ARMS 2009, Christchurch, NZ

From the 16-18 of September 2009 I attended the Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS) Conference in Christchurch, New Zealand. The conference was titled The Evolution of Research Management which was inspired by the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary his book On the Origin of Species.

There were three themes for the conference which were:

• Supporting the Researcher: from gatekeepers to champions
• Evaluating Research: the conditions that unleash excellence
• Through the Veil: looking to future systems for successful research

Before the conference began there was also a choice of a full day workshop. I chose to attend the workshop – Introduction to Research Management.

The workshop consisted of four modules:

• an overview of the national research context
• funding opportunities
• lifecycle of a research grant
• ethics and accountability frameworks governing the conduct of research

One take-home point (among many) from the conference was the importance of stakeholders and stakeholder engagement in supporting research and researchers. Research managers and administrators are important as facilitators and translators between the researchers and external stakeholders. They manage expectations and help ensure stakeholders understand the relevance of research. The research manager is a key player in securing and retaining resources for research. Institutions such, as universities, that have excellent research management and develop excellent research managers and administrators have the potential to compete against other institutions that have not developed these qualities and rely only on their reputation.

Christchurch

Christchurch is a beautiful city - it is a sister city to Adelaide in South Australia and is called the Garden City. In a day and a half I managed to squeeze in: a climb to the top of the cathedral spire; a trip on the tourist tram around the city; the museum, the botanic gardens, a gondola ride up Mt Cavendish and some really great meals, including the Dux de Lux and the Tap Room.

The ARMS 2009 website can be found here: http://www.arms2009.org/index.htm