NEWSLETTER OF ARMS September - October2023 |
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Greetings,
The amazing ARMS conference seems but a distant memory as we move into the home strait of this year. But, I hope, when you are feeling a little swamped to remember those inspirational moments and those things that you thought were great ideas and might give a try! And, don’t forget the many new connections that you’ve made – and reach out if you have a query! See more from our Chapter Awardees below about their reflections of the conference. And, Darwin 2024 is now live. Registrations are open – we even have some already! More details over the coming weeks regarding call for abstracts.
As many of you know, the constitutional changes have now been endorsed by the membership (see more below).
We also have some new or improved initiatives in the pipeline for next year. Watch out for more information on the Indigenous Conference Travel Award, Early Career Research Management Professional Development Awards; and the International Travel Scholarship Awards!
We also soon to make calls for: - Members for a Social Media Advisory Group – we want to hear from you about how we can best use Social Media to communicate. The basic criteria is that you need to be more Social Media savvy than me, which won’t be hard.
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New Special Interest Groups and for members to provide the necessary leadership of such SIGs. Also, look out for updates from current SIGs.
Finally, a quick note to let you know that the Membership Survey has now been released – we’ve trimmed this back question-wise and we value your feedback! Take care in the final months of this year, and look out for each other. |
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Dr Tania Bezzobs ARMS President |
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| REVISED ARMS CONSTITUTION A special General Meeting of the Society was held on Tuesday the 10th of October 2023. The main item of business was to consider a special resolution to amend the ARMS Constitution.
Following the Special General Meeting of 10 October 2023, I am pleased to announce that the special resolution to amend the ARMS Constitution was carried subject to minor editorial changes.
Members can now access the revised ARMS Constitution here. |
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| INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION OF RESEARCH MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS 2023 COMPETITION WINNER! |
Thank you to everyone who submitted their #ResearchAdministratorsDay entries. We congratulate Monash University Malaysia for their winning submission! To view all submissions, please click here. |
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RESEARCH ADMINISTRATORS' DAY AT MONASH UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA (MUM)
In acknowledgment of the indispensable role played by our Research Administrators, the Monash University Malaysia (MUM) School of Engineering (SoE) and School of Information Technology (SoIT) recently celebrated International Research Administrators Day. The event coincided with our school retreat which were held from the 25th-27th September 2023 in Sunway Lost World of Tambun (theme park) which is about 2 hours away from our campus. In a heartening gesture, the School's Management presented a thoughtful token of appreciation to the dedicated research management professionals during the welcoming speech onsite. This gesture aimed not only to acknowledge their hard work and dedication but also to symbolize the profound impact they have on the success of the school's research initiatives.
We are honoured to share a photo of our team alongside our Head of School (HoS), dHoS (Research), and Senior School Manager. Our Head of School soaring to new heights in red, setting the bar high for inspirations and achievements in Research. Picture 1: We received a token of appreciation after the welcoming speech from Monash University Malaysia PVC and Head of School.
Picture 2: At the theme park before heading home |
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AUSTRALASIAN RESEARCH TRAINING NETWORK (ARTN) ANNOUNCEMENT
ARMS and ACGR (Australian Council of Graduate Research) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to re-establish the Australasian Research Training Network. Membership of the ARTN is open to those who have an interest in the Higher Degree Research space. If you wish to stay informed about ARTN updates please follow the registration instructions.
ARTN will provide a platform for research training professionals at all levels, and across institutions, to foster collaboration and facilitate knowledge-sharing. We would like to congratulate the inaugural committee and thank them for volunteering their time and expertise to re-invigorate ARTN. The committee members are: Dr Douglas Eacersall - Committee member – Graduate Research Development Catherine Murphy - Committee member – Governance and Administration
Dr Seán O’Reilly - Committee member – Graduate Research Development Susan Schlinker – Co-Chair - Tracy Sullivan – Committee member
- Kate Swanson - Committee member
- Jason White – Co-Chair
The first committee meeting will be held in late November, so stay tuned for updates on professional development and networking opportunities in 2024! |
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| BIENNIAL MEMBERSHIP SURVEY - HAVE YOUR SAY! On behalf of the Member Services Committee, we are pleased to announce the release of our 2023 Membership Survey. As a community which values diversity in the profession, this year’s survey has been revised with two key foci:
- To obtain a broader understanding of who makes up our community of Research Management Professionals; and
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To seek greater insights into what our members value and require to continue their professional development.
