Abstract

NARMA (Norwegian Association of Research Management) has since its establishment in 2013 put professional development of research administration at the center of its mission by establishing initiatives and forums for best-practice exchange for research administration across Norwegian higher education institutions. In 2019 a new initiative was launched; a seminar for best-practice exchange at the management level. The initiative is aimed at managers that have strategic leadership in research administration as part of their area of responsibility at their institutions. RMAs at the leadership level may often encounter the same issues across institutions, however there’s been a lack of forums where these issues can be discussed with their peers.
The initiative is part of NARMAs professional development program, where the courses are differentiated by the level of experience of the participants. The Leadership seminar aims to provide RMAs at the leadership level the following:

• Increase awareness about research administration as a profession and as a field of expertise
• Provide and facilitate best-practice sharing and discussions on the improvement of research administration at both the individual and institutional level
• Strengthen networking and collaboration in research administration

In this presentation we’ll briefly present the background and the overall aim of the initiative. However, the emphasis of the presentation will be on the development of the initiative, it’s content, the participants feedback and their experiences with the initiative and what lessons have been learned from the initiative.