6Earlier this year, the universities of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Glasgow and Strathclyde joined forces to deliver the first-ever Impact Festival to help early career researchers achieve impact

Produced by

research media

In association with arma

Printed by

Philtone Litho Limited

www.philtone.co.uk

Extracts may only be reproduced with the permission of ARMA. Please contact Hamish Macandrew at [email protected].

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No 4

T H E P R O T A G O N I S T

I N O R M S 2 018 I S H E R EOn 4-7 June, ARMA will be hosting the biennial congress of the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS 2018) in Edinburgh. The Congress will feature a variety of plenary sessions, seminars and workshops covering key research management topics, specifically exploring the themes Promoting Global Research Management, Supporting Global Research Challenges.

The programme will be enhanced by a variety of opportunities for delegates to meet new friends from around the world, discuss the latest developments in the sector, develop their personal and professional skills and build their CV. Find out more in our INORMS special section on page 5.

It’s not too late to sign up! Visit www.inorms2018.org to register today.

M E M B E R S H I P R E N E W A L U P D A T E SIn September 2017, ARMA launched its new website. As part of this process, members who joined the organisation before August 2017 needed to reactivate their membership on the new website to gain access. Due to systems constraints at the time, your reactivation confirmation advised an incorrect renewal date. Please be aware that your renewal is 1 April.

As this is the first time ARMA has used its new system for renewal, we are renewing our memberships in batches, starting first with Group Memberships. Group Leaders should have received renewal instructions at the end of April. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your membership, please contact [email protected].

Moving forward, ARMA will run a rolling membership model, so you’ll renew again exactly 12 months from whenever you decide to renew this year.

t h e B U L L E T I N

B I T S A N D B O B S F R O M T H E A R M A O F F I C E• Did you know that ARMA has revised its strategic priorities? If you want to find out more, read pages 12-17.

• ARMA now has its official sign outside of our shared office! Why not pop in to Holyrood Park House in Edinburgh and say hello?

• The Training and Development team has an action-packed year ahead. Find out what courses and workshops are on the calendar by visiting http://bit.ly/TDcalendar.

• Want to develop your research management and administration skills? Consider taking on one of ARMA’s professional qualifications. To find out which qualification is right for you, please contact [email protected].

• ARMA is continually looking for contributions to ‘Notes from the membership’. This Protagonist section features the latest thoughts on hot topics in the research management and administration world. You can catch this issue’s features on page 18, and you can sign up to contribute to future issues by emailing Jess Vant at [email protected].

From INORMS taking over the streets of Edinburgh to membership renewal, ARMA is working hard

to support research leaders, managers and administrators. Here are some of the major activities that

have been keeping ARMA busy since the last issue of the Protagonist

No 5


Promoting global research management, supporting global research challenges

I N O R M S 2 018

4-7 June 2018

Edinburgh, Scotland

No 6


WELCOME BACK, GUPS! THE INORMS CONFERENCE IS COMING UP QUICKLY ON 4 JUNE – ARE YOU EXCITED? Very excited. The programme has shaped up nicely in terms of the core content, workshops and social activities. It is exciting to see all this work come together.

WHICH ASPECTS OF THE CONGRESS SHOULD ATTENDEES BE MOST EXCITED ABOUT? I’d be lying if I didn’t say all of it. There will be many opportunities for people to learn about what is happening globally, while also having time for intimate conversations through the interactive workshops, networking events and breakout sessions. We also have an active social programme. There is something at INORMS for everyone.

THERE WILL BE NEARLY 1,000 PEOPLE ATTENDING INORMS. DO YOU HAVE ADVICE FOR HOW ATTENDEES CAN GET THE MOST OUT OF A CONFERENCE THIS SIZE? Because of the scale, it is important to know why you’re coming and what you want to get out of the conference. Therefore, do your homework before you come. We have three days of activities as well as a day of preconference sessions. There are 11 concurrent subthemes flowing throughout INORMS, and through these subthemes, we will have interactive, engaging workshops. Look at the programme and identify the topics of interest of you, and please sign up for the sessions beforehand.

Also, make sure you check out who else is attending. Intentionally think about who you want to make connections with in regard to future collaborations. You may even want to build a schedule of people you want to connect with ahead of time, or even reach out before you land in Edinburgh.

REGARDING THE CONGRESS THEME OF PROMOTING GLOBAL RESEARCH MANAGEMENT, SUPPORTING GLOBAL RESEARCH CHALLENGES, ARE THERE ANY CAN’T-MISS EVENTS? Make sure to attend the plenary sessions. The plenaries are key as they set the tone for the whole conference. There are going to be influential people from across the sector speaking, and they will help put the rest of the Congress into context. I also encourage people to take full advantage of the social programme, especially social events like the Gala Dinner. This is where the conversation continues and where you will meet new people. The conference days will be long, but to get the most out of it, engage with the programme to the fullest.

WHAT DO YOU AND THE COMMITTEE BEHIND INORMS HOPE FOR THE CONFERENCE TO ACHIEVE IN TERMS OF IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY? It would be great to see if people make initial connections, expand their networks and grow their contacts. In five years’ time, we want to hear about people who came together at INORMS and then supported each other through grant applications and project collaborations. We are also excited to show that ARMA can host an international conference. We encourage ARMA members to always be thinking about how they can build their own international collaborations.

IF YOU COULD GIVE CONGRESS-GOERS ANY FINAL PIECES OF ADVICE BEFORE LANDING IN EDINBURGH, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? Try to come early or stay on a few days to explore the City of Edinburgh. We are trying to inject the feel of the city into the conference, but you would benefit from spending time in the city outside of the conference. Additionally, make sure you come prepared to have fun.

We can’t wait to see you in Edinburgh.

W E L C O M E T O I N O R M S 2 0 1 8Conference Director Gurpreet Jagpal shares what is to come at

INORMS 2018 and gives advice for how ARMA members can get

the most out of this must-attend international event

G U R P R E E T J AG PA L is the Director of Research, Enterprise and Innovation at London South Bank University (LSBU), and CEO South Bank University Enterprises Ltd. His main responsibilities include the strategic and day-to-day operations for LSBU's research, enterprise and innovation activities.

profile

KEY INORMS STATS

• 1,000 delegates expected

• 50 countries represented

• Principle sponsors are Elsevier and Worktribe

• 30 exhibitors and sponsors attending including Nature, RESEARCHConnect, Emerald Publishing/Research Media, Ex Libris and Researchfish

• Media Partner is *Research Professional

No 7


A P E A K AT T H E I N O R M S P R O G R A M M EWith four days of pre-Congress activities, plenary talks, sessions, events and social engagements,

deciding how to fill your time at INORMS 2018 may sound like a daunting challenge. Here are

some highlights from the conference to consider when creating your final line-up


INORMS 2018 will feature internationally renowned plenary speakers, alongside a wide variety of workshops and seminars, opportunities to network and develop professional skills, and a vibrant social programme.

Based on the theme of Promoting Global Research Management, Supporting Global Research Challenges, there will be up to 11 concurrent subthemes running throughout the Congress:

• Developing research proposals

• Managing research projects

• Open data and open access

• Research integrity and ethics

• Research impact and public engagement

• Researcher development

• Research policy and strategy

• Leadership and professional development

• Managing international collaborations

• Winning friends and influencing people

• The future shape of work

Delegates will be able to choose a single subtheme or ‘mix and match’ from a wide range of workshops and panel sessions.

No 8


PRE-CONGRESS EVENTS On Monday, 4 June, there will be a number of pre-Congress events. These workshops are not included in your conference delegate ticket and require a separate booking on www.inorms2018.org/pre-congress-events. Pre-Congress events include:

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

This is a one-day Leadership Summit specifically for leaders who are helping to set the research management agenda in their areas of influence across the globe.

Experienced and recognised guest speakers will share their stories of leadership, particularly across international borders. Ample time will be available for panel discussions. The event will be chaired by Ehsan Masood, Knight Science Journalism Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Speakers: Rebecca Endean – Strategy Director, UK Research and Innovation

Norifumi Miyokawa – Senior Research Administrator, Hiroshima University

Sukanya Kumar-Sinha – Deputy Director, RCUK India

Christina Miller – Director, UK Research Office (UKRO)

Xerxes Mazda – Director of Collections, National Museums of Scotland

ARMA INDUCTION COURSE

This workshop will provide a broad overview of key aspects of the research administration role to those who are new to the sector.

PLENARY AND KEYNOTE SESSIONS Across the INORMS conference, there will be a number of plenary and keynote sessions for all attendees to take part in. These include:

PUBLIC TRUST IN, AND ENGAGEMENT WITH, SCIENCE

Date: Tuesday, 5 June (9:30-11:00)

Topic: Are you wondering how to address the challenges of engaging the public in this age of fake news and global upheaval? This plenary will help you navigate these difficult and uncertain times.

Speakers: David J Phipps – Executive Director, Research and Innovation Services, York University, and Network Director, Research Impact Canada

María De Jesús Medina Arellano – Research Professor, Legal Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Mexico

RUNNING A RESEARCH UNIVERSITY IN AN ERA OF AUSTERITY POLITICS AND LAISSEZ FAIRE ECONOMICS

Date: Wednesday, 6 June (9:30-11:00)

Topic: In this plenary session, top minds from across the globe will come together in one space to debate the challenges of securing funding to address global research problems. A special focus will be paid on how to navigate these politically turbulent times.

Speakers: Ehsan Masood – event Chair and Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT

David Goldston – Director of the MIT Washington Office

Shearer West – Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Nottingham

EXPERIMENTS IN RESPONSIBLE METRICS: HOW CAN INDICATORS AND DATA BE USED TO SUPPORT OPEN RESEARCH?

Date: Wednesday, 6 June (14:00-15:30)

Topic: In this panel discussion, a group of metrically-minded leaders will discuss the growth of metrics and how they should (and should not) be used to support research.

Speakers: Martin McQuillan – event Chair and Editor of *HE

James Wilsdon – Professor of Research Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Sheffield

Elizabeth Gadd – Research Policy Manager (Publications) at Loughborough University

Sarah de Rijcke – Professor of Science and Evaluation Studies, Centre for Science and Technology Studies, University of Groningen

THE ART OF BEING BRILLIANT

Date: Thursday, 7 June (10:00-11:30)

Topic: Learn cutting-edge research to help you explore how you can be you, brilliantly. The aim of this talk is to share some of the ‘secrets’ of positive psychology, focusing on learning new habits of thinking and behaviour that will help you sustain personal ‘brilliance’.

Speaker: Andy Cope – Doctor of Happiness

No 9


HIGHLIGHTED WORKSHOPS With 11 subthemes and six workshop sessions, there are over 100 speakers to choose from during INORMS. Below are but a few of your choices.

SERIOUSLY… WE DON’T HAVE A CRIS?

Theme: Open data and open access

Description: This presentation briefly takes the audience through the process undertaken to assess, acquire and obtain a Current Research Information System (CRIS) for a higher education institute. Topics covered include: support needed, obstacles and challenges, choice of vendors, considerations, pre-implementation, and implementation – priorities and challenges.

ZERO TO SUCCESS IN 120 MINUTES

Theme: Developing research proposals

Description: Keeping meetings short is a challenge all research managers and administrators (RMAs) face. In this experimental and interactive workshop, attendees will discover practical methods for shortening those pesky long research proposal meetings.

YES, WE CAN’T. DEALING WITH STRESS

Theme: Leadership and professional development

Description: Pleasing others seems a recurrent aspect in the life of RMAs. Driven by our passion to please, saying ‘no’ is something we would rather not do. One thing is certain: If RMAs want excellent research support to be sustainable, they need to be able to say ‘no’. This session will take the discussion beyond stating that stress is a problem for RMAs and start a discussion on what to do about it.

