Professionalising Research Management

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Professionalising Research Management

• Post-project conference
• 30 March 2009
• Imperial College London

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Housekeeping

• Toilets located on each floor and clearly
  marked
• Entry to Imperial College Business School is
  restricted by swipecard if you need to leave
  and re-enter the building during proceedings,
  please contact one of the organisers/stewards
• If the fire alarm sounds evacuate the building
  through the front doors if exit through the
  front doors is impossible, fire exits are clearly
  signed on all levels

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Professionalising Research Management

• Post-project conference
• 30 March 2009
• Imperial College London

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Introduction

• Professor Sir Peter Knight FRS
• Senior Principal
• Imperial College London

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UK science and research spending

• Budget 2004
• UK expenditure on RD to 2.5 of GDP by 2010
• America and Japan spend 3 of GDP on research
  and development
• Spending on science and innovation to increase by
  5.7 a year from 2006/07
• Comprehensive Spending Review 2007
• 2.2 annual average real growth for DIUS
• Spending on public science increasing by annual
  average of 2.5 to 6.3bn by 2010-11
• Gordon Brown University of Oxford speech 27 Feb.
  2009
• Importance of research and innovation to help
  navigate economic challenges
• Science protected from spending cuts during
  downturn
• Science budget ringfenced until 2014
• Focus on science as element of economic recovery

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Changing research environment

• Global change
• Scope and scale of funded programmes
• Bigger, bolder
• Collaborative
• Framework arrangements
• Partnerships
• Greater emphasis on need to demonstrate impact
  (a.k.a. value for money)

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Changing research environment

• Leads to a diverse funding framework
• EU, international, industry, business funding,
  NGOs
• Complex legal environment for research
• Global, competitive market for research funding

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Why research support matters

• Increasing demands on staff in research support
• Help academics bid for and manage funding
• Add value to academic mission
• Develop strategic alliances
• Minimise risks
• Demonstrate benefits
• Efficient delivery of quality research is
  critical
• for universities and their funders
• for UK plc (Government)
• for society
• UK behind other countries in recognising research
  management as a profession
• Important for funders that their investment
  (financial etc.) is well administered

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Current picture

• Huge variation in structures in place to support
  research in English universities
• Huge variation in the roles undertaken by staff
  who support huge continuum of research and
  innovation
• No agreement on what qualifications may be
  necessary or advantageous
• No formally recognised professional training or
  qualifications
• Some respected courses available but they are ad
  hoc
• Almost impossible to define what is meant by
  research support
• Good practice not shared, inefficiencies for the
  sector must be significant

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Thank you
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Presentation of findings

• John Green
• David Langley

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Why did we decide to do this?

• Research, part of a universitys core business,
  is increasingly complex in nature
• Greater competition, scope and complexity of
  research awards, regulation, audit, governance
• Complexity of research management has increased
  along with the complexity of research programmes
• This has resulted in a huge range of functions
  within research management

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Functions of Research Management

• Research strategy, planning and policy
  development
• Horizon scanning for opportunities
• External environment and drivers, e.g. impact
• RAE, REF and other metrics
• HEFCE and HESA reporting
• Research development and facilitation
• Pre-award and costing methodologies
• Bid preparation and applications
• Specialist knowledge about academic disciplines
• Research themes
• Networking with funders, Government, industry, EU
• Relationship management

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More functions of Research management

• Internal peer review
• Contract negotiation
• Project management of large contracts, bids and
  awards
• Post-award management
• Research budgets and claims
• Adherence to funder and statutory terms and
  conditions
• Audit and compliance (HEFCE, EU, RCUK, MHRA, HTA)
• Portfolio management and reporting
• Trend analysis
• Research governance, misconduct, and ethics
• European funded research
• Knowledge Transfer, IP, and commercialisation

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Even more functions of Research Management

• Spin outs/spin in, business support, social
  enterprise
• Student enterprise activities
• Regional agenda
• Business development and corporate alliances
• Customer care
• KTPs
• Event management
• Consultancy
• Research business systems
• Management information and reporting
• Postgraduate, fellowships, research staff
• Training (academics, departmental admin, research
  office staff)

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Our perception was that ...

• ... the sector is typified by
• Lack of consistency, sharing of good practice and
  stability in research office structures
• Many HEIs restructuring research support
• Component parts differ across HEIs but are almost
  always fragmented
• An unrecognised profession
• Lack of holistic training and appropriate
  qualifications true for departmental
  administrative staff too
• Poor or ill-defined opportunities for career
  progression
• Recruitment and retention problems
• Contrast with US and, maybe, other countries

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Why is it important?

• Critical for funders and universities that
• Resources properly costed, priced, negotiated and
  managed
• Researchers supported by skilled, high-quality
  professional colleagues throughout
• Risks well managed
• Research has the greatest potential to deliver
  key milestones, achievements and impact
• To achieve this, should the emphasis be on staff
  development as opposed to the increasing emphasis
  on audit with post-hoc penalisation?

