Image: Craig Nicholson for Research Professional News
Earma 2024: Research managers told there is a “bright future” for their profession
There is “momentum” behind the development of research management and administration, an annual gathering of the profession has been told.
Nik Claesen (pictured), managing director of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators, said in his opening talk at Earma’s annual conference in Odense, Denmark, on 24 April: “Things are moving, awareness is being raised, initiatives taken, progress made.”
He said that now is a “pivotal moment” for the profession in Europe, with changes to research assessment, researcher careers, open science and open data.
ERA and RM Roadmap
One fulcrum of this pivot is a dedicated action of the European Research Area, an initiative to improve research standards across Europe, he said. ERA priority action 17 is proving “highly successful in creating awareness and finding solutions”, according to Claesen.
Earma itself also has “stronger momentum than ever”, he said. “We are currently experiencing an explosion of interest in Earma as a whole and, for example, very strongly in the thematic groups,” he said, adding that the association is changing the rules for the groups to “empower” them.
The association recently moved into a new office in Brussels “to further amplify the research management voice in Europe”, Claesen said. A day earlier it launched a new strategy for 2024-28.
It is also coordinating the RM Roadmap project, which has been given EU funding to define the research management profession and to advocate for official recognition and greater policy support at EU level.
“We are consistently moving closer and closer to professional recognition, [and] with our strategy we will further prioritise achieving recognitions for colleagues here today and across Europe,” Claesen said.
He concluded: “With all of this momentum, the future is bright for better and stronger research management.”