DOES RESEARCH MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION HAVE A FUTURE?

Theme: The future shape of work

Description: This workshop will begin with a deliberately provocative scenario on the future of research management whereby human professionals are replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) systems. There will then be a facilitated discussion exploring responses to this scenario and considering the extent to which our professional

community should plan for a future where AI systems will, at the very least, play a significant role. How can these systems support the core purpose of research management?

MANAGING RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS WITH AFRICA AND INDIA

Theme: Managing international collaborations

Description: African and Indian institutions are becoming increasingly engaged in international research collaborations. This trend is being encouraged by developed country partners responding to new funding streams. Relatively little is known, however, about research management practice in African and Indian institutions. This session will clarify questions and showcase opportunities for collaboration.

FROM ‘DATA’ TO IMPACT NARRATIVE

Theme: Research impact and research engagement

Description: Demonstrating and communicating the impact that has arisen from funded research is becoming increasingly necessary for funders, research organisations and researchers alike. Using data sets like those contained in Researchfish as a starting point, this session discusses how narrative can be used to create research impact. This session provides simple steps to can help anyone create narrative from data.

NETWORKING FOR SUCCESS: LOVE IT OR HATE IT, WE ALL HAVE TO DO IT

Theme: Winning friends and influencing people

Description: Facilitating research excellence requires networking skills and making professional contacts, and often friendships, too. This workshop is all about having the confidence and skills to network effectively and will help develop your knowledge and expertise in this area. You can expect a combination of information giving, activities and practice, discussion and plenty of getting up on your feet.

TOWARDS A HYBRID PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHOD FOR MANAGING RESEARCH PROJECTS

Theme: Managing research projects

Description: The audience will participate to guess the relevant criteria and their value (yes/no) in a

decision-making-matrix needed to decide between agile and classic project management methods to better manage research projects.

HUMAN SUBJECT PROTECTIONS ACROSS BORDERS

Theme: Research integrity and ethics

Description: The session will be interactive between speakers and the audience. Audience members will be asked to think about and discuss their programmes for protecting human subjects in transnational research.

ENGAGING POSTGRADUATE RESEARCHERS IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Theme: Researcher development

Description: This presentation is full of ideas and practical suggestions for improving engagement through a researcher development programme. Audience members will be invited to share their experiences and reflections on training and developing postgraduates and early career researchers.

POLICY COMPLIANCE: WHAT'S IMPORTANT?

Theme: Research policy and strategy

Description: The Wellcome Trust funds research worth over £500 million outside the UK. This includes awards made directly to non-UK organisations as well as grants administered by UK organisations where funding is distributed outside the UK, typically through international research partner organisations. All of Wellcome’s funding is subject to a standard set of grant policies and conditions. This session will give attendees an opportunity to learn more about these policies and conditions, and advise the Wellcome team on how easily they can be applied within in their local research environment, as well as how they can be developed to work better and be easier to comply with.

Want to know more about the INORMS 2018 programme?

www.inorms2018.org/programme/2018

No 10


SOCIAL EVENTS Getting to know people outside of the workshops is an essential part of INORMS. Below are events you can to choose from throughout the Congress:

*Research Professional Welcome Reception – A networking event designed to help attendees meet new friends.

*Research Professional Question Time – A live event featuring a panel of distinguished speakers discussing the key research issues of the day. This event will be followed by a buffet supper.

The Quiz – Join quiz master John Eggleton from Emerald Publishing Group’s creative agency business, Research Media, as he leads you through an evening of knowledge-testing fun.

INORMS Choir – Join the INORMS amateur choir, rehearse some numbers (led by our professional Musical Director, Gary Griffiths) and then perform them at the Gala Dinner.

Daybreak walks and runs – Take in the City of Edinburgh with other early risers via self-guided city walks and runs.

There will also be a range of informal activities and networking sessions including sponsored lunches, meals in local restaurants, guided city walks, Special Interest Group gatherings and fireside chats with Inspirational People.

TOP TIPS FROM A LOCAL ARMA has quite a few Scottish board members who love the City of Edinburgh. Here, Linsey Dickson, Chair of the Professional Development Committee, shares her thoughts on the top five things INORMS attendees must do while in the city:

1. Try a whisky – There are so many different tastes and styles. My favourite place to go is the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Kaleidoscope Whisky Bar public bar on Queen Street … but just beware as it can make a serious dent in your pocket.

2. Take a walk – Walk from Holyrood Palace up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle … or if you prefer an easier activity, walk down the hill in the opposite direction!

3. Cycle the Water of Leith – Starting in Stockbridge, you’ll end up at the shore where you can enjoy some great food in some of the bars and restaurants in that area.

4. Check out Rosslyn Chapel – I’m not a Dan Brown fan… but whether you have read the Da Vinci Code or not, take a trip to Rosslyn Chapel – and make sure you take a walk around Roslin Glen. No need to rent a car, you can get there using public transportation.

5. Sample local delicacies from a ‘chippie’ – Play it safe with a fish supper (fish and chips) or be brave and try a haggis supper. (Note: Not all chippies are good, so check out some reviews beforehand). If you get asked ‘saltnsauce?’ Say yes! All to be washed down with Scotland’s other national drink, Irn Bru. Scotland is one a very few countries where Coca Cola is not the number one selling soft drink.

L E T ’ S G E T S O C I A LYour experience at INORMS 2018 would not be complete without

attending social events and getting to know the City of Edinburgh.

Here is an overview of all the ways you can get social and take in

culture during the Congress

Find the full programme at www.inorms2018.org

No 11


If you are new to the sector of research administration or you are ready to push your knowledge to the

next level, ARMA has a learning opportunity for you. Below are several workshops and exchanges ARMA

is offering in the coming months

A R E Y O U R E A D Y T O

L E A R N ?

Sign up for these and other workshops on ARMA’s Event page: https://arma.ac.uk/events

INDUCTION WORKSHOP "We reflect on recent changes in the higher education sector and research environment, making you aware of how quickly things move on in our field." – Course presenters Ann Charlett-Day at University of Sheffield, and Sharron Lobley at University of Leeds

The aim of ARMA’s Induction Workshop is to provide research administrators who are new to the profession a broad overview of key aspects of the research administration role. With our newly refreshed content, it's a great introduction for research administrators who have just joined the research services function of a university or research institute, and it’s a great opportunity to network with peers in the same boat.

ROUTES TO IMPACT "This workshop is the first of the two impact sessions on the ARMA training programme. It's pitched at those newer to impact or working in allied roles and helps attendees build their core knowledge on impact for the

Research Excellence Framework (REF), funding and broader engagement." – Course presenter Julie Bayley at University of Lincoln

This workshop focuses on understanding impact from the perspectives of funding and research assessment. Aimed at research managers and administrators who are new to impact, this workshop considers:

• What is expected by funders

• What is expected for REF

• Challenges and opportunities for managing impact within an institution

• How impact can be weaved into everyday practice

• How individuals can support impact whatever their role within the university

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROPOSALS “This course is aimed at research administrators who are involved in the preparation of research applications, preferably with not more than two years’ experience, or for those who wish to update their knowledge.” – Course presenters Jonathan Cant at University of Hull, and Hitesh Patel at Anglia Ruskin University

This workshop provides an opportunity for participants to gain an overview of the processes involved in creating and submitting a research proposal. It looks at aspects undertaken by the research administrator and those falling to the researcher.

The workshop provides information on full economic costing, preparing a project budget, supporting academics in the writing of proposals, demand management and quality assurance processes, risk management and ethics, submitting proposals and an overview of the peer review process.

No 12


A N E W S T R A T E G Y

F O R A N E W E R A2018-19

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on

nec

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mm

un

itie

sE

nga

ge a

nd

infl

uen

ce

the

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2019-20

Enhance the membership offer and ensure value for money

Transform professionalism for the future

Promote and support the research environment

2020-21

• Develop policy briefings

• Involve members in policy responses

• Establish regional networks

• Further integrate Special Interest Groups within governance structures

• Explore potential for bursary programme

• Explore potential changes to the Association

• Develop Professional Development Framework

• Re-establish ARMA mentoring

• Review and refresh qualifications

• Deliver leadership summit at INORMS 2018

• Promote equality and diversity within governance structures

• Build new relationships

• Improve member communications

• Review ARMA business model

• Develop programme of business process review

• Develop a framework to review Board effectiveness

• Implement outcomes of governance review

• Monitor equality and diversity data

• Develop and support Special Interest Groups

• Capture outcomes from INORMS 2018

• Identify key policy topics

• Deliver policy events

• Manage relationships with external stakeholders

No 13


In the years since ARMA’s last strategic plan was developed, the world seems to

have turned upside down. Political upheaval, economic constraints, changing skills requirements and public mistrust in research are creating an environment where everything we know is being questioned. How do we, as the representative body of the UK’s research leaders, managers, officers and administrators, help our members not only to negotiate these turbulent times, but also to succeed?

With this question firmly in mind, ARMA’s Strategy for 2018-2021 focuses on actions that will transform the Association. Our five strategic themes address the environment we’re in, reflecting the significant changes that have taken place both externally and within the Association. There are some things we’ve chosen not to do, instead prioritising activities that meet ARMA’s guiding principles and whose objectives fit well together. And we’ve built on the regular activities that have made ARMA what it is.

We’ll be looking for people to contribute their ideas, enthusiasm and time to help us deliver these objectives, so keep an eye out for calls to get involved. You can currently get involved through the new Stakeholder Engagement and Professional Development Committees, which you can read about on the following pages. You can also keep up-to-date on progress via ARMA’s website (http://bit.ly/ARMAstrategy2018).

As times change, so too must ARMA’s strategy for the future. Jo Edwards, consultant from Lucidity Solutions Ltd and

recent Interim Chief Operating Officer at ARMA, discusses the strategic plans on the horizon

J O E D WA R D S runs her own consultancy business – Lucidity Solutions Ltd – working with small businesses, universities and other educational institutions on strategy, business processes and communications.

profile

“In strategy it is important to see

distant things as if they were

close and to take a distanced

view of close things.”

Miyamoto Musashi, 17 th Century

Japanese philosopher and swordsman

ARMA’S STRATEGIC THEMES

• Engage and influence the sector in a challenging world

• Build and connect communities and collaborations for members

• Transform professionalism for the future

• Promote and support an inclusive, transparent and ethical research environment

• Enhance the membership experience while delivering value for money

2018-19

Bu

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an

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on

nec

t co

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un

itie

sE

nga

ge a

nd

infl

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ce

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2019-20

Enhance the membership offer and ensure value for money

Transform professionalism for the future

Promote and support the research environment

2020-21

• Identify, develop and share good research practices

• Consider options for membership

• Build relationships for new training and development activities

• Work with partners to promote research integrity

• Explore value of professional code

No 14


As part of its new strategic plan, ARMA is launching the Stakeholder Engagement Committee. Director Stephanie

Maloney explains how the Committee will help the Association better meet the evolving needs of members

now and in the future

A R M A A T Y O U R S E R V I C E

No 15


CAN YOU PLEASE INTRODUCE THE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE? The new Stakeholder Engagement Committee aims to put the needs of our members – all of our members – at the heart of the Association’s actions. Our overarching goal is to ensure member benefits that enhance the research management and administration community by creating a direct communication line between members and the Board.

WHY IS ARMA LAUNCHING THE COMMITTEE? As the Association has grown, it has become clear that no two ARMA members are the same. These differences make us a vibrant community, well-placed to take on global research and research management challenges with diversity of thought. But these differences also mean that as individuals, ARMA members can have vastly different needs. The Stakeholder Engagement Committee is one step of many ARMA is taking to meet these needs better.