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European funder perspective

• Without excellent research management, Europes
  research and technological development (RTD) will
  simply not deliver the benefits expected and
  needed.
• Excellence in research management is also an
  essential enabler of the ambitions of the
  European Commission
• Expert Group Report, European Commission DG RTD,
  2008

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Project objectives

• Identify demand in English universities for the
  development of a professional framework of
  training for Research Management
• Explore approaches to addressing any identified
  demand

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Project methodology

• Representative sample of universities selected
  on
• Total turnover
• Amount of externally sponsored Research Income
• Age of institution
• Geographic location
• Total number of students
• Data collection
• Broad ranging, semi-structured interviews
• Two interviewers plus Research Office staff and
  PVCR
• this has been something akin to organisational
  therapy

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Research findings strategy

• Research strategy deemed important but virtually
  all HEIs visited are refreshing it
• Many research strategies do not translate into
  tangible actions or plans not all are backed
  with resources or joined up with other
  institutional strategies
• Strategic research budgets vary in existence,
  size and gift
• Involvement of university research committees in
  setting strategy varies hugely

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Research findings leadership

• Academic and administrative leadership of
  research management always in place but variation
  in leadership responsibilities
• Research Offices led by Registrars, PVC Research,
  PVC Enterprise, PVC External Relations, Directors
  of Finance, but commonly multiple reporting lines
• Diverse structures in place some common
  components but fragmentation prevails
• Research Committee remit and composition varies
  considerably Director of Research Services not
  always involved
• Research Office not always regarded as a standard
  support unit, so has fuzzier reporting lines that
  mix academic with administrative

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Research findings size

• Significant variations in size of staff and what
  they do

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Research findings perceptions

• Research Management not always understood by
  other parts of university administration
• Directors of Research Services rarely included at
  top table or high level strategic committees
  (unlike Finance or HR)
• Few universities realise that Research Office has
  a key role to play in increasing Research Income
  or managing the portfolio
• Staff within Research Management do not always
  find it easy to identify themselves with a
  professional grouping or activity (unlike Finance
  or HR)
• Research activity a key indicator of performance
  but few universities realise that Research Office
  could monitor this

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Research findings recruitment

• Recruitment often difficult, particularly at
  senior level
• Varied backgrounds
• Most people fall into the career

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Research findings recruitment

• Preferred qualifications of recruits varies
• Most appointments external...
• but given that the role of a research manager
  is so complex and varied, is it any wonder that
  people outside the sector do not understand it,
  and that therefore we might not attract best
  talent?
• Lack of identity to the activity of Research
  Management

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Research findings training

• A number of providers but little co-ordination
  between them
• No professional framework and few modular
  components to training
• Most providers highly regarded
• Universities have budget for training
• but most rely on internal training

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Research findings training

• Existing training patchy across the sector
• Lack of opportunities for recognised specialist
  training, e.g. research misconduct, governance
• Lack of training in core skills of Research
  Management most current training provision
  aimed at Knowledge Transfer
• But, lack of agreement on what core skills
  constitute

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Implications of the context within which research
is currently managed

• Research Management in a state of dynamic change
  (people, process and systems)
• Range of structures, reporting, nomenclature
• Recruitment, development and career progression
  methodologies not clear
• Broad range of roles for staff in Research
  Management as a result of its complexity and
  the number of stakeholders involved in research

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Implications of the context within which research
is currently managed

• Survey of this size cannot definitively answer
  some issues
• What is the ideal structure for managing
  research?
• What is the correct number of staff for given
  profiles?
• How is Research Management best involved in
  strategic decisions making?
• How should Research Management be led?
• Correlation of structure to function will need
  more work

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Implications of the context within which research
is currently managed

• Not surprising that
• Little sharing of practice across sector
• In-house training dominates and embeds
  differences in approach
• With inconsistency in structures and behaviours
  it is no wonder that current training provision
  is patchy
• Is it possible to address training issues in
  this context before identifying and spreading
  good practice across the sector and thereby
  creating more uniformity in the way research is
  managed?

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Demand for a professional framework

• Strong sense that there is a need for some kind
  of professional framework for training and
  development
• Budget holders prepared to pay for training that
  is
• High quality
• Modular, flexible
• Caters for local needs
• Broad in content but with opportunities to
  specialise
• Builds to something tangible for staff
• Becomes recognised and hence valued

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Demand for a professional framework

• But concerns about professionalising Research
  Management
• If you call Research Management a profession
  then you create barriers for potential recruits
  it has grown out of university administration
• The trouble with making it a professional
  qualification is that research administrators
  have to wear so many hats

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Current training provision

• AMRC
• ARMA
• AUA
• AURIL
• Bluebell Research
• CHEMPaS, Southampton
• EARMA (Europe)
• Hyperion (Ireland)
• ICR

• IKT
• LFHE
• Missenden Centre, Oxford
• NCURA (USA)
• Praxis
• SRA (USA)
• UKRO
• UNICO

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Current training issues

• Gaps in provision across the spectrum of research
  management
• Ad hoc delivery little coordination or
  confederation by various players
• Suitable time, suitable price, suitable level
• Lack of coherence, consistency and common purpose
  in provision
• Lack of transparency in quality control in terms
  of content, delivery and usefulness

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Accreditation

• Mixed views
• Any accreditation must be high quality and
  clearly recognised as such by employers
• Postgraduate qualification modular approach
• But would accreditation be a barrier to
  encouraging people into Research Management?
• Would it be better first to ensure that Research
  Management was an identifiable career?
• ... Or do the two go hand in hand?

