Friday, August 3, 2012

Fundamentals in World Class Research Administration

Just this week I have completed a certificate titled Fundamentals in World Class Research Administration. The certificate ran for 6 months and was an intensive course in all aspects of research administration from pre-award to post-award and beyond. I have been working in the field of research administration for the past 6 years, mainly in the field of research performance monitoring, and this course was essentially a complete series of master classes in all aspects of research administration. Topics covered included the national framework for research in higher education, the management and administration of research, the role of research administration in the university context, generating research business, increasing quality and reputation at local and state levels, contracts and intellectual property, research students and research marketing, financial management internal controls and risk mitigation, research ethics and integrity, benchmarking in research, and researching into industry and innovation.

I believe that research administration is emerging as a fascinating and lucrativecareer path which has been largely overlooked in the past. I don't believe there is another course out there at the moment quite like this one - and it is not only a unique course but it is aimed at a unique profession. There are not many other offices out there that have such a huge diversity of talent and tasks as a research administration office. In the same physical space you have solicitors, contracts specialists, systems specialists, business analysts, database professionals, data analysts, policy specialists, customer service officers, ISO quality specialists, IP experts, project managers and commercialization specialists - sometimes these are the same people doing different specialized roles - and, these aren't even the people doing the research, they are the ones helping the research happen.

I very much enjoyed completing the Fundamentals in World Class Research Administration certificate not just because it reinforced a lot of research administration knowledge and deepened my understanding of the field it also tied the disparate sections of the research office together revealing it as a formidable ally to any research organisation seeking to be competitive in the current research and innovation environment.

I think that anyone who is in the field of research administration and completes this course has added a really valuable tool to their resume and would become a valuable asset to any research office in Australia - or indeed the world.

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