WHY SHOULD MEMBERS BE EXCITED ABOUT THE LAUNCH OF THE COMMITTEE? Everything members will see in the future from this Committee will revolve around ensuring that member benefit and Association impact are central to our activities. Therefore, when creating the Committee, we took a step back and asked ourselves three questions:

• What is ARMA about at its core?

• What are we doing to make a difference?

• How do we want the Association to be known?

Many exciting ideas came out of this self-exploration, some of which we are currently piloting. For example, we are testing our new ARMA Consulting model, which is an enhancement to our existing Training and Development (T&D) programme; it is delivered locally and is tailored to the needs of the individual or organisation.

We are also creating pathways so our members can input into sector consultations, safely explore sector interest and concerns, lobby with external stakeholders, interact with our sister associations and engage with our Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in areas where they have the most passion.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE COMMITTEE’S FUTURE? Our plans for 2018/19 include:

• Creating and implementing a communications strategy

• Fostering discussions across networks

• Delivering Research Policy Forums and Executive Roundtable events to influence policy makers, brief members and gather opinions

• Developing and supporting the SIG networks

• Building productive relationships with potential partners in the UK and overseas

• Developing and implementing the ARMA Consulting model

HOW CAN MEMBERS MAKE THE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE WORK FOR THEM? Talk to us! Because the ARMA membership is so diverse, we don’t always know what members need. Make sure you tell us.

WHAT TOOLS CAN MEMBERS USE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE COMMITTEE? There are many ways to engage with us, from direct contact via our annual conference, T&D events and engagement with our SIGs, to more general avenues including reaching out on our website, filling in the member survey and contributing to our publications such as the Protagonist.

HOW CAN ARMA MEMBERS KEEP UP-TO-DATE WITH THE PROGRESS THE COMMITTEE IS MAKING? We produce digests of our Board meetings, which will include updates from each of the Committees. We’ll also have a new implementation plan so our members can see our priorities over the next three years and check how we are progressing against them. If you have other ideas for how we can keep you updated, let us know.

S T E P H A N I E M A L O N E Y is Head of Research and Industrial Partnerships within Research and Enterprise at the University of Lincoln. She leads a diverse team responsible for research development and operations, industrial partnerships and research environment. She is also Director of ARMA’s new Stakeholder Engagement Committee and a member of the Research Organisation Consultation Group.

profile

CORE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

• Oversee member engagement and Special Interest Groups

• Evaluate member engagement and satisfaction with the member offer

• Develop new business streams that provide benefit for members

• Direct ARMA’s communications with its members

• Review external stakeholder management

• Identify opportunities for ARMA across the higher education sector, within the UK and internationally

No 16


I N V E S T I N G I N P E R S O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T

No 17


CAN YOU PLEASE INTRODUCE THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE? The Professional Development Committee was recently brought together following discussions about ARMA’s strategy for the next three years. We want to ensure that we are bringing together strands of activities that truly contribute to members’ professional development and that we are covering specific areas of interest. We want to ensure these are reflected within our Professional Development Framework (PDF).

WHAT AREAS WILL THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE COVER? We are covering three areas of professional development activities, which through the Committee will be closer aligned with each other and ARMA’s overarching strategy. They are: Training and Development (T&D), Professional Qualifications and ARMA’s Annual Conference.

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE ON THE COMMITTEE? I am the Chair of the Professional Development Committee and the Director of Professional Qualifications. Jennifer Stergiou is the Director of T&D, and Gurpreet ‘Gups’ Jagpal is the Director of ARMA’s Annual Conference. We work together to lead the Committee, with the Chair position rotating every year.

YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU ARE GOING TO REVIEW THE CURRENT PDF. CAN YOU EXPAND ON THIS? We are looking to refresh our activities over the

next three years. Reviewing our PDF is the key part of this process. We want all of our activities to reflect a refreshed PDF, and we want the PDF to truly reflect the current environment we, as research managers and administrators, are working in.

WHY SHOULD ARMA’S MEMBERS BE EXCITED ABOUT THE LAUNCH OF THE COMMITTEE? There will be substantial member benefits through greater alignment across the Association’s activities. I am most excited about ensuring all ARMA members are able to see themselves and their roles reflected in the refreshed PDF. We have ARMA members performing varied tasks, across many different roles, and through our changes, we want each member to be able to find opportunities for professional development.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE REGARDING THE COMMITTEE'S THREE AREAS OF INTEREST? Jennifer and I will be focusing on the PDF review, and I am leading on refreshing our professional qualifications. We are currently reviewing the Certificate for Research Administration and the Certificate for Research Management. This includes improving support resources and mechanisms for completion.

The T&D provision led by Jennifer will ensure that we continue to deliver our core T&D events

while also providing space to address ‘hot’ and emerging topics.

Looking forward to the next ARMA Conference, we are excited to see the team led by Gups bring the refreshed PDF into the Conference and of course we will be working closely with our Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

HOW CAN ARMA MEMBERS CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE? We welcome contributions from the membership, and you can contact us via the Executive Office or directly. Within the Committee, we have representation from our SIGs, so ARMA members can feed up through their SIGs. We also encourage members to reach out through the membership survey, which closes 27 May.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE REGARDING THE COMMITTEE AND ITS ACTIVITIES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE? I encourage members to look out for new activities and resources we are bringing online. For example, we will be capturing outputs from INORMS and sharing these with our members in due course.

Linsey Dickson, Chair of ARMA’s new Professional Development Committee, introduces the goals of the Committee

and explains what benefits members should expect looking forward

L I N S E Y D I C K S O N is Chair of ARMA’s Professional Development Committee and Director of Professional Qualifications. She is also Head of Research Funding within Research and Innovation Services at the University of Stirling, with responsibility for leading a team focusing on research development and supporting the delivery of increased grant capture.

profile

No 18


From the impact of gender on research funding awards to the difference between management

information and KPIs, ARMA members from institutions and organisations across the UK share

stories with messages that are universally applicable

N O T E S F R O M T H E M E M B E R S H I P


No 19


Some UK universities have set up clusters of Research (research centres). This

strategy focuses on niche dominance in a particular research field with the aim of concentrating on limited resources, creating critical mass of researchers and working towards the organisation goal of improving Research Excellence Framework (REF) scores and league table performance.

Most research centres are involved in a number of areas such as funded and non-funded research, consultancy, continuing professional development courses, PhD provision, impact studies, journals and books publication, innovative research led teaching, etc.

There are different approaches to developing research centres, including setting them up as strategic business units, independent entities as subsidiaries, semi-autonomous structures within faculties or independent structures. Some of these research centres are externally funded while others are internally funded and managed as a profit or cost centre.

Research centres are presently being appraised in many ways; for example, they are being monitored against original targets, business plans and organisational strategic plans as well as being benchmarked against competitor groups, etc. The limited literature review undertaken highlights the absence of an effective performance measurement tool, which would explore all the perspectives of performance. Ideally, weightages need to be assigned to various activities being undertaken or planned to assess any past performance and future sustainability.

I welcome connecting with people who are responsible for setting up, managing and appraising research centres. I also invite colleagues from across the research management spectrum to join my study as specialists to describe key performance indicators, assign relative weightages and work together to create a tool for all of us.

In his short story, ‘The Unrest Cure’, Edwardian writer Saki describes how a man is

shocked out of his ‘deep groove of elderly middle-age’ complacency by an invented terror plot. Saki’s suggestion was that sometimes we need discomfort rather than comfort. We need to step outside the everyday and ordinary to appreciate our lives and our work and see them afresh. We all need an ‘un-rest’ cure.

That’s where secondments come in. It’s all too easy to feel comfortable in your work. When you first start it’s terrifying, but within a few months you know who does what and how processes and systems work. You know how much support and help you need to give to which academics. You know about the cakes and tea routine.

It’s time to step out. I’ve always been supportive of those in my team taking secondments and coming back with a deeper understanding of the wider higher education environment and a renewed interest in supporting research. Or, if they thrive in the secondment, moving on and developing their career. It’s all healthy. Discomfort allows us to grow.

I’ve recently decided to do the same; I am currently on a six-month secondment as an editor at *Research Professional. It’s both exhausting and exhilarating, seeing research and support from a different perspective. That will be hugely beneficial when I return to Kent. So look around you: What can you do to make yourself uncomfortable?

S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y A S S E S S M E N T O F R E S E A R C H C E N T R E S

I N P R A I S E O F D I S C O M F O R T

Bikram Singh calls for collaborators to contribute to his Doctorate at Coventry University, where he is reviewing performance and assessing sustainability of research centres within universities

Phil Ward from University of Kent discusses the benefits that can be gained from secondments

No 20


I recently attended the ARMA ‘Advanced Routes to Impact’ training workshop where it was a

real pleasure to meet other people working on impact.

Impact is becoming increasingly important, with funders requiring 'pathways to impact' statements in grant applications and impact cases accounting for 25% of REF 2021. At the workshop, it became apparent that impact is a relatively new role, with many instances in which people were the ‘lone wolf’ at their institution. In my mind, this increased the importance of internal networking with those who play a key part in delivering impact, including those from business engagement, knowledge exchange, public engagement, social responsibility, the library and the press office.

In my experience, impact seems to be easily grasped by early career researchers and

Much of the conversation in our universities is about becoming more

digital. This is even though we are online during most of our day-to-day work, using a variety of different systems such as Je-S. But what does it actually mean to be digital? Going digital isn't just about using technology; it's about a mindset. It means considering how digital formats can replace existing analogue ones. It means thinking about user experience and being agile in the context of an ever-changing environment.

At University of Stirling, we’ve worked as champions with our Information Services colleagues to become completely paperless. We use an online platform to work in co-production with our researchers. We use instant messaging to communicate internally with colleagues. A digital presence in research management enables collaboration, which has provided demonstrable efficiencies such as the ability to develop funding proposals with partners across the globe.

researchers in more applied areas. It can, however, require a different way of thinking for more established professors and basic researchers where the route to delivering impact is less straightforward.

On the positive side, impact roles do exist, demonstrating that higher education institutions are taking notice of the impact agenda. On the negative side, job descriptions vary within faculties and institutions, bringing with it uncertainty as to ‘what we do’, along with unclear training needs and career trajectory for us as a profession.

It feels like we have come a long way since REF 2014 when impact case studies were included for the first time, but there is still a way to go before impact across the sector is fully supported and realised.

The millennial generation is continuing to become a bigger proportion of the population of both research managers and administrators and academic communities. This is leading to growing expectations of digital capacities in the way we work. It's worth reflecting whether our research management processes can be iterated and improved to consider digital natives. If we don't, there is a risk our potential future research leaders will become disengaged or alienated due to stagnant processes.

So how can we harness the power of digital in research management and administration, and ensure that we are making the most of the opportunities that exist as a result of working in this new age? How do we do this while keeping the art of conversation? Join us at INORMS for our ‘The Future Shape of Work’ pecha kucha session on this topic (Tuesday, 5 June at 2 pm) as we continue this conversation.

T H E E V O L U T I O N O F I M P A C T

I S D I G I T A L T H E F U T U R E O F R E S E A R C H ?

The University of Manchester's Lauren Tempelman reflects on the challenges and opportunities associated with the need to prove impact in research

Fiona Millar and Lauren Wilson from University of Stirling explore what it means for research to be truly digital

No 21


The research rollercoaster is taking another turn, down a path that includes a real term

increase in Government investment worth £2 billion per year by 2020 for R&D. This increase directly aligns with the Government’s new Industrial Strategy, which aims to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of scientific and technological advances, and retains its leadership in the global market.