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Conclusions

• Research Management is evolving organically
• Inconsistency in structures and roles
• Uncertainty among staff as to whether they work
  in an identifiable community
• Confused perceptions of research support
• Huge inefficiencies across the sector but
  significant appetite to improve and develop
• Few dedicated networking opportunities for
  Directors of Research Service so difficult to
  share experience, good practice, and issues or to
  get a sector view of things
• Current training providers respected but not
  working together some perception rivalry exists
  between them
• All of which points to the need to address the
  problems

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Acknowledgements

• This study was commissioned and jointly funded by
  HEFCE and the MRC
• We are grateful to the staff at twenty HEIs who
  gave their time and shared their views and
  opinions freely

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Thank youwww.professionalisingresearchmanagement
.com
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Working groups

• Each group to address these questions
• Should we work together and achieve greater
  consistency across the sector and if so how?
• Should an accredited qualification system be
  established?
• Should a more formal professional organisation be
  created?
• Who is best placed to provide training?
• Should current training providers work together?
• Report back at 12.30

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Working groups

• Red Ian Carter LT1, level 1
• Blue John Kirkland LT2, level 2
• Green Catherine Quinn LTG, ground
• Yellow Ewart Wooldridge LGS, lower gr.

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The significance of the findings for
Leadership in higher education Ewart Wooldridge
CBE Chief ExecutiveLeadership Foundation for
Higher Education
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Why we were interested in this project?

• HE sector as a whole becoming more professional
• Across the sector and in Research Management
  there is a need to
• attract and retain high calibre people
• develop skills of those working in the sector
• develop leaders of future
• share good practice

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Professional careers in HE

• Major project on career journey in HE
• Research into professional leadership (Celia
  Whitchurch)
• New categories of professional models bounded,
  cross boundary, unbounded and blended
• Perceptions of professionals
• Perceptions of their institutions

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What does this project reveal?

• Issues in identifying skill set and experience
  needed to recruit staff into Research Management
• Problems developing and promoting existing staff,
  particularly at senior and top-level management
• Many staff come into Research Management by
  accident
• Staff, particularly at junior level, see little
  opportunity for career development no clear
  pathway
• Few vacancies for staff to achieve promotion or
  broaden experience
• Research Management not always understood or
  perceived as a profession by others in HE sector

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What does this project reveal?

• Fragmented structures prevail
• A wide range of skills are needed to work in
  Research Management
• Current training provision in the area is patchy
• Reliance on internal training and the knowledge
  of existing staff is high
• Lack of consistency
• No cross-sector qualifications
• Identified need to strengthen training in many
  key areas
• Market for high quality, recognised and possibly
  accredited postgraduate training
• Should be modular, work based, broad enough to
  encompass the varied roles but allow specialism

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Who should be interested in this?

• Universities
• Government and research councils
• Charitable foundations and professional
  organisations
• Funding Councils
• Business
• Anyone else funding research
• Anyone who does research..........................
  ......

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Problems of the current context

• Complexity and inconsistency in Research Office
  functions across the HE sector
• Contrasts with other functions such as Finance,
  Human Resources, Estates or Student Services
• Standardisation of function, structure, job roles
  and responsibilities make it
• easier to identify and transfer skills
• easier to make comparisons and identify good
  practice
• Is there a need for an organisation to provide an
  holistic strategic perspective and provide
  training and development for research managers?
• Is there a need to develop greater consistency in
  Research Management functions across the sector?

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• Thank you
• www.lfhe.ac.uk

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Feedback from working groups, questions and panel
discussion
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Panel discussion and possible next steps

• How do we bring this all together?
• Who should lead?
• Ian Carter ARMA
• Dr John Kirkland ACU
• Catherine Quinn Wellcome Trust
• Scott Rutherford Imperial College London
• Ewart Wooldridge Leadership Foundation

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Possible future objectives

• Ensure Research Management is recognised as a
  professional activity
• Improve brand and communication about what we do
• Develop networks to share good practice
• Improve training opportunities in Research
  Management
• Develop a more holistic training environment
• Work with existing training and qualification
  providers
• Explore leadership needs
• Ensure funders recognise they have a stake

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Thank youwww.professionalisingresearchmanagement
.com