industry & research
Why do you think there are sometimes tensions between academic colleagues and research administrators? I think the tensions are two-fold – systemic and transient. Research is in the DNA of our academic colleagues and the requirement to support research means that administrative staff come very close to touching that. Consequently, the relationship should be symbiotic. However, without a mutual appreciation of each other’ s roles and effective, respectful communication, there is no doubt that the relationship can sometimes be strained.
In terms of the transient tensions, I do think there are crunch points during the year when grant submission deadlines are looming and the mutual pressures that colleagues are under are simply ignored rather than effectively managed. In short, those writing research grants need to understand the capabilities and pressures of the research support office and those supporting the grants application process need to understand the capabilities and pressures of academic colleagues.
a grant proposal that is rejected because of uncertainties about your ability to deliver. If you have a great idea and are prepared to do the hard work, it’ s worth approaching a more senior colleague about being a partner. How else will the review panel be convinced that the risks of non-delivery are adequately mitigated? Give some thought to the outcomes of the proposed work.
9 What will be produced and how will products be disseminated? Who are the target beneficiaries of the research, what is the size and distribution of the pool and how will you engage them? Make sure that goals are attainable. There is a fine line
10 between demonstrating that you can achieve them and overambition. Don’ t promise more than you can deliver.
How can an institutional research support office help academic colleagues win grants? Generally speaking, research support offices have two main duties: supporting academic colleagues in their research endeavours( and all that entails) and ensuring regulatory compliance at the institution.
The flavour, size and structure( i. e. centralised or devolved) of support offices tend to vary but when it comes to supporting academic colleagues, there are some common elements. It would be quite usual for support offices to develop, implement and operate research administrative processes, procedures and IT systems. Therefore, your support office should be able to do the following to varying degrees: source research funders( or train you to do that for yourself); decipher funding eligibility criteria and terms and conditions of grants; provide a toolkit to help you complete funding applications( e. g. application forms, salary costs, information on in-kind and other local contributions, general research environment statements, obtaining ethics approvals, etc.); source expert grant writers; provide signposts to internal and external mentors; be a conduit to communication with the funders; and submit your proposals in a timely way on behalf of the institution. Of course, the extent of experience of academic colleagues will determine the specific demand for these services.
How can research ADMINISTRATORS AND THEIR ACADEMIC colleagues optimise their relationship? Research support offices could better and more frequently explain and demonstrate their purpose and range of services to academic colleagues but also manage expectations. We exist partly to take a routine administrative burden away from them, to free them up to do their research. Managing expectations is important though; there do need to be parameters of operation – service-level agreements if you like.
Research support staff also need to be walking the walk. If they purport to be experts in research administration, then leadership needs to make sure that staff are experienced and trained accordingly. As a suite of service-based functions, research support offices should also be operating to best practice and be client focused. Equally, academic colleagues can take steps to help themselves and help research administrators to help them! Timing and planning are everything. Seeking assistance with previously unseen grant applications at the 11th hour without an exceptionally good reason raises risk issues for the institution and won’ t endear you to anybody. My advice to academic colleagues would be to get to know the grants officer in your research support office who will be getting your application ready for submission. Use your time to develop the academic meat of the proposal but seek help with the financials and institutional statements etc. as early as possible.
What does the future look like for research support in the sector? It is my hope that in the not too distant future, research management and administration can become recognised as a credible and easily defined specialty within the sector. I know there is a groundswell towards the creation of professional accreditation processes in the Australian higher education system at the moment and it’ s probably not before time.
Research continues to become more internationally collaborative, cross-disciplinary and competitive in terms of obtaining funding. As such, there is a continuing need to find ways to offer effective and efficient support. Automating parts of the administrative process through robust research management software and web-based workflow systems offers a way forward here. The regulatory environment for research is already complex, so there will always be a need for a cadre of able administrators in the compliance space. That said, what I hope will change is the notion that research support offices are some kind of police force for compliance. Rather, we should embed matters of compliance and risk in our policies, processes, procedures and systems so the bureaucracy around meeting the requirements is reduced as much as possible. n
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