This increase in R&D investment presents exciting opportunities to bring industry and academia together, but it also presents challenges in terms of who is best placed to support such projects. ‘Industrial Strategy Manager’ and ‘Business Development Manager – Industrial Strategy’ roles have been appearing on job vacancy lists at universities across the country over the last year. This poses many questions: What skills do staff need to address the challenges and opportunities the Industrial Strategy presents? And, do we need new roles to offer the skills or new ways of working?

Gender discrimination and the pay gap are key issues for many industries today.

Academia is no different.

As in industry, access to resources and funding in academia is key to career success: higher education institutions (HEIs) often set individual key performance indicators, and the ability to command a larger grant can often be connected to leadership abilities and confidence in the applying researcher. Research income is then used in career review and promotion settings. If women obtain less than men, this damages their opportunity for advancement.

Research Councils UK (RCUK) reports annually on grant success rates for men and women – but what about the level of grants awarded to male and female applicants? Whilst this is largely in an applicant’s control, we are all aware of unconscious bias, of disadvantages to women in

The majority of industrially led Government supported R&D was previously offered through Innovate UK, with support for such applications coming from university business development teams. The Industrial Strategy will deliver a large portfolio of funding through the newly launched UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and joint Innovate initiatives with the Research Councils. In most institutions, Research Council applications are predominantly supported by research development teams. Therefore, an ideal skill set to support Industrial Strategy applications would include both research AND business development expertise.

Whilst new roles ensure committed resource to this upturn in industrially led activity, it is likely those in such roles will have more expertise in one camp than the other. Therefore, any new roles must be supported with more effective cross-team working between research and business development colleagues to find success.

academia and the knock-on effect on self-esteem and confidence.

Within our own internal funding scheme, female applicants have been more conservative in their requests compared to male colleagues. I am now investigating this on a UK-wide level, concentrating on successful RCUK applications over the past five years and examining the local environment of universities as a Journal of Research Administration Fellow. As well as understanding the amounts awarded by gender, I am examining this in the context of the local HEI environment, looking at whether the institutions hold Athena SWAN accreditation or HR Excellence in Research Awards.

Research managers have an important role to play in the equalities agenda: by interrogating this one area and sharing the results, I hope we can contribute to closing the gap.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE UK’S INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

G E N D E R A F F E C T I N R E S E A R C H F U N D I N G A W A R D S

Durham University’s Julie Swinbank and Lorna Wilson discuss the resource and skills requirements that will be necessary to meet the Industrial Strategy’s needs

Alison Hay, Research Developer at Glasgow School of Art, is taking a cold, hard look at the gender pay gap in academia

No 22


Management information is defined by the Financial Services Authority as

‘information that is collected during a period of business activity’. The topic and type will vary. It could be about finance, customers or staff; it can be quantitative or qualitative. Key performance indicators (KPIs), in contrast, are defined by the Advanced Performance Institute as ‘navigation tools that managers use to understand whether the business is on a successful voyage or whether it is veering off the prosperous path’.

If an organisation’s strategic aim can be seen as its destination, then KPIs can be set as points in the map to show if the organisation is heading in the right direction. Management information is like a reading point, allowing the organisation to check where it is in relation to the points. Good-quality management information needs four characteristics:

• CONSISTENCY: The same type of information should be gathered at each update so it can be compared and trends can be identified

• ACCURACY: Information should be verified and prepared by the people in the best position to do so

• RELEVANCY: Information provided should be information that management can influence if need be

• TIMELINESS: Information should be provided regularly, often and soon enough to enable action to be taken

No matter the quality of your management information, it is useless without the definition of a strategic aim and KPIs. This is why benchmarking is vital.

After 13 years at the University of Bath I have decided to move on. Not just to

another university, but out of the sector into local government (the West of England Combined Authority), taking a lead on skills and businesses support.

I wanted to submit something that allowed me to reflect upon what I’ve learnt. One thing I want to say about leadership is “hold your own”. In 2015, I wrote to our senior managers to show how we were deploying the triple helix concept (https://triplehelix.stanford.edu/3helix_concept) as a useful demonstration of the changing external funding environment. Her Majesty’s Government has wanted this for a while. I first heard it talked about 20 years ago at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

In terms of ARMA, my highlights have been in serving the Conference Committee for 6+ years – you learn a lot doing this, so I would encourage you to volunteer. I also had the great pleasure of introducing a dedicated Research Development stream, which led to the Special Interest Groups with my co-conspirator Adam Golberg.

As a Director these last four years, I’ve seen the need to be benevolent (including coffee) and predictable to build trust, which is challenging given the ever changing external environments. Getting the Deans on side and somehow prioritising resources, when some don’t want to be managed...

Although I’ve enjoyed my time in the higher education sector, I’m not so sure “I’ll be back” (as Arnie said), but I won’t be far away and “our paths will cross again”.

M A N A G E M E N T I N F O R M A T I O N V S K P I S

O U R P A T H S W I L L C R O S S A G A I N

Do you know the difference between management information and key performance indicators? Alison Carminke from University of Wolverhampton explains why this difference is critical to organisational success

After 13 years at the University of Bath, Jon Hunt is tackling his next chapter. But, before he goes, he would like to share his learnings with ARMA

No 23


As of this year, ARMA has launched a new committee called the Stakeholder

Engagement Committee (read all about it on page 14). I can’t wait to see this Committee in action. We have a great new set of Committee members with wide ranging experiences and expertise that will really add value and ensure member benefit is at the heart of what we are doing. Being able to lead the direction this takes, work with great people in the community and see our members benefiting and growing as a result of their interactions and engagement with ARMA is hugely satisfying.

I have benefited hugely from my engagement with ARMA. I’m passionate about giving back to the community so others can see the great work ARMA does and benefit like I have, whether that be in skills development or building networks or profile or leadership skills. One of the things that drives me is the passion of the people I work with in the ARMA community and their huge willingness to share experiences and support each other – you can’t put a value on these things!

L O O K I N G F O R W A R D T O G I V I N G B A C K

Stephanie Maloney, Director of ARMA’s new Stakeholder Engagement Committee, explains what motivations inspired her to step up to the role

Research support in universities is normally a siloed practice. By this I mean

that each university runs its own research support service with crossover and good practice for professional staff restricted to networks and training like those supported by ARMA. There is also informal working between professionals at different institutions, but more formal working is not encouraged due to the competitive nature of the sector. But are there benefits to more formal partnerships to deliver research support between universities?

Over the last four years, I have had the opportunity to work with universities in more formal, cross-institution roles. I have been, in effect, a shared research development resource. While I focused on working with individual researchers, my remit included building research

New research published in British Politics (https://bit.ly/2FdyOGF) explores how

the political roots of the impact agenda may have shaped early perceptions of research impact among academics. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of interviews with 51 academics from UK and Australia between 2011 and 2013, the research explores the challenges of engaging with an impact agenda. It describes how some researchers perceive impact to negatively affect funding, motivation and the quality of research, skewing funding towards certain disciplines.

Where impact was seen to ‘direct’ research, some academics suggested they would re-orientate their work, often at the expense of quality. The research suggests that extrinsic motivations for impact may be ‘crowding out’ intrinsic motivations of academics, demotivating those who were already motivated to achieve impact for their own reasons.

As REF 2021 continues to externalise and arguably instrumentalise the motives of researchers, professionals whose role it is to support academics need to continue to find new ways of incentivising impact from the bottom up by getting to know the wide range of motives behind researchers’ decisions to engage with impact. In doing so, researchers can be supported to consider why they are doing what they are doing as researchers and remain focused on their own intrinsic motives.

If a researcher is not personally motivated by the idea of making a difference, then this must be understood and supported as well. Taking a bespoke approach to impact that recognises and respects diversity is key to maintaining and improving morale. Recognise that each researcher will have a different mix of motivations, and tap into those intrinsic motivations to incentivise engagement with impact.

partnerships between universities. This exciting approach saw new research collaborations forged and open sharing of good practices and ideas. Yes, sometimes academics were submitting grants to the same funder at the same time, but the learning gained by working together and sharing good practice (and ultimately successful grant applications!) outweighed any competition.

Many of the universities involved had similar discipline and research profiles, which helped to develop collaborations, but even cross-discipline partnerships grew. These collaborations surprised me, but quickly it became clear that there can be real commonalities between disciplines. Maybe we should be providing support across the discipline divide? Perhaps formally between universities, too, although for some that may be a step too far for now!

E X P E R I M E N T S I N R E S E A R C H S U P P O R T

E N G A G I N G W I T H R E S E A R C H E R S O N I M P A C T

Lachlan Smith, Director of Cloud Chamber, encourages collaboration as a competitive edge in securing research funding

Newcastle University's Mark Reed and the University of Sheffield's Jenn Chubb explore ways to engage with researchers and motivate them regarding impact

No 24


Ehsan Masood, Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, picks out highlights from his diary from his year as a

research student in America under Donald Trump

B O R D E R S , W A L L S A N D F O X E S

No 25


SANCTUARY CITY “No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbour.”

Wherever I walk, I notice that the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts are peppered with these welcoming signs. I am at the start of a year-long Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Massachusetts is America’s famously liberal state (three-quarters of voters did not vote for Donald Trump) and each sign is in three languages: Arabic and Spanish, as well as English.

Unlike conventional street signs, these are all at ground-height. That means they’re intended not for drivers and cyclists, but pedestrians: and particularly those the Trump administration has vowed to restrict through travel bans and border walls.

POT LUCK Massachusetts’ liberalism extends to its approach to marijuana. The state’s lawmakers permitted the drug for medicinal use in 2012. Four years later, voters agreed to lift a ban on its recreational use and the first retail pot shops are expected to open by July. By some estimates, between 25 and 50 shops will be ready by then and the numbers could mushroom. Colorado, one of the early states to legalise marijuana, has 200 shops in Denver alone.

The Federal Government’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions is looking at steps that Washington could take to delay the opening. If he succeeds, medical users are worried that the stand-off with Washington could also affect their ability to use the drug for pain relief.

ELITE EXILES Cambridge is regarded by many Republicans, Fox News and the White House as, not only a land of loose morals, but also haven for the infamous ‘global elite’. These are the bright, mobile and globally networked academics who appear on CNN and are therefore part of the ‘swamp’ that Trump promised his voter base he would pull the plug on.

The accusation grates of course, but at the same time it’s also not easy to find conservative voices on America’s East Coast campuses. Harvard University, for example, has many notable Obama-era officials wandering its corridors. On one day I spot no fewer than three former cabinet ministers at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government: Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz and the President’s former Chief Scientific Adviser John Holdren, with whom I am taking a class in US science policy.

No 26


profile

MISSING PERSON ENQUIRY Holdren served Obama for the full eight years of his presidency, but the Trump White House seems to have decided that a replacement presidential science adviser isn’t needed. Each week I ask Holdren if he has any news of an appointment, and he always replies by saying he has no more access to his former colleagues than I do. Trump is reported to have asked Bill Gates if he wanted the job, to which the Microsoft founder is said to have told the President that he has better things to do with his time.

FOLLOW THE MONEY Inspite of much pre-election rhetoric, Trump has not turned out to be an ideologically driven budget cutter. Many of the nation’s leading science agencies (including NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and defence research agencies) have seen increases to their spending allocations for the fiscal year that ends on 30 September 2018. That said, the Environmental Protection Agency has seen its budget slashed and a unique renewable energy research lab called Arpa-E looks like it may be abolished.