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The results from this survey will also be used to inform the Board as it reviews our Strategic Plan in 2024.
The survey has been revised substantially from previous membership surveys, making it simpler and less time consuming to complete!
We value your input and now invite you to participate – click here to commence the survey. The survey closes Friday, the 1st of December 2023. We look forward to your feedback! |
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| RECOGNISING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS
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ARMS proudly celebrates our members achievements via our newsletters and social media platforms. To ensure that we can acknowledge our members current awards, promotions, qualifications, and appointments, we have created a "Member Achievement Form" that can be submitted by the recipient or colleagues!
Approved submissions will be featured in our bi-monthly newsletters and on our social media platforms! Submit your or your colleagues achievements here!
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ACCREDITATION, EDUCATION & TRAINING |
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| NEW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMENCING IN NOVEMBER ARMS is pleased to announce a new professional development opportunity tailored for mid to senior-level Research Management Professionals, aiming to enrich their expertise in the due diligence and governance sector.
This new offering serves as valuable additions to the ARMS Established Level Accreditation Program (ELAP), while also being independently accessible as a standalone unit of study. |
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Due Diligence and Governance Considerations (Elective)
Presenter – Mr Chris Thompson, FCThree Services
Brief Description: This module will explore good governance and due diligence considerations in research management. Maintaining the trust and confidence of the community, investors and the research organisation is crucial in the undertaken of research and in maintaining both the research organisation’s reputation and the individuals. Furthermore, establishing appropriate governance structures such as panels and steering committees can improve research outcomes by improved oversight, decision making and input. This module will cover off on the following topics:
- Due diligence and good governance in research
- The Importance of a positive culture
- Conflict of Interest management
- Fraud and Corruption
- Foreign Interference
- Gifts and Hospitality
- Complaints Management
- Risk Management
- Due diligence
- Steering committees
- Panels
Dates: Friday 10, 17 and 24 November 2023. Attendance in all sessions is required. Time: All sessions commencing at 12PM AEDT and running for 2.5 to 3 hours. |
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Please note our new Elective on Research funding: A pathway to best practice will be launched in 2024. |
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Contact the ARMS Accreditation Program Administrator to reserve your spot in the following workshop: |
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In-person Master Classes being offered at Curtin University (WA) in November: |
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| UPCOMING PD SESSIONS @ ZOOM: APPLYING YOUR RESEARCH MANAGER SUPERPOWERS TO DEVELOP MAJOR INITIATIVES
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Opportunities for major initiatives seem to arrive like buses, nothing for ages and then 3 turn up all at once.
Research managers are the lynch pins for making these activities work, enabling academics to explore ideas, test partnerships and in many cases manage the inter-university politics. |
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This session will explore the ways in which research managers and research offices can both drive and enable new initiatives, harness diverse thinking and optimise outcomes for major initiatives. Superpower poses all around. Date: Wednesday, 15 November 2023 Time: 12pm - 1pm AEDT Presenter: Dr Sally McArthur, Deakin University |
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DESIGNING FOR IMPACT: MOVING BEYOND THE ICING ON THE CAKE |
Increasingly, funders require researchers to describe the impact they intend their research to generate in society. Consequently, grant reviewers are becoming more savvy at assessing impact not only in the context of impact statements but also in forecasting the likelihood of impact being generated by the proposed research.
In the first half of this session, Dr Wade Kelly will discuss the Designing Social Impact project, which recently won an Australian Good Design Award. The project provides guidance and advice for working with academics to explore building impact into projects from the start. In the second half, Ken Knight will discuss practical approaches for designing, rather than assessing, for impact. He'll describe how Murdoch Children's Research Institute draws on health consumers' lived experience to co-produce interdisciplinary projects delivering impact.
Date: Thursday, 30 November 2023 (Special PD Session @ Zoom date) Time: 12pm - 1pm AEDT PresenterS: Dr Wade Kelly, Monash University & Ken Knight, Murdoch Children's Research Institute |
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CONFERENCE & EVENTS UPDATES |
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ARMS 2023 SYDNEY CONFERENCE: CHAPTER TRAVEL AWARD RECIPIENTS POST CONFERENCE REPORTS! |
We are pleased to share the reflections of some of our recent ARMS Chapter Travel Award recipients.
