Project to professionalise UK research management

The management of research is not formally regarded as a profession in the UK, in contrast to other countries, most notably the US. Instead staff are recruited from a variety of different backgrounds, there is no recognised career pathway, and they often have to develop the specific skills as they go along.

Research managers have a complex role and a wide range of responsibilities, including negotiating contracts, formulating strategy and policy, project management, budgeting, managing intellectual property, and advising academics on commercialising their discoveries.

Demands on managers have been increased by recent legislation that requires universities to calculate the full economic cost of their research projects and to meet specific governance and ethics criteria.

Despite these complexities, most staff in the UK usually enter the field from backgrounds in accountancy, research, industry or general management.

John Green, Chief Coordinating Officer at Imperial College London and co-leader of the project, says, “We are competing internationally for the major grants and contracts that fuel the research that is the life-blood of the economy. There’s no question that UK research is of a very high quality, but we must also be able to demonstrate that the structures supporting the research are first class too.”

The project aims to transform research management into a recognised career. In the view of David Langley, project co-leader and Director of Research and Enterprise Development at Bristol, and Deputy Chair Elect of the UK Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA), “We need an administrative structure that reflects the huge importance of research to universities and to our economy as a whole.”

The study will examine current research support structures in a sample of UK universities, looking principally at existing roles and workloads, to find where gaps in expertise exist and to uncover examples of best practice. It will also investigate demand for possible methods of accreditation and further training for research support staff.

A report will be submitted to the Higher Education Funding Council for England in early 2009. The project leaders also plan to organise a conference to report their findings.