AGAINST TIME My research project at MIT is to track down and interview the surviving academics who became victims of McCarthyism, that troubled decade between the late 1940s and 1950s during which thousands of academics and intellectuals lost their jobs under the pretext that they were Communists. In some cases there is evidence that universities were not doing enough to protect their staff, in particular those at the early career stage, against blatant miscarriages of justice.

But I seem to have arrived at this story too late, as the youngest surviving academic is now in her late 80s. Former Harvard psychologist Leon Kamin did agree to an interview shortly before he passed away in December 2017. He was a graduate student when the call came to appear before the feared House Committee on Un-American Activities. When Kamin went to see his Dean for help, the Dean replied that he already knew of the case “as I’m in regular contact with the Boston office of the FBI”.

AN AUDIENCE WITH DAVOS MAN To its credit, the Kennedy School (along with most University departments) regularly opens its doors to the public for big events, and I am on my way to hear Klaus Schwab, founder and

chairman of the World Economic Forum at Davos. Schwab, a Harvard alum of 50 years, is due to speak on a prescient topic: “Collaboration in a Fractured World”, and I eagerly take my seat with a colleague from MIT’s Knight Science Journalism programme.

The event is sadly a let-down. Schwab announces that he will do a Q&A as he has no written text. A Harvard professor is quickly drafted in to lob a few questions before the floor is opened to students. Hands go up, but they are mostly from students who want to know how they can become like the speaker. Schwab beams with delight and says: “Nothing has influenced my life more than my year’s stay here at the Kennedy School.” I turn around to glance at my colleague, but she is already getting up to leave.

AILING FOX I make a point to watch Fox News most nights, and (at the time of writing) it seems that the channel could be in some trouble. As Federal prosecutors begin investigating Trump’s legal and business affairs it turns out that a top Fox host, Sean Hannity, has the same personal lawyer as the President. This is a man called Michael Cohen, and he is being investigated by prosecutors for paying hush money to women with whom it is alleged that Trump had affairs.

At the same time, advertisers have been deserting a late-night talk show hosted by ex-Ronald Reagan staffer Laura Ingraham, after she attacked one of the children who survived a school shooting because he has become a vocal gun control advocate.

Fox has been running a campaign it calls “Men in America”. This consists of interviewees arguing that gun control (along with driverless cars) are in fact an attempt at undermining manhood and removing men’s rights.

BREAKING VIEWS Lacking its rival’s insider access, CNN has opted to abandon formal news-style reporting and has instead become an extended talk show on the Trump presidency. A rotating group of top-flight presenters spend hours interviewing each other, or interviewing the same cast of mostly left-leaning commentators.

Each programme starts or ends with monologue from the presenter. When Trump said that America’s biggest mistake in Iraq was that “we should have kept the oil”, anchor Anderson

Cooper calmly replied: “The US didn’t keep the oil of a sovereign country, as that’s called plunder, and it went out with Genghis Khan.”

RECLAIMING HISTORY Speaking of history, one of my most rewarding discoveries has been watching MIT handle the delicate subject of its own links to slavery. In recent years, America’s campuses have come alive with argument and protest, and many statues of historical figures implicated in racism or slavery have come down. In response, MIT’s president Raphael Reif asked historians to investigate the University’s own records. This task was given to a team of students who discovered from archive research that MIT’s founding president William Barton Rogers was a slave-owner.

The University’s handling of this finding is a model of how this should be done. The announcement was presided by the University president and his senior colleagues at an event to which all students and faculty were invited. But it was the students who took the lead in unveiling what they found. MIT historian Craig Steven Wilder, the author of Ebony and Ivy, a book about how slavery shaped US colleges, said: “One of the things that MIT owes all of us, itself, its constituencies, its alumni, its students, its faculty and the broader public is to be brutally honest about its past.”

E H S A N M A S O O D was the former Editor of Research Fortnight from 2009 to 2017, as well as the Commissioning Editor at Nature and the Opinion Editor at New Scientist. He is currently a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. He has written several books including The Great Invention: The Story of GDP and the Making and Unmaking of the Modern World and Science and Islam: A History. He teaches science and innovation policy to science communication masters students at Imperial College London.

No 27


Hamish McAlpine is Senior Policy Adviser for Knowledge Exchange at Research England. Here, he introduces the

new Knowledge Exchange Framework, explaining what research managers and administrators should expect in the

future regarding the framework and how it relates to REF and TEF

K N O W L E D G E E X C H A N G E

F R A M E W O R K

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On 3 April, I came back to work after the Easter weekend to a new office, and more

importantly, a new organisation. With a mission to shape research and knowledge exchange (KE) in English institutions, Research England is the newest and smallest of the nine councils that make up UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

We were 40 people on day one. However, our headcount belies the breadth of work (and size of budget) we inherited from HEFCE: quality-related (QR) research funding and Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF), together with the Connecting Capability Fund and the new Expanding Excellence in England (E3) fund totals around £2 billion per year.

We also administer the £900 million UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF), and, with Innovate UK, the forthcoming UKRI Strength in Places Fund. And a little thing called the Research Excellence Framework (REF).

Another relative newcomer to our portfolio was announced by the then universities minister Jo Johnson last October. While acknowledging significant strengths, the aims of the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) are to help universities ‘find a new gear’ in KE, to provide stakeholders with more visible information on performance, and to create greater public accountability for HEIF – which, following, another recent increase, stands at £210 million per year.

SO WHAT IS KEF GOING TO LOOK LIKE? Sitting alongside the existing REF and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), KEF seeks to serve a distinctive dual purpose: to enable universities to understand and improve their KE practice, and to provide information to businesses and other stakeholders on university performance.

We were asked to implement KEF from autumn, and we currently envisage it as an annual, institutional-level, largely metrics-driven exercise. However, the majority of responses to the recent HEFCE call for evidence expressed strong support for some type of narrative or contextual information to be included. We

are currently considering how to do this.

Contrary to some early reports, KEF will not be focused solely on measuring research commercialisation. We will take a broad view of KE. That is not to say these things are easy to measure, or that we have all the answers yet. To this end, we have been engaging widely with universities of all types, mission groups, businesses, Catapult centres and others to refine our understanding of the measurement challenges.

The timescales of implementation from autumn inevitably mean we are largely restricted to existing data. However, while the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey metrics will doubtless feature, we are looking across UKRI and beyond at other sources of information. For example, we already use data about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) from Innovate UK to inform HEIF funding, and we are assessing a range of other potential measures. We are actively looking at how to incorporate the voice of knowledge recipients (e.g. businesses and other stakeholders) into the process.

FAIR COMPARISON Given the diversity of KE, and the institutions that practice it, one of our primary concerns is how to ensure rigorous and useful, but fair comparison. To this end, we are exploring a number of approaches: normalisation, smoothing or averaging ‘lumpy’ data like IP income, and creating clusters of peers based on the assets they have available to do KE, like numbers of staff and students, discipline mix and funding. These KE peer groups will form part of the consultation.

KEF’S RELATIONSHIP WITH REF IMPACT CASE STUDIES One of the most frequent questions we’ve had is around KEF’s relationship to the existing frameworks. We will work closely with REF colleagues and the Office for Students to ensure that these frameworks work together in a mutually reinforcing way.

REF impact case studies are a selective set of narratives detailing in a qualitative way impact generated from research. As can be

seen from the figure in ‘KE leadership, strategy and institutional structures’ on the next page, we consider KE to encompass a broader set of activities, many of which relate more to the teaching activities of the institution. There is also no requirement for impact to have been influenced by the institution. KEF is seeking to measure more of what institutions do to help create the conditions for impact to be realised.

WHAT OF THE LINK TO FUNDING? Research England has been asked to advise on an appropriate link to funding. We have also been asked to work with the devolved administrations to design a framework appropriate for the whole of the UK. Our current view is therefore that developing a robust, useful framework for the intended audiences is the primary task, with the potential link to funding to be determined later.

We intend to consult on a draft framework later this year, at which point we should have a much clearer idea of the composition of the metrics and what role a narrative statement or additional contextual information will play. We will always seek to minimise burden, and we don't expect KEF to add significantly to existing data collection or reporting requirements.

H A M I S H M C A L P I N E is Senior Policy Adviser for Knowledge Exchange at Research England. He looks after all evidence and metrics related to knowledge exchange, including responsibility for KEF metrics, the HE-BCI report, and working with the rest of the team on HEIF policy and funding allocations. Before Research England, Hamish worked at the University of Bristol where he managed large, industrially engaged research projects.

No 29


Credit: T. Coates-Ulrichsen, 2015

Research England is taking a broad view of knowledge exchange (KE) when it comes to deciding which metrics to measure as part of the Knowledge Exchange Framework.

Leadership and governance

KE staff

Internal/external courses

Access points for external organisations

Business development

Consultancy support

Press/communications

Marketing

External fundraising for research

Technology transfer

Patenting/IP advice

Investment funds

Contracts/legal support

Science parks

Incubators

Facilities/equipment

Widening participation

Awareness raising/knowledge diffusion

Involving the public in research

Provision of public space

Alumni networks

KE professional networks

Staff exchanges

Academic – external organisation networks

Social enterprise

Enterprise and entrepreneurship

training

Internal courses Workshops/seminars

Best practice networks Mentoring Informal networks

Recruitment

Academics

Incentives and rewards

Institutional culture

StrategyOrganisational systems

Leadership, strategy and institutional structures

Facilitating the research exploitation process (non-tech transfer)

Commercialisation (tech transfer)

Exploiting the physical assets of the HEI Supporting the community/

public engagement

Entrepreneurship and enterprise education

Knowledge networks/diffusion

Building internal capability within the higher education institution (HEI)

Continuing professional development activities/short

courses

Lifelong learning

Career services

Work placements/project experience

Joint curriculum development

Skills and human capital development

K E L E A D E R S H I P, S T R A T E G Y A N D I N S T I T U T I O N A L S T R U C T U R E S

No 30


No 31


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Two-and-a-half years after a super-funding agency was mooted by Paul

Nurse in his review of the UK’s Research Councils, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) came into being in April. Ironically, given the long-running controversy around its creation, any disquiet at its launch was overshadowed by a host of storms erupting in higher education: the pensions dispute, the role of the Office for Students (which came into force on the same day as UKRI) and the ongoing rumblings over vice-chancellors’ pay.

That could be a blessing in disguise. Whether or not you believe that UKRI, with its focus on interdisciplinarity, is the right approach, the payoff for the overhaul of the Research Council funding system and closer ties to Government will be £2 billion more funding per year.

THE AGENCY IS HERE Now that the UKRI is here, it should be judged on its performance, not on the merits of its creation. Clearly, one of UKRI’s biggest challenges – but also one of its biggest opportunities – is in securing a strong future for research in the UK after Brexit. From day one, the umbrella agency – with its starting budget of £6 billion – has more power within Whitehall than the individual Research Councils ever had to argue for measures that will support science once the UK withdraws from the EU.

Securing continued participation in the EU’s substantial programmes for research and innovation, together with policies around movement of researchers, will surely be high up the agency’s agenda. So, too, should be adapting the system for early career researchers. If the

weight of UKRI were brought to bear on the damaging instability new researchers face, for example by offering funding incentives for longer-term contracts, it could spur much-needed change.

Given UKRI is critical to delivering the Government’s pledge to increase R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP, and will distribute funding to drive its industrial strategy, it should not need to fight to have its voice heard within Whitehall. However, in those crowded corridors, much will inevitably rest on the personal power of its Chief Executive Mark Walport and the issues he chooses to press.

Researchers will hope that his reluctance, so far, to comment publicly on Brexit will not be a lasting silence. Or, at least, that he is rather more vocal in private, as UKRI seeks to become what its incoming Director of Strategy Rebecca Endean called, in a recent interview with Research Fortnight, “a voice for the communities” of science and innovation.

