Raising golden geese: supporting and managing quality research
The 2007 Conference took place on 7-8 June at the Mercure Holland House Hotel, Cardiff. Here you can find copies of the presentations.
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Parallel sessions: session five
501: Funding opportunities in the arts and humanities
Theme: Funding and funders
Aimed at those new to the field, this session featured presentations from two of the key funders in the arts and humanities, who gave an overview of the main funding programmes and application procedures.
Ian Broadbridge, AHRC
Katherine Barkwith, AHRC
Elizabeth Ollard, British Academy
502: Can a research administrator assess research quality?
Theme: Support structures and systems
What role can and do administrators play in the assessment of research? How do we judge research quality and is there an unbridgeable gap between administrators and academics in the ability to make such judgments? A provocative presentation and facilitated discussion on the role of the research administrator.
Richard Bond, University of the West of England, Bristol
Amanda Longley, University of the West of England, Bristol
503: Specialists, generalists or both?
Theme: Developing research managers and administrators as professionals
This session considered different tasks and roles within research management, the skills and knowledge required to carry out these roles and the 'best' mix of specialists and generalists to deliver research support services to the institution, its academics and external agencies. The needs of the individual research manager, and how this translates into future skills development needs, were also discussed.
Ross McLennan, University of Glasgow
504: Systems of internal peer review
Theme: Support structures and systems
There is increasing concern about falling success rates and the costs of review processes to funding agencies. In this environment, research organisations are encouraged to improve pre-award quality assurance processes, including through the introduction of internal peer review processes. Do these processes improve success rates? What are the costs and benefits to the organisation? Do they work best at institution, faculty or departmental level? Can a requirement for peer review be enforced?
The speakers explained the formal and informal processes they work with in different environments. One is in a biomedical research institute in a recently re-organised pre-92 university, the other in a large specialist social science institution. Participants were invited to share their own experiences, to identify the pros and cons of different approaches to internal peer review, and to design the ideal system.
Mark Smith, University of Keele
Steff Hazlehurst, Institute of Education, University of London
505: Working and negotiating with industry
Theme: Funding and funders
One of the fundamental activities of a contemporary university is to engage in collaboration with external bodies where both parties can use the generation of new knowledge to further their own core activities. This presentation reviewed how universities collaborate with industry focusing on relationships, contractual arrangements and what makes for a successful collaboration.
Colin Cooper, University of Liverpool
506: The role of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration and the UK Clinical Research Network
Theme: Policy and strategy
The UK Clinical Research Collaboration works towards the development of a world class infrastructure to support clinical research in the UK and brings together the NHS, research funders, industry, regulatory bodies, Royal Colleges, patient groups and academia to a UK-wide environment that facilitates and promotes high quality clinical research for the benefit of patients. The UK Clinical Research Network was established to support clinical research and to facilitate the conduct of trials and other well-designed studies across the UK, and is part of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration. This presentation gave an update on UKCRC and UKCRN and their activities.
Matthew Hallsworth, Head of Communications, UKCRC
Dr Janet Messer, Deputy Director, NHS R&D Forum
Ian Goodall, Assistant Director (Research Management), UKCRN
507: Engaging early with researchers and managers
Theme: Researchers: staff and students
With any project, time lost at the start inevitably leads to slippage at the end. By analogy, encouraging research staff to engage from the outset of their employment with plans to extend their professional skills and career progression can help them get off to a flying start and avoid later career panic. This workshop shared experiences of approaches to early engagement and considered how research administrators can support and encourage research staff in pursuing development opportunities.
Rosie Plummer, University of Wales, Swansea
