Abstract

Research managers have become increasingly important to research work in the past two decades. Often they are the people behind the scenes who facilitate research progress and are the links between researchers and organizations, giving research managers unique perspectives on the culture of research in their organizations and beyond. In 2021, University College Dublin conducted a Survey of Research Culture to gauge how the research community felt about important aspects of research culture. Survey findings and the subsequent knowledge-sharing and discussion forums have highlighted the vital role that research managers already play and signposted where their roles could expand to make even greater contributions.

The European research community is beginning to recognize that a positive research culture is key to producing excellent research. An environment in which collegiality and collaboration are valued and where all those involved in research are recognized for their contributions requires the collective action from across the community. Research managers are situated at the nexus of many groups: researchers, administrators, funders, policy makers and more. There are also a diversity of roles that research managers take. Some work as part of a central administrative office and others as one of a few professional support staff for a department or college. Feedback from the UCD community found that the expertise of research managers in areas such as grant writing, data management, project management, and financial management provides valued support to faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate researchers. In the words of one discussion forum participant, research managers are ‘the people who make things happen.’

For as valued as research managers are within the research community, they can feel frustrated because their roles are often tied to specific projects, providing them with little security and career progression. Those who work outside of teams or central offices can feel isolated. Some report that a sense that hierarchies, real or perceived, prevent them from doing their jobs as effectively as they could. There are areas where a more positive research culture can better serve research managers.

As we look to the future of research management we can see that the ways research managers are already valued directs us to our next frontier. Research managers can create opportunities for connection and collaboration that are so important to next-level research.

Take away messages include recognition of the link between excellent research and positive research culture, insight into a process for evaluating institutional research culture, and appreciation for the potential for research managers to enable important connections in the research environment.