HELPING UKRI LIVE UP TO ITS POTENTIAL Closer to the ground, researchers and those involved in research services will be looking at how UKRI makes good on its promise to incentivise interdisciplinary research.

Much will ride on the detail and implementation of its draft strategy, due to be published in May, after this article went to press. How the agency balances funding between disciplines to drive forward this agenda without damaging existing areas of excellence will be keenly watched. So too, clearly, will be the balance between political priorities and support for blue-sky research.

So while UKRI’s arrival perhaps garnered less than its share of the headlines of the moment, it is crucial that those whose future will be shaped by the agency’s work engage with it constructively and hold its performance to account.

The impact of UKRI will far outlast and outweigh the impact of some of the other topics that have recently preoccupied higher education. It is in the research community’s interests to keep an extremely close watching brief.

A version of this article first appeared in Research Fortnight.

UKRI is here, so let’s talk about its performance, says

Sarah Richardson, group editor at *Research Professional

A N E W D A W N

S A R A H R I C H A R D S O N is group editor at *Research Professional, with overall editorial responsibility for the independent UK policy publication Research Fortnight and its sister titles Research Europe, Research Africa and HE.

No 32


Gill Wells is Head of Oxford’s Research Services European

and International Team. She explores what future EU

research workers have in the UK and how ARMA members

can advocate for them

B R E X I T ’ S I M P A C T O N E U R E S E A R C H W O R K E R S I N T H E U K

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"Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” is hardly a statement to

inspire confidence, and it certainly did little to reassure the higher education sector as the first stage of the UK-EU Brexit-inspired negotiations were coming to a close last December. However, more reassurance was forthcoming when the European Council (EC) agreed to the joint proposal from the EU and UK for a ‘transition period’, which will run from the date of our departure to the end of 2020.

IMPACTS OF APPLYING FOR SETTLED STATUS The Government has stated that there will be a new and simple online application for EU/EEA citizens to apply for status to remain in the UK. The fee (for those who do not already have a Permanent Residence card for whom it will be free) will be no more than the cost of a British passport.

This may seem a straightforward and pragmatic arrangement, but we should not underestimate the impact that this change of status will have on our colleagues. The very fact that they now have to register at all is something that many find deeply upsetting.

Dr Ana Serra Barros, a Portuguese Senior Research Contracts Specialist and Impact Acceleration Manager at the University of Oxford, came to study as an undergraduate here on the EC’s Leonardo DaVinci programme and then completed a DPhil in Biochemistry that was also part-funded by the EC. She writes:

“I primarily chose the UK all those years ago because of it being one of the best places to do science, but if I was that undergraduate student today, I would not choose the UK due to the all uncertainties and perceived dislike of migrants.

"It is impossible to begin to describe what I felt the morning of 24 June 2016. I do not believe I have ever spoken to anyone that might remotely think to vote to leave the EU, so the result of the referendum came as a massive shock.

"Even though the Government has given some assurances, they are all meaningless until they are down in a non-revertible signed piece of paper. Just the fact that I will have to apply for ‘settled status’ and pay for it instead of it

being given to me makes me feel unwanted and discriminated against.

"Even though I have been in the country for many years, I just make the five-year cut because I was a student for most my time here. The thought of having to deal with the Home Office, with the daily reports of people being deported, is absolutely terrifying.”

THE VALUE OF EU RESEARCH WORKERS IN THE UK Since the Referendum, most of the lobbying activity has been concerned with the potential impacts of Brexit on academics, researchers and students. However, in order for research to flourish it also needs the support of professional project managers, IP specialists, contract negotiators, bid writers, research facilitators, administrators for the key areas of student recruitment, open access, ethics and integrity, animal welfare, governance, legal services, innovation, knowledge exchange, research evaluation and so on... In short, ARMA members.

At Oxford, we use the term ‘research workers’ in all our lobbying activity. This is because the phrase ‘free movement of research workers’ is included in more than one Associated Country agreement and therefore serves as a precedent for negotiation of the UK’s agreement to participate in Framework 9.

This phrase was also used recently by the Russell Group in their response to the Migration Advisory Committee inquiry where they asked for a migration system that “enables universities to continue to attract and recruit talented staff, including highly skilled academics and other research workers, from the EEA easily and cost-effectively”.

Of course, this alone isn’t enough to reassure colleagues that their future is secure.

As Ana notes: “Aside from my long list of personal worries, I have major concerns professionally. I am not convinced that Research Support Staff will be labelled as ‘highly skilled’ like the academics they support, and therefore they will have more difficulty obtaining the required visas.

"The likely restriction on mobility to outside the UK for long periods also concerns me greatly, as I see the exchange programmes/secondments within the EU as excellent opportunities for professional development, but I may not be able to consider these anymore (if they will still be available) if it means that I will lose my settled status.”

These concerns will be shared by many and should be taken extremely seriously.

SO WHAT CAN WE ALL DO? First of all, be aware of the concerns of colleagues and make sure that they are given the support they need. For many, it is more than being ‘allowed to remain’; it is about feeling wanted and valued.

For those of us who are involved in Brexit strategy, we can make sure that we include

‘research workers’ in our responses and lobbying activities and emphasise – both to our own senior management as well as the Government

– the potential impact on research if these key members of staff are lost.

Above all, we need to remain vigilant in our lobbying. The Government must include

‘research workers’ in their list of ‘highly skilled’ occupations for future migration systems and in the negotiation of our Association to Framework 9.

G I L L W E L L S is Head of Oxford’s Research Services European and International Team and the University’s Strategic Lead on the Global Challenges Research Fund. She has worked in research management for the past 23 years.

No 34


James Wilsdon, Professor of Research Policy at the University of

Sheffield, chaired an independent review of the role of metrics in

the management of research in 2015 and published The Metric Tide

as a result. Three years on, he explores the progress the UK has

made towards embedding responsible metrics practices into its

research activities and discusses prospects for the future

A T U R N I N G T I D E ?

No 35


Five years have passed since the launch of the San Francisco Declaration on Research

Assessment (DORA), which calls for an end to the use of journal impact factors in funding, hiring and promotion decisions. To mark this milestone, DORA has revamped its steering committee, acquired a shiny new website (https://sfdora.org/) and embarked on a fresh drive to influence institutional policies and practices. It now has almost 500 organisational and 12,000 individual signatories.

It is also three years since the publication of the Leiden Manifesto, co-authored by a group of leading scientometricians, and my own contribution, The Metric Tide, which reviewed the role of metrics in UK research assessment.

Taken together, these initiatives have done a lot to raise awareness of inappropriate uses of bibliometric and altmetric indicators, and the negative effects these can have on research cultures, diversity and performance. The use of journal impact factors as a proxy for the quality of individual outputs is now widely

recognised as problematic (and statistically illiterate). There is also heightened awareness that most metrics can be misleading if used without appropriate sensitivity to disciplinary, individual and wider contexts.

STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTIONSo is it a case of job done? Far from it!

In the UK, one of the actions resulting from The Metric Tide was the launch in 2016 of a Forum for Responsible Research Metrics (FRRM), with the backing of the main UK research funders. The FRRM aims to champion responsible uses of metrics across UK universities and funders, and it has a formal role in advising on the selection and use of quantitative indicators in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF).

The FRRM recently undertook a survey of UK universities and research bodies to explore the extent to which they are implementing the principles in DORA, the Leiden Manifesto and The Metric Tide.

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The results highlight significant progress, but suggest there is still some way to go:

• 96 institutions responded, of which 20 have a formal policy on metrics and 21 have signed DORA

• 31 institutions said they were considering signing DORA

• 12 said they considered signing DORA but decided against it

• 54 institutions said they agreed with the principles behind the Leiden Manifesto

• 63 institutions said they agreed with the framework outlined in The Metric Tide

FURTHERING RESPONSIBLE METRICS PROGRESSPublicity around this survey appears to have triggered a fresh round of UK institutional signatories to DORA. The UK signatories to DORA as of April 2018 can be seen below.

A growing number of universities have also developed their own policies on the use of metrics, which take a variety of forms and draw on a blend of points from DORA, the

Leiden Manifesto and The Metric Tide. Prominent examples include the universities of Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Kent, Loughborough and York. These are all steps in the right direction.

However, despite progress, more effort is needed to embed these principles in institutions, in order to develop better indicators and foster more sensitive management frameworks. Additionally, alliances can be forged beyond the higher education sector, by linking to wider streams of scholarship and advocacy around algorithmic accountability and the future of the workplace. And UK efforts need to be aligned and joined to parallel work across Europe, the US and further afield.

CALLING ON THE POWER OF RESEARCH MANAGERSWe now have the evidence we need to influence how The Metric Tide washes through higher education and research. Moreover, we have a growing body of best practice to draw from. Research managers and information professionals have a crucial role to play – alongside researchers themselves – in determining whether we sink or swim.

S I G N A T O R I E S O F D O R AMany organisations across the UK have signed DORA, including:

• HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: Imperial College London, University College London, King’s College London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Aston University, Goldsmiths, Keele University, Birkbeck, Brunel University London, Teesside University and universities of Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Kent, Bristol and Sussex

• RESEARCH BODIES: James Hutton Institute, Francis Crick Institute, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, British Library, Research Libraries UK, Public Health England, British Pharmacological Society, Royal Society of Biology, Geological Society, John Innes Centre

• FUNDING BODIES: RCUK/UKRI, Higher Education Funding Council for England, all seven Research Councils, Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK, Royal Society, British Academy, Daphne Jackson Trust, Pharmacy Research UK

J A M E S W I L S D O N is Professor of Research Policy at the University of Sheffield. He is also a member of the Council of the Academy of Social Sciences and chairs its Policy Working Group. In addition to chairing the independent UK review of the role of metrics in the management of research, he chaired a European Council expert group on metrics, which published its report on Next Generation Metrics in 2017.

Find the full list of DORA signatories at:

https://sfdora.org/signers


No 37

Pauline Muya has spent 25 years as a research manager and has developed strong relationships with

global funders, partners and academics. She shares insights into the challenges resulting from increasing

numbers of international projects and explores how collaborating with ARMA’s sister associations can

help tackle these issues, benefiting both the UK and partner countries

L E V E R A G I N G S I S T E R

S O C I E T I E S

We live in times of globalisation and interdisciplinarity where

our institutions are conducting large-scale, challenge-led research projects that deliver excellent research and impact across national boundaries. Moreover, as a result of the significant funding (e.g. Global Challenge Research Fund) available to support international research, UK universities are increasingly keen to develop research partnerships with more international institutions, especially OECD Development Assistance Countries (DAC).

Many universities are taking a strategic approach to fostering international activity. As a result, research managers are becoming increasingly involved in developing international partnerships. We are being asked to grapple with the challenges of complex multi-partner projects, greater regulation and compliance, and an ever more competitive funding environment.

CHALLENGES IN INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONSMany ARMA members have strong UK networks that facilitate cross-institutional working. We can put together proposals, negotiate budgets and contracts, and manage projects effectively. However, we are less likely to have established networks internationally, and developing these relationships is more challenging. This is partly due to the fact that research management is a nascent profession in many regions.

When collaborating with international partners, research managers often find that their track record in securing research funding is less well established. They are also less likely to lead large, collaborative projects

given the administrative overhead required to manage them. These partners also operate within different regulatory requirements and have different funding models, making collaborations more complex.

Such challenges make engaging sensitively and effectively with international partners difficult. It also prompts an important question: How can we build better networks and relationships to overcome these challenges?