The reports from some of our recipients will outline what they learned from their experience at the 2023 conference. Please click here to view the reports on our website. |
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ARMS 2024 DARWIN CONFERENCE: EARLY BIRD REGISTRATIONS NOW OPEN |
ARMS in collaboration with MyRMA is pleased to be hosting the ARMS 2024 Conference in Australia's tropical top end Darwin at the Darwin Convention Centre from 11-13 September 2024.
The theme for the ARMS 2024 Conference is “Global and local research partnerships for a sustainable future”. We invite you to join our inspiring community of Research Management Professionals from across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and globally for three jam-packed days of learning, sharing and networking. The conference website and the registration portal are now open offering a range of registration types to suit your requirements and varying budgets.
For any queries please email ARMSEvents@researchmanagement.org.au Register today to avoid disappointment! |
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Where are the self-correcting mechanisms in science? Date: Thursday 9th November Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
Location: In-person (Flinders University Bedford Park SA) or online Please join us for a presentation by Professor Simine Vazire (University of Melbourne) about the value, limits and signs of self-correction in science. We often hear the self-correcting mechanisms in science invoked as a reason to trust science, but it is not always clear what these mechanisms are.
Some quality control mechanisms, such as peer review for journals, or vetting for textbooks or for public dissemination, have recently been found not to provide much of a safeguard against invalid claims. Instead, Prof Vazire argues that we should look for visible signs of a scientific community's commitment to self-correction. These signs include: - transparency in the research and peer review process,
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investment in error detection and quality control, and
- an emphasis on calibration rather than popularization.
We should trust scientific claims more to the extent that they were produced by communities that have these hallmarks of credibility. Fields that are more transparent, rigorous, and calibrated should earn more trust. Metascience can provide scientists and the public with valuable information in assessing the credibility of scientific fields.
Register now via Eventbrite. |
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CHAPTER & SIG UPDATES/EVENTS |
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| ACT CHAPTER EVENT SUMMARY |
The ARMS ACT Chapter organised an in-person event at the ANU Acton campus on September 15, 2023. We were pleased to have Professor Michael Khor, Director of the Talent Recruitment & Career Support (TRACS) Office from Singapore Nanyang Technological University (NTU), join us for this event. Professor Khor, also the Convenor of the ARMS Singapore Chapter, visited ANU following his earlier meeting with the ANU Office of Research and Innovation Services staff in early September.
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During the event, Professor Khor delivered a captivating presentation titled 'Decoding the Academics' Perspectives on Publishing: Metrics Dos and Don'ts.' He drew from his extensive experience at NTU in evaluating academic publications across a wide range of Impact Factors. Professor Khor emphasised that citation-based metrics should not always be the sole determining factor. He underscored the importance of prioritising quality over quantity through concrete examples, as it significantly influences academic reputation. The presentation generated substantial interest, leading to a lively Q&A session. During this interactive discussion, attendees enquired about innovative approaches to using journal impact factors and how NTU had implemented journal article evaluation criteria in talent recruitment and research management.
The event also provided an opportunity for participants to engage in the ice-breaker game and informal conversations, fostering a sense of community and collaboration.
The chapter committee would like to extend its gratitude to the Research Funding & Development Team, ANU, for hosting this event. Additionally, we express our appreciation to all the dedicated members and enthusiastic attendees whose active participation contributed to the event's success. |
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| NZ/PI CHAPTER: CALL FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERS & SUMMARY - |
As you'll have seen, the NZ/PI Chapter committee has been very active this year, organising well-attended PD Session @ Zoom webinars in January, March and May, the focus of the NZ/Pacific Islands chapter in August was three in-person events on 15, 16 and 17 August respectively, in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, which attracted a pleasing 70, 25 and 26 attendees respectively. At present we have six members on the Chapter committee but we would like to add up to three new members from a range of research organisations around NZ and the Pacific Islands. |
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That would bring in more diverse ideas for events and activities and, with eight or nine committee members, each member would have primary responsibility for only one event per year on average so even the busiest of us should be able to fit that into our schedules.
