Researchers are learning to appreciate their managers

Antony Weir

There has long been a perceived conflict between those who do research and those who administer it. In 2010, for example, pharmacologist David Colquhoun of University College London wrote in these pages that research managers were “just one more layer of hangers-on that has been inflicted on the academic enterprise” one that “merely generates more paperwork and more distraction from the job in hand” [see related article].

Any research manager reading these words would be dismayed. My own experience is that such attitudes are increasingly confined to a few individuals, most of whom established their academic careers before recent, significant changes took place in research support. In particular, I have been involved with a number of initiatives intended to aid the professional development of early-career researchers. Many such initiatives came in the wake of Gareth Roberts’ 2002 report, which highlighted that young researchers were not getting the help they needed in career progression.