Management capacity – A key element in research excellence
Many international research and development funders recognise the role of universities in solving global problems and increasingly structure their funding around societal grand challenges while encouraging global interdisciplinary teams to address these. The participation of institutions from Africa in these consortia has been actively sought by funders ranging from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Horizon 2020 and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
16 Ocak 2020 - 12:26
While encouraging, it remains the case that most international funding to many of these institutions is indirect through subawards from lead institutions in Europe and North America. For example, in 2016, Kenyan institutions participated in 174 grants from the US-based NIH, but only 4% of these were direct to Kenyan institutions.
Such statistics are often accompanied by anecdotes where ‘local’ partners are excluded from key dialogues relating to research design and absent from the conversations that set the research agenda.
The importance of positioning African institutions to lead research on issues that affect the continent was compellingly argued at the recent Biennial Conference of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) in Nairobi, and international funders appear to be taking note.
At a December meeting of the Eastern Africa Research and Innovation Management Association (EARIMA), UKRI reiterated its support for direct awards to institutions in Africa, an intention backed up by its significant investment in ARUA centres of excellence.
However, successful participation in, and especially leadership of, internationally funded projects requires strong institutions with robust research governance and financial management systems and a systematic approach to the administration of sponsored research.
Managerial and administrative capacity is every bit as important as research excellence; in the US, it is estimated that 44% of the time of researchers leading federally funded grants is devoted to administration.
To be successful, universities must have demonstrable research governance infrastructure and highly competent research managers.
Since 2016, the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) University Administration Support Program (UASP) Fellowships in Research Management – funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York – has sought to improve the research management and administration skills of mid- to senior-level university leaders in institutions of the ARUA network to enable them to improve their institutions’ ability to compete and collaborate internationally, win international research funding and transfer knowledge and technology to their communities.
In the 2018-19 cycle, 24 university professionals – ranging from research management officer to deputy vice-chancellor – participated in the programme, all with a common interest in improving research performance at their institution.
The programme incorporates research management and knowledge transfer capacity assessments using IREX’s ‘Research Management 360’ tool, four weeks embedded within a US university research management or technology transfer function, and six weeks of online and in-person discussion and active reflection, providing a rich snapshot of perceived research management performance across leading universities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Having analysed this data, we share the salient perceived strengths and weaknesses of the research ecosystem of leading research intensive universities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
There is much to be positive about. UASP fellows identify significant strengths in their universities including their strong regional brands, improved research missions, visions and strategies and targeted efforts to better disseminate funding opportunities and systematically manage sponsored research.
This had led to more and deeper international partnerships and the growth of a research culture where research success is celebrated. Indeed, some of the most pertinent lessons learned related to confidence boosting confirmation of good management practice at their home institutions.
However, fellows also identified significant growth needs in their universities with three challenges surfacing across the cohorts:
• Perceived gaps in strategic management, leadership and data were frequently cited as drivers of inefficiency, low accountability and inertia. The collection and use of research management data was the lowest scoring criteria in the Research Management 360, with less than 50% of participants indicating that their institution had effective systems in place to collect and use research data to inform decisions. Leadership and management skills were also highlighted as barriers that lead to significant gaps in the implementation of written policies and strategies. A lack of research related standard-setting – linked to a lack of leadership accountability for research performance – was also believed to be a factor hindering improved research performance.
• Perceived gaps in faculty and administrator professional development and support repeatedly emerged as an area needing growth, appearing as the lowest scoring category in the Research Management 360. Most participants noted limited or absent administrative, management and leadership professional development for faculty, and comprehensive training for research administrators. The latter is further compounded by a tendency in some institutions for research managers to be considered part of a wider, generic, administrator pool that risks them being moved into different university departments and hinders their ability to be recognised as vital pillars of the research ecosystem. In addition, only half of respondents felt that their institutions adequately supported the socio-emotional needs of their researchers.
• Perceived gaps in research translation competencies appeared in several guises. Half of participants identified gaps in researchers’ ability to communicate their research and its relevance effectively and to leverage social media. Most institutions also lacked a strategic approach to science communication. While research knowledge is routinely transferred through teaching, publications, conferences, consultancy, and – though nascent in some institutions – collaborative and contract research, knowledge and technology transfer was also identified as an area with significant space for growth. Policy engagement, licensing and spin-outs were widely perceived to be under-utilised, driven by a range of factors including lack of IP (intellectual property) policy, poor faculty understanding of IP and knowledge transfer, and limited funding and resource environments.
Participants finished their fellowships armed with ideas – and implementation plans – for institutional improvements garnered from their peer cohort and their US hosts.
Some are now using small grants to drive forward initiatives including new e-Research Administration systems to improve data collection and use, leadership development programmes, the establishment of pre- and post-award services, and researcher professional development.