While any self-nominations would be welcome, the committee feels it would be particularly valuable to have the perspective of additional committee members who are relatively new to research management, have experience in mātauranga Māori, and/or have experience in and Pacific Islands organisations. If you would be interested to be part of the Chapter committee, please nominate yourself by 10 November 2023 and if you would like to know more about what we do, please contact Co-Chair Simon Lovatt at simon.lovatt@waikato.ac.nz to discuss it. |
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| QLD, NT & PNG CHAPTER: END-OF-YEAR EVENTS IN DARWIN & BRISBANE! |
The QLD, NT & PNG Chapter invites you to attend one of their End-of-Year Events! Please see the below details for both the Darwin and Brisbane events. |
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DARWIN EVENT DETAILS In appreciation of another year of hard work and perseverance, let us all gather to celebrate an evening of laughter and good cheer.
Enjoy the night of drinks and nibbles as you mix and mingle with other ARMS members sharing your learnings and successes at work. To make the night exciting, please come dressed in red or green and win the prize as King or Queen! Date: Friday, 17 November 2023 Time: 4:30pm – 7pm ACST
Location: Beachfront Hotel RSVP by 13 November 2023 |
BRISBANE EVENT DETAILS Let’s kick off the silly season with another wonderful ARMS Chapter networking event! The year has flown by and what better way to celebrate the year's achievements with an evening of laughter and good cheer. Enjoy some drinks and nibbles as you mix and mingle with other ARMS members sharing your learnings and successes at work this year.
There will also be some lucky door prizes. Register today! Date: Friday, 24 November 2023
Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm AEST Location: The Ship Inn RSVP by 20 November 2023 |
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| WA CHAPTER: END-OF-YEAR FUNCTION & AGM! |
In Murdoch’s brand new, award winning facilities, come along and share one last social gathering before the end of 2023.
This event offers the opportunity to hear from the Chapter Conference Travel Award Winners, network with colleagues from across the sector, enjoy some light refreshments and hear about the efforts of the WA Chapter in 2023 and put forward your suggestions for 2024. |
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Date: Thursday, 23 November 2023 Time: 4PM-6PM (AWST) Where: Boola Katitjin, Murdoch University RSVP: due 17 November 2023
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| RESEARCH IMPACT SIG: CONFERENCE NETWORKING SESSION |
It was wonderful for the Research Impact SIG to finally have a chance to meet in-person at the annual conference in Sydney.
Members of the SIG joined a game of research impact bingo, which involved chatting to SIG members to find those that met the criteria on the bingo sheet (without repeating any names!). |
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Congratulations to Shanthi Ramanathan, Research Impact Lead at Hunter Medical Research Institute, who filled her sheet in record time! It was great to have the opportunity to meet each other in person whilst munching on donuts, kindly provided by Emerald Publishing. |
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| ETHICS & INTEGRITY SIG UPDATES |
The Ethics and Integrity SIGs have had a busy quarter. The Victorian Research Integrity Interest group (Vic RIG) had its first meeting in August where we got to meet Research Integrity (RI) professional staff and discuss how we would like the group to function and what learnings we can share from one another. The VicRIG, like the QLD and NSW RIG, aims to bring together RI professional staff across the state to come together and share expertise, insights and best practice in their work in research integrity.
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For more information please contact for Vic: integrity@mcri.edu.au or for NSW: research.integrity@unsw.edu.au or QLD: sara.gottleibsen@healthtranslationqueensland.org.au
If you are interested in setting up a similar state chapter interest group - please get in touch and we can advise how to best go about getting together with your peers.
The NSW and Vic Research Integrity Group (RIG) held a join lunchtime session on September, where we heard from Gordon McGurk on the integrity maturity model that QMIR developed and how it might be able to help research organisation assess their maturity when it comes to integrity practices and processes. The groups are aiming to hold regular joint lunchtime sessions so do get in touch with your chapter SIG if you have some ideas on what you’d like to hear about. Future events
The QLD RIG, Vic RIG and NSW RIG, led by Health Translation Queensland, will be hosting a one-day integrity event on 28th November on research integrity. At this free and online event, we will be hearing from National and International speakers undertaking research in the field of research integrity. The event will also be seeking a call for abstracts, with more details to follow so please look out for this event. |
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR PARTNERS |
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Research that