Event date: April 25, 2022

Event time: 14:30 - 16:00 CET

Location: Online meeting 

EARMAimpact is an open, international thematic group, ready to be established within EARMA. It addresses the meaning, implementation and evidencing of impact within research projects, primarily from the perspective of Research Managers and Administrators working in the European Higher Education (HE) sector. 

The EARMAimpact emerging group aiming to become an active community of expert practitioners specialising in many aspects of research support. Our main purpose is to provide a forum for knowledge-sharing and collaboration in order to facilitate changes required to support the increasingly “impact-driven” research culture that exists in the European HE sector. 

We intend to investigate barriers in impact awareness and to identify opportunities for practitioners to increase their knowledge of and skills in research impact. We shall discuss, assess and advise on relevant guidelines, policies and procedures. We shall also issue advice where needed on appropriate actions at institutional, national and international levels. 

EARMA is keen to support members and the wider community of RMAs in their efforts to support impact of research. With this in mind, EARMA is proposing to establish a 'Thematic Group' focusing on impact. EARMA would now like to gauge interest in such a 'Thematic Group'. To do that, we are holding two events:

1) May the impact be with you (online event) April 25th 2022, 14:30-16:00.  
2) Coffee-break introduction to EARMAimpact (in person event) May 5th 2022 at the EARMA Conference in Oslo, 16-16:30 (location tba).

EARMA looks forward to welcoming you and invites you to join this thematic group for more networking, info and collaboration on impact.
 

Agenda

You can view the programme here.   
 

Bio speakers  

Anna Raask - KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden

Anna Raask is Senior Research Advisor at KTH, focusing on pre-award matters related to large-scale cooperative projects of the Pillar II of Horizon Europe and focusing on the on the topic of “impact”. She has a degree in Political Science and European Studies from the University of Helsinki. She has previously worked as a Network Manager for the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) headquartered in Brussels, focusing on user-centered, open innovation ecosystems based co-creation approach integrating RDI in real life settings. She has also had diverse roles for EU-project development as well as implementation activities within both academia and private sector. She is part of the COST Action BestPrac for transnational knowledge exchange in research project management and administration as well as a part of the newly formalized EARMA interest group on impact.
 

David Budtz Pedersen - Aalborg University, Denmark

David Budtz Pedersen is Professor of Science Communication and Impact Studies at Aalborg University, and Director of the Humanomics Research Centre in Copenhagen. His research is focused on the impact, communication and governance of science and technology. He frequently acts as speaker and adviser to international governments and funding agencies. He holds PhD, MA and BA degrees in philosophy of science and science policy studies from University of Copenhagen, and visiting scholarships at University of Vienna and New York University. For almost two decades, David has worked as a science policy adviser. He entered the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science in 2005, working in science policy until 2012. More recently, David was appointed member of the Danish Government Expert Group on Rewards and Metrics in Research. In 2019 he became Chair of the EU COST CCA Expert Group on Science Communication. Prof. David Budtz Pedersen acts as Knowledge Broker for Algorithms, Data and Democracy (ADD) supported by the Villum & Velux Foundations (2021-2030).
 

Bio initiators 

Petra Auer-Nahold - Technical University of Graz 

I work as a Senior Support Specialist for international funding at Graz University of Technology. Our team consists of experts for pre- and post-award support in national and international funding, for entrepreneurship and industrial liaisons as well as for IPR and exploitation. With my communication and project management skills I support researchers to focus on impact during proposal-writing and to identify the necessary stakeholders for an impactful research. Post-award, I work scaffolding our investigators in starting and executing their project in an efficient and satisfying way. My background is Romance Studies and Cultural Management. I love bringing people together. Thus, it is an exciting experience to be part of this emerging group.
 

Jan Andersen - University of Southern Denmark 

I am a Senior Executive Advisor, with a background in Computer Science and Danish Language. I am a specialist in research strategy, funding and research planning. Together with good colleagues I am the author of “Research Management – Europe and beyond”. I had the pleasure to be elected chair of the European Association of Research Managers and 
Administrators, EARMA 2010-2013, and was a board member until 2018. I was the initiative taker to the COST BESTPRAC Targeted Network and was chair from 2013-2018 – a network with 680 participants from 41 countries. I consider myself a creative teambuilder, running the EARMA Pasta Making Experience. My aim is to inspire people to be their best!
 

Anja Smykowski - University Medical Center Gronningen, NL

I am the coordinator of grant and impact support at the University Medical Center in Groningen, the Netherlands. My interest is, and always has been, research: when I was a researcher in genetics, when I worked in scientific publishing and now as a research professional advising on research impact strategies and plans. I enjoy being part on the current shift in the research culture,  towards a more open and society inclusive approach and I get motivated by the various stories showing exactly that. Together with my team, we support researchers in this respect, connect them to the right stakeholders and help them to plan and write about their impact.  
 

Anna Raask - KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden

Anna Raask is Senior Research Advisor at KTH, focusing on pre-award matters related to large-scale cooperative projects of the Pillar II of Horizon Europe and focusing on the on the topic of “impact”. She has a degree in Political Science and European Studies from the University of Helsinki. She has previously worked as a Network Manager for the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) headquartered in Brussels, focusing on user-centered, open innovation ecosystems based co-creation approach integrating RDI in real life settings. She has also had diverse roles for EU-project development as well as implementation activities within both academia and private sector. She is part of the COST Action BestPrac for transnational knowledge exchange in research project management and administration as well as a part of the newly formalized EARMA interest group on impact.
 

Elina Rossi - University of Oulu, Finland 

I am a Research Support Specialist in the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Oulu. With a background in humanities, I have extensive experience in EU proposals and research funding, and training researchers on the related topics. One of my areas of interest lies in research impact, for which I have developed an online guide together with my colleagues. Recently, I have also focused on sustainability in research and participated in the development of a method for linking sustainability goals with research in 6G and wireless communications. I have also participated in the EARMA interest group on impact since the beginning.
 

Emma Siddall - Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

I am a pre-award Horizon Europe Senior Research Funding Specialist with a focus on Pillar 2 and EIC at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.  I am the impact specialist within the TCD Research Development Office and have developed a series of impact focused workshops to support Horizon Europe proposal development. In addition to my pre-award experience, I have worked as a project manager for a number of Horizon 2020 proposals.  Prior to my career in research management I earned a PhD in Behavioural Ecology.
 

Harald Hasler-Sheetal - University of Southern Denmark

Harald bridges research support and policy first as research development manager and later as head of external relations at the science faculty of SDU. He bridges the needs of academics with the aims of faculty management and enjoys hands-on work in strategic and actual applications. He represents SDU in the HEU reference group for CLUSTER 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment. Harald’s expertise lies in European funding and large strategic bids. Harald holds a PhD in marine ecology and has several years of experience as researcher.
 

Chris Knighting - Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands

I am one of a team of four Project Development Officers in the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). The scope of my work is purely pre-award, supporting researchers to identify, prepare, enhance and submit research funding proposals at national and European level. Helping researchers to understand the increasing importance of impact within proposal writing is a priority of mine. I also do some lobbying work with relevant bodies across Europe to ensure that TU/e researchers contribute to the wider scientific debate and shaping of funding calls. I have 20 years of experience in university administration, mostly in student-facing roles across several UK universities.