Abstract

Leveraging the “Zoom Boom”: partnering across Australia
The last few years have provided many challenges. The new “Zoom Boom” has had both advantages and disadvantages. Certainly, building relationships remotely can be difficult but most people have welcomed increased flexibility and virtual meetings have been normalised and decreased the sense of distance and space between people.
These times have shown the resilience and brilliance of those of us supporting research in our institutions, and for many of us, platforms such as Zoom and Teams have allowed us to expand and create our collaboration networks.
Almost every university in Australia, like many across the globe, experienced large scale budget cuts. This has had a significant impact on research administrators everywhere, particularly in the area of professional development opportunities and opportunities to meet face-to-face.
Many Australian universities form clusters, in many cases on the basis of their date of establishment, a shared ethos and approach, or geographic locations. One cluster is The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN). The ATN brings together six Australian universities focused on enterprise, impact and finding solutions to contemporary issues facing our economy and society. Our member universities are located in four states of Australia - Curtin University, Deakin University, RMIT University, The University of Newcastle, The University of South Australia, and The University of Technology Sydney.
“ATN universities are positioned to produce Australia’s most job-ready graduates and undertake world-class research with real-world impact, seeking to find solutions to the world’s most wicked problems. Through our innovation we are proud disruptors challenging the status quo and ensuring we continue to meet the needs of a rapidly changing economy and society. Together, we are proud of who we include, not exclude, with a strong commitment to equity, excellence and social justice”.
“Established in 1999, the ATN is one of Australia’s university peak bodies with a track record of advocating and shaping positive policy outcomes with all levels of government” (Australian Technology Network of Universities/about-us, 2022).
With these trusted, long-standing partnerships between our universities in mind, it inspired the three of us to explore how information and our processes and approaches to research management could be shared in an environment of pre-existing openness and goodwill between our institutions. In 2021, we reached out to the Research Offices of each of the ATN member universities to kickstart discussions on how our circle of research management professionals could work together , in the spirit of the ATN’s ethos. How could we collectively learn about each other’s research management practices and collectively problem solve – the good and the not so good that needs improving - in a trusted, open circle? We have established development opportunities through regular sharing of information, setting up communities of practice, and sharing expertise across our universities with a particular solutions focussed lens and view to cover emerging topics and trends that impact research offices.
The benefits of this have been extensive in a rapidly changing research management environment. We have been able to support each other, facilitate knowledge sharing, collaborate on best practice, as well as look at ways of sharing training sessions that we might otherwise do as individual institutions.
In this presentation we will discuss:
The Australian University sector challenges and how we are working through practical resolutions for common issues through our collaboration group, taking the opportunity to make the most of the Zoom Boom.

References
Australian Technology Network of Universities/about-us. (2022). Retrieved from Australian Technology Network of Universities: https://atn.edu.au/about-us/