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Earma 2023: Commission official says there are still gaps in “essential role” of research management
Europe has excellent researchers everywhere, but excellent support for them is still not so equally distributed, a senior European Commission official has warned.
Anna Panagopoulou from the Commission research and innovation department told the 2023 meeting of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators in Prague that her institution and EU member state governments recognise the “essential role” of research management.
This is shown by European Research Area Policy Action 17—an initiative EU policymakers are backing to strengthen research management as part of the ERA policy package, she said in a video message to the Earma meeting on 25 April.
The action was much-discussed at the meeting, including for its links to a project Earma is leading to produce a roadmap for research management.
But despite this, there is recognition at the highest level that gaps still exist in the support researchers can call on, Panagopoulou said.
“Excellence and excellent researchers are everywhere. But in several areas of the ERA territory, excellent support and leadership in research is missing,” she said, adding that “the research management profession is often overlooked”.
Research managers have been pushing hard in recent years to professionalise their work. In the same meeting session, Nik Claesen, Earma’s managing director, said that research management was experiencing a “golden age”.
Panagopoulou told the conference that its 1,400 attendees needed to “help us show the importance of your work”.
Research Professional News is media partner for the Earma 2023 conference in Prague. Read all of the coverage here.