LEVERAGING SISTER SOCIETIESARMA members may be aware that we have sister societies developing and growing around the world. Last August, I was privileged to attend the East African Research and Innovation Management (EARIMA) annual conference in Tanzania on behalf of ARMA. This enabled me to better understand the African research management environment.

Research management is at an early stage of development in many African institutions. Training and development opportunities we take for granted in the UK are not fully established in Africa. Capacity building, therefore, is a key need, and technical training in research management is in demand. It is an area where ARMA and UK institutions can support the development of programmes that reflect the local African context while establishing good research management practice.

Moreover, I learned that many EARIMA members are in senior positions and are responsible for developing their institutional research strategies. They are also well placed to influence government officials and funders.

This underscores the importance of building relationships with our sister organisations, as this is a route for finding specific collaborators and developing stronger links with our fellow professionals in Africa.

MUTUAL RESPECTEARIMA’s conference also reminded me that the key to any successful, collaborative partnership is acknowledging we can learn from each other. Without this respect, we cannot deliver excellent research and impact on societal challenges in the UK or Africa. This approach will enable us to develop our profession further in the UK and with sister societies around the world.

PA U L I N E M U YA has worked in research management for 25 years across six institutions. Her current role is Director of Research Services at the University of Leicester. Pauline has been an active ARMA member for over 20 years and served on the Board. She is currently a member of the Advocacy Group and an assessor for ARMA qualifications.

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No 38


ARMA’s Special Interest Groups

have been working hard to

advocate on behalf of topics that

matter to their SIG members and

the organisation as a whole. Here,

several provide updates on how

they have been filling their time

W H A T ’ S H A P P E N I N G I N S I D E T H E S I G S ?

No 39


The Audit and Compliance Special Interest Group (SIG) seeks to inform members of any changes with regard to audit and compliance requirements from sponsors, promote and share best practice, and provide training sessions and forums for discussion.

In March, our first virtual meeting took place with an update on auditing non-staff costs on Horizon 2020 grants. It was well attended, and we received some really positive feedback. We also hosted a virtual meeting in April to discuss H2020 personal costs and the audit process. We plan to hold further virtual and face-to-face meetings during the year.

On a thrilling professional development note, Innovate UK has agreed to make themselves available for one of our virtual meetings.

This will give members a rare opportunity to put their questions directly to its audit and assurance team! We hope to arrange other such meetings as well.

For more updates as the year goes on, check out our recently updated resource page, or join our mailing list to receive updates straight into your mailbox ([email protected]).

Also, we will also be present at INORMS, where we will share information and network with colleagues from around the world. Please come and say hello!

- Charles Shannon, Imperial College London

- Ellen Thompson, LEES Accountants

The Research Impact SIG is continuing to grow, now with a membership of over 750 colleagues. The SIG represents both the growth of the profession and the expertise inherent to 'doing impact well'.

This year, alongside ongoing sharing of good practice, the SIG has become a more substantial voice of impact expertise. We are offering commentary on concerns around the institutional implementation of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) with the REF SIG, data protection for impact testimonials and considerations for international impact agendas.

As we look ahead to the next year and how we may enhance SIG opportunities, we're very mindful that the pressures on the community are likely to increase as the REF submission date draws nearer. The Research Impact SIG, and ARMA more broadly, will continue to ensure both good practice and professional development stay high on the agenda, and we will look for new ways to support our members in delivering impact within their roles.

- Dr Julie Bayley, University of Lincoln

The Open Access SIG is well established and the mailing list is actively used to support fellow members with individual questions, to share knowledge about sector developments and to invite engagement with a wide variety of events and consultations.

We held a workshop session at the ARMA Conference in Liverpool in June 2017. The discussion included review of the usefulness of the SIG, and I was delighted that there was a strong focus on collaborating with other groups such as Universities UK and CASRAI UK. The notes and slides can be found here: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/142574/.

As usual, the SIG session at INORMS will include the opportunity to reflect on the usefulness of the SIG and invite ideas for future activity. Detailed topics are prioritised via the mailing list to ensure that the content reflects what the attendees wish to discuss.

One of the requests from ARMA Conference 2017 was to have some subject specific meetings. We held a REF Open Access meeting in April in collaboration with representatives from the REF SIG. A summary can be found here https://arma.ac.uk/ref-oa-compliance-meeting-outcomes/. More meetings are being arranged and will be advertised soon.

- Valerie McCutcheon, University of Glasgow

A U D I T A N D C O M P L I A N C E

R E S E A R C H I M P A C T

O P E N A C C E S S

No 40


Helen Young, Research Excellence Framework Manager at the University of Stirling, and Anna Grey,

Research Strategy and Policy Manager at the University of York, describe how ARMA’s REF SIG is

promoting knowledge and best practice sharing in the lead up to REF 2021

P R E P A R I N G M E M B E R S F O R

R E F 2 0 2 1

Given that Stern reported in 2016 on proposed changes to the Research

Excellence Framework (REF), it may feel as if we have been waiting for REF 2021 to start for some time. Momentum has been building over the last year, and we now have a greater sense of the shape that REF 2021 is going to take. With the initial decisions announced, impact workshops held and panel membership confirmed, eyes are turning expectantly to the summer when the draft guidance and panel criteria will be issued for consultation.

TOPICS UNDER SCRUTINYIn the meantime, a number of REF debates rage on. Impact remains a concern, particularly with regard to the treatment of continued case studies, though a recent announcement on higher full time equivalent (FTE) thresholds has been generally welcomed. Open access compliance continues to be a hot topic, and the definition of ‘significant responsibility for research’ looms large for many institutions, adding complexity and raising questions about staff selection. Throw in the General Data Protection Regulation – the implications of which are only now becoming apparent – and the road to REF 2021 seems far from smooth.

THE REF SIG IS STEPPING UPGiven this, the ARMA REF Special Interest Group (SIG) – with its close ties to the Research Impact, Open Access and Metrics SIGs – has really come into its own in recent months. Providing a forum for discussion, a means of

sharing information and a channel for voicing concerns, the email list has attracted members to date. Collegial in nature, the group is a go-to for support and advice, with old REF hands sharing their expertise and newbies bringing fresh insights.

Members of the REF SIG have also been involved in a number of key events, including an ARMA REF Policy Forum held in December. Around 80 people heard from HEFCE’s Steven Hill (Head of Research Policy) and Kim Hackett (REF Manager), who went through the latest decisions in detail and opened the floor to questions.

The aim of the forum was to provide clarity on the latest set of decisions on staff and outputs, and identify frequently asked questions for inclusion on the REF 2021 website (www.ref.ac.uk/about/faqs). The key points discussed were research independence, portability of outputs, Unit of Assessment alignment of staff, impact case studies, research environment and codes of practice.

Following on from this, the 'Planning for REF' workshop in January brought colleagues together to discuss key challenges, share ideas and develop expertise. Kicking off with an update from Kim Hackett, the day involved a panel discussion, networking lunch and sessions on how to identify staff with a significant responsibility for research, design reviews and manage the selection process for outputs and case studies. Though raising as many questions

as it answered, the deliberations were fruitful and created a real sense of us all working together as a community of practice.

JOIN TODAYIf you’re not a member of the REF SIG, visit the SIG page on your member dashboard and sign up today: http://bit.ly/ARMASIGs.

ANNA GREY is Research Strategy and Policy Manager at the University of York with responsibility for research strategy and policy, including impact, integrity and research information.

HELEN YOUNG is the institutional REF Manager at the University of Stirling with responsibility for managing preparation for and submission to REF 2021.

profiles


No 41

Medical case reports help researchers advance scientific knowledge in their community and develop skills in their

professional lives. Margaret Rees provides an overview of medical case reporting and explains why research

managers and administrators should encourage their researchers to develop such reports

A C A S E F O R M E D I C A L

C A S E R E P O R T S

No 42


Amedical case report is the description of clinical observations in a single patient

(or sometimes a small series of related or similar cases). Case reports represent a timely way for advancing medical scientific knowledge of new diseases, rare medical conditions, unusual presentation of disease, diagnosis, management strategies and ethical issues. In fact, the first publications about the congenital abnormalities induced by thalidomide and the Zika virus were case reports.

But why does this matter to you as a research manager or administrator? Because now is the time to encourage your research colleagues in the medical and health sectors to start writing cases.

Case reports provide an invaluable resource for teaching and education. Writing up case reports allows healthcare professionals and researchers to learn the principles of obtaining consent, better understand medical publishing and develop academic writing skills. The sector is already starting to see the benefits from delivering medical case reports – the number of medical case report journals have

increased significantly in recent years. In 2017, there were over 90 journals listed.

FOLLOWING GUIDELINES I am sure many of you are wondering how to encourage your colleagues to write medical case reports if you are new to them. Don’t worry, due to this increase in case reports, guidelines have been developed, such as the CARE case reporting guidelines (www.care-statement.org). They were developed and updated by an international group of experts.

The CARE checklist provides a useful framework as well as helpful hints and tips for writing case reports. For example, the words ‘case reports’ should be in the title alongside the phenomenon or condition of interest to aid searching. Guidance regarding the abstract, keywords, introduction, patient information, assessment, interventions, outcomes and discussion are also detailed.

WHAT ABOUT CONSENT? Consent is key for writing medical case reports. Publication of any personal information from identifiable living persons requires

explicit consent from the patient or legal representative in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I highly suggest reading the article ‘How the writers of case reports need to consider and address consent and GDPR?’, which was recently published in Case Reports in Women's Health.

Generally, consent is given by the patient, but a legal representative/relative may provide consent if patients are unable to consent (e.g. they lack of mental or physical capacity, are under the legal age to provide consent or are deceased). BMJ Case Report guidelines (http://casereports.bmj.com) further state: “If you do not have signed consent from a deceased patient, guardian, or family, the head of your medical team/hospital or legal team must take responsibility that exhaustive attempts have been made to contact the family and that the paper has been sufficiently anonymised not to cause harm to the patient or their family. You will need to upload a signed document to this effect.’’

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) published guidance (www.publicationethics.

No 43


org) on consent for publishing medical case reports in 2016. Journals need to know that the individuals or their legal representatives who give consent to publication have been:

• Adequately informed

• Made aware that consent can be withdrawn without reprisal up to the point of publication

• Made aware that there is a chance people can be identified, even though names are not published

However, journals do not collect copies of signed consent forms so as not to breach confidentiality and data protection legislation. Instead, they expect that copies of consent forms are retained by the institution as well as by the relevant individual (and/or legal representative).

DON’T FORGET ABOUT DATA PRIVACY When writing medical case reports, care needs to be taken to ensure that data cannot be attributable to an individual. While age, sex and gender, race and ethnicity may be included,

personal identifiers should be removed from the manuscript and any images. These include names, geographic region, elements of birth date, date of death, admission/discharge date, addresses (including email), hospital number, national insurance numbers, etc.

Images’ metadata should be removed. These include GPS coordinates, camera settings, make and model of camera, date and time the photo was taken, and name and build of all programmes used to view or edit photo. Don’t forget: medical images where identifiers have been removed by cropping can be uncropped. Furthermore, patient data may be embedded into images and should be removed at source. The UK Royal College of Radiologists provided guidance in 2017 (http://bit.ly/rcrguidance).

ENCOURAGE YOUR RESEARCHERS TO WRITE CASES For research managers and administrators in the medical in health sectors, now is the time for you to encourage your researchers to start writing medical case reports. Not only will your research colleagues hone their own skills, but publishing these reports offers impact benefits to your institutions as well.

WHAT’S IN A CONSENT FORM?