Such initiatives should improve the ability of these institutions to play a leading role in internationally funded research opportunities.
Dr Rebecca Ward is a senior technical advisor in the education practice at IREX. Applications for the next cycle of the UASP Fellowships in Research Management will open in January 2020.
Such statistics are often accompanied by anecdotes where ‘local’ partners are excluded from key dialogues relating to research design and absent from the conversations that set the research agenda.
The importance of positioning African institutions to lead research on issues that affect the continent was compellingly argued at the recent Biennial Conference of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) in Nairobi, and international funders appear to be taking note.
At a December meeting of the Eastern Africa Research and Innovation Management Association (EARIMA), UKRI reiterated its support for direct awards to institutions in Africa, an intention backed up by its significant investment in ARUA centres of excellence.
However, successful participation in, and especially leadership of, internationally funded projects requires strong institutions with robust research governance and financial management systems and a systematic approach to the administration of sponsored research.
Managerial and administrative capacity is every bit as important as research excellence; in the US, it is estimated that 44% of the time of researchers leading federally funded grants is devoted to administration.
To be successful, universities must have demonstrable research governance infrastructure and highly competent research managers.
Since 2016, the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) University Administration Support Program (UASP) Fellowships in Research Management – funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York – has sought to improve the research management and administration skills of mid- to senior-level university leaders in institutions of the ARUA network to enable them to improve their institutions’ ability to compete and collaborate internationally, win international research funding and transfer knowledge and technology to their communities.
In the 2018-19 cycle, 24 university professionals – ranging from research management officer to deputy vice-chancellor – participated in the programme, all with a common interest in improving research performance at their institution.
The programme incorporates research management and knowledge transfer capacity assessments using IREX’s ‘Research Management 360’ tool, four weeks embedded within a US university research management or technology transfer function, and six weeks of online and in-person discussion and active reflection, providing a rich snapshot of perceived research management performance across leading universities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Having analysed this data, we share the salient perceived strengths and weaknesses of the research ecosystem of leading research intensive universities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
There is much to be positive about. UASP fellows identify significant strengths in their universities including their strong regional brands, improved research missions, visions and strategies and targeted efforts to better disseminate funding opportunities and systematically manage sponsored research.
This had led to more and deeper international partnerships and the growth of a research culture where research success is celebrated. Indeed, some of the most pertinent lessons learned related to confidence boosting confirmation of good management practice at their home institutions.
However, fellows also identified significant growth needs in their universities with three challenges surfacing across the cohorts:
• Perceived gaps in strategic management, leadership and data were frequently cited as drivers of inefficiency, low accountability and inertia. The collection and use of research management data was the lowest scoring criteria in the Research Management 360, with less than 50% of participants indicating that their institution had effective systems in place to collect and use research data to inform decisions. Leadership and management skills were also highlighted as barriers that lead to significant gaps in the implementation of written policies and strategies. A lack of research related standard-setting – linked to a lack of leadership accountability for research performance – was also believed to be a factor hindering improved research performance.
• Perceived gaps in faculty and administrator professional development and support repeatedly emerged as an area needing growth, appearing as the lowest scoring category in the Research Management 360. Most participants noted limited or absent administrative, management and leadership professional development for faculty, and comprehensive training for research administrators. The latter is further compounded by a tendency in some institutions for research managers to be considered part of a wider, generic, administrator pool that risks them being moved into different university departments and hinders their ability to be recognised as vital pillars of the research ecosystem. In addition, only half of respondents felt that their institutions adequately supported the socio-emotional needs of their researchers.
• Perceived gaps in research translation competencies appeared in several guises. Half of participants identified gaps in researchers’ ability to communicate their research and its relevance effectively and to leverage social media. Most institutions also lacked a strategic approach to science communication. While research knowledge is routinely transferred through teaching, publications, conferences, consultancy, and – though nascent in some institutions – collaborative and contract research, knowledge and technology transfer was also identified as an area with significant space for growth. Policy engagement, licensing and spin-outs were widely perceived to be under-utilised, driven by a range of factors including lack of IP (intellectual property) policy, poor faculty understanding of IP and knowledge transfer, and limited funding and resource environments.
Participants finished their fellowships armed with ideas – and implementation plans – for institutional improvements garnered from their peer cohort and their US hosts.
Some are now using small grants to drive forward initiatives including new e-Research Administration systems to improve data collection and use, leadership development programmes, the establishment of pre- and post-award services, and researcher professional development.
Such initiatives should improve the ability of these institutions to play a leading role in internationally funded research opportunities.
Dr Rebecca Ward is a senior technical advisor in the education practice at IREX. Applications for the next cycle of the UASP Fellowships in Research Management will open in January 2020.
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