When researchers want to publish medical case reports, they must collect consent forms from research subjects. Key elements in the consent form are:

1. Patient name.

2. Name of signatory.

3. The reason why a legal representative/relative has signed the consent form instead of the patient, if applicable.

4. Assurance that consent is being given for publication and current and future uses that may be made of the report. Furthermore, assurance that consent can be withdrawn before publication.

5. An indication that consent does not remove the patient’s rights to privacy. However, by their nature, there is a risk that patients may be identified from the case report.

6. Specifications on forms as to whether or not the patient, or a legal representative, has seen the final version of the case report to be published (including pictures). If a final version has not been shown, it must be clear what elements patients/proxies have seen and that they agree to publication without seeing the final version.

7. The name and contact details of the person who obtained consent.

M A RG A R E T R E E S has a longstanding, unique portfolio of experience in research and publication ethics combined with an international reputation of leadership in women’s health. She chaired a National Health Service research ethics committee, and she is on the Council of the Committee on Publication Ethics as well as the Elsevier ethics committee. She is also Editor-in-Chief of Case Reports in Women’s Health.

profile

No 44


Research Management – Europe and Beyond can be ordered via: www.elsevier.com/books/research-management/andersen/978-0-12-805059-0

No 45


profile

As a lifelong, or so it seems, research manager and administrator (RMA), I

was excited to hear about this new book in the field. It is perhaps the first such tome since Research Administration Management – an RMA ‘bible’ edited by Elliot Kulakowski and Lynne Chronister back in 2006 to attempt to cover the scope of who we RMAs are, what we do and why. No small undertaking. Whilst the original had a mouth-watering 916 pages, this new work fills a more modest 360 pages – but there is still plenty of information to take in and debates to be had.

LOOKING INSIDE THE PAGES This book has been put together by individuals from different countries and four different native languages, and in some places this shows. Additionally, some of the information provided is a little dated now, perhaps inevitable due to the timescales involved in putting the book together. These quibbles are however easy to forgive, as it is generally accurate and up-to-date. It is also easy to read for the most part, although perhaps a little acronym heavy in some places.

To give some flavour to what you will find, take Chapter 3: The Global Research Environment. It is a particularly interesting and well-balanced discussion of national differences in the research environment, which even covers gender issues. Whereas the fourth chapter, Organizational Structures, is a little more disparate and wide ranging (perhaps trying to cover too much ground), it does nicely show that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to the structure of research support.

Then chapter 5 on Research Strategy becomes very practitioner focused, and not too theory heavy – perhaps a good thing for the intended audience. Chapter 6: Preaward—Project Preparation has some lovely vignettes and a good overview. It could perhaps have benefited by some references to more in depth resources, such as the Research Funding Toolkit by Jacqueline Aldridge and Andrew Derrington. The Postaward chapter focuses on EU funding, but the advice can easily be extrapolated to other funders.

LOOKING AT THE BROADER PICTURE Other chapters cover areas such as: who are RMAs, dealing with academics, the (European) research environment, knowledge exchange, metrics, ethics, research infrastructure, diversity and skills – there is something here for all of us.

Moreover, Research Management – Europe and Beyond is a far more Euro-centric offering than its American focused predecessor. This is perhaps it greatest strength – that and being 10 years more current, a rather important quality in our fast-moving world.

Whilst I wax lyrical, I should make it clear that although I was not directly involved in the development of the book, I do seem to have amassed a couple of acknowledgments, so I can’t claim to be completely unbiased.

However, I do whole-heartedly recommend it to those new to the profession, and indeed for those wondering what an RMA is – and whether or not they should be one. The more senior

amongst you will also find depth in a number of areas in which you may be less familiar.

DIVE IN TODAY So the burning question – should you buy it? Well that of course depends on your needs. Some of the funder and policy specific information will become dated, but the more generic parts such as the skills needed to be an RMA should stand the test of time.

It is not what I would describe as a page turner, and the style changes across the 15 chapters, but nonetheless, it is a useful resource, and in places, an extremely useful one. Something to dip into in those idle moments at your desk, should you have any, which according to my reading of Research Management – Europe and Beyond, seems unlikely!

Simon Kerridge, long-time ARMA member and current Director of Research Services at the University of Kent,

reviews the book 'Research Management – Europe and Beyond'. He explains why it is a must-read for research

managers and administrators

R E S E A R C H M A N A G E M E N T – E U R O P E A N D B E Y O N D

S I M O N K E R R I D G E is Director of Research Services at the University of Kent. He holds a doctorate in research management and administration.

No 46


Earlier this year, the universities of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt,

Glasgow and Strathclyde joined forces to deliver the first-ever Impact

Festival. Aimed at early career researchers, Impact Festival was a hit

with attendees and stakeholders alike

I M P A C T F E S T I V A L

No 47


The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Impact

Acceleration Account (IA A) managers at the universities of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Glasgow and Strathclyde meet regularly to exchange ideas, share best practices and discuss where we can undertake joint activities. Our discussions have led us to recognise the on-going need to inform and train early career researchers about the impact agenda, ways in which impact can be achieved and the importance of collaboration both with academic colleagues and external stakeholders to maximise impact.

ENTER IMPACT FESTIVALTo address this need and to help stimulate collaborative projects between the institutions, we organised and jointly funded an ‘Impact Festival’, an event comprising of a day of learning, connection and stimulating dialogue on impact-related topics.

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh was chosen as the event venue, both for its historical innovators' displays and its neutrality. The festival took place over one day, which comprised both plenary and breakout sessions, including case study presentations in the morning from each institution highlighting impactful projects and bite-size sessions in the afternoon covering a wide range of relevant topics. They included:

• Maximising impact

• Writing for impact

• Making public engagement count

• Engaging with policy makers

• Impact and social media

• Building and sustaining relationships

These sessions were delivered by colleagues from the five partnering institutions, external impact experts and other stakeholders, including the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement, the Scottish Parliament, Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre and the University of Reading.

An 'Impact Gallery' was also set up comprised of projects previously supported by EPSRC IA A, which demonstrated the impact resulting from these projects through a mix of interactive demonstrations and exhibition stands.

Impact Festival was chaired by Hamish Macandrew, ARMA’s Chief Operating Officer, who opened the festival, set the scene for the day and asked for audience participation from the outset. To gauge the audience’s understanding and perception of impact, we asked them for one word to describe it. Using technology to help, we instantaneously created a word map that highlighted the many ways in which impact can be considered. It was a fun and interesting way to get the conversation flowing.

A FESTIVAL WITH IMPACTThis festival was ambitious on many levels, particularly as it was the first time this type of event has been undertaken and delivered by several different institutions supported by EPSRC IA A funding. The primary audience for the event was early career researchers, and there were approximately 90 attendees from across the five participating universities, as well as representatives from other universities who hold IA A funding. Dr Christopher Gibson, the Impact Manager at EPSRC, also attended. Following the event, he said he was “really encouraged to see the strong links between (IA A) accounts”.

The festival was also well received by attendees. Feedback included feeling inspired by the stories of successful impact and the usefulness of the bite-size sessions. In fact, based on the success of the inaugural Impact Festival, all of the participating institutions have recognised the benefits of working together and are anticipating delivering a similar event in 2019 to promote the collective institutional research strengths to all stakeholders.

FEEDBACK CORNERFollowing the Impact Festival, many individuals shared their thoughts about the event on Twitter and in the team’s feedback form:

“I can make an impact”

“There was opportunity to talk with professionals who have extensive experience working with impact, moving into their positions following time as an active researcher”

“Advice on how to start from scratch to develop an initial relationship with industry (or practical scientist) and foster that relationship over time”

“Fab interactive exhibits at #2018ImpactFestival”

No 48


Beware casual conversations. I had no idea the fateful day Rosemary Hatch asked

me "Have you considered putting yourself forward for the vacant Conference Director role?", what I was letting myself in for.

A S TROKE OF LUCK But I was lucky. My predecessors had to do everything: choosing the venue, tasting the menus and even providing the grand piano one of our delegates needed. I took on the role at just the right time, as the new ARMA executive office was created, and Andrew, Harriet and colleagues made the job as simple as it possibly could be. A revamped Conference planning committee shared the load in developing the programme, and the newly instituted Special Interest Groups brought their own energy and inspiration to proceedings.

Despite inevitable imperfections (I learnt very early on that the food had to be right, or the whole Conference was spoiled), and last minute crises (plenary speakers suddenly affected by purdah or pulled away to other essential business), the feedback we received was that the ARMA Conference was getting better and better. The number of those in attendance certainly seems to attest to that.

We always had a great Conference. We had a great Conference because the speakers were brilliant, the topics were captivating and delegate engagement was palpable. The ARMA Conference is ultimately you – our speakers and our delegates. And you continue to deliver year after year. It has been a huge privilege to be the one to marshal your efforts and to take the credit for what belongs to you and others.

FURTHER ING PROFESS IONAL I SM The low point of the last six years was to hear of the occasion that an academic delegate (a rarity) left a session in tears having heard our complaints about academic colleagues. My biggest bugbear is the amount of time and energy we waste worrying about our status vis-à-vis academic colleagues.

My vision – and ARMA’s – for the Conference, was to further our professionalism. Any professionalism that is not built on respect for our academic colleagues (all of them), and a deep appreciation of our role in supporting them, is phoney.

TO INORMS AND BEYOND The real test of the value of a conference is not to be found at it, but in our workplaces when we return to the day job. As the enormous efforts of Gups, Hamish and colleagues culminates in the huge triumph that INORMS 2018 is set to be, my hope remains that through it each of us becomes better and better at our jobs, and as a by-product, valued more and more.

T H E F I N A L N O T E

Not a member yet? Simply visit

arma.ac.uk/join-our-community/

to join the community

With his final days on the ARMA Board nearing, David Coombe reflects on his commitment to

professional development via the ARMA Conference


Join us for the 7th INORMS conference from Monday 4th – Thursday 7th June 2018 at Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

For more information and registration, visit www.inorms2018.orgor drop us an email at [email protected]

With a wide variety of workshops and seminars, opportunities to develop networking and other professional skills, and a vibrant social programme INORMS 2018 is a conference not to be missed.

We appreciate it’s not always easy to see the impact of research in the real world.

That’s why we’re bringing research communities together to find better ways to make meaningful change happen.

Developed in conjunction with Dr Julie Bayley, our Impact Literacy Workbook helps you to develop an impact plan tailored to the needs of your institution. We would love to hear your thoughts and how we can make a real impact together.

Request a free copy by emailing us at: [email protected]

emeraldgrouppublishing.com/realworldimpact.htm

#RealWorldImpact

Making Research Count.

Together we can make a Real Impact

15795 RealImpactAd_Protagonist_AW.indd 1 08/05/2018 10:39

S U P P O RT I N G P RO FES S I O N A L I S M

STRATEGIC FORESIGHTARMA unveils its strategic

plans and introduces its

newest committees

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FRAMEWORKDiscover the progress that has been

made towards launching KEF

BREXIT’S IMPACTExplore how the uncertainty

surrounding Brexit is

affecting European nationals

in UK research offices

ISSUE 7 Spring 2 0 1 8

PROMOT ING GLOBAL RESEARCH M ANAGEMENTINORMS 2018 IS TAKING ON GLOBAL RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN THE STREETS OF EDINBURGH

The

The PR

OTA

GO

NIS

T Supporting Professionalism

ISSN

2397-1665Issue 7 Spring 20

18 www.arm

a.ac.uk

Documents

PROMOTING GLOBAL RESEARCH MANAGEMENT · 2019-10-12 · steph bales Chair of ARMA. CONTENTS editor Rosemary Peters commissioning editor ... discuss the latest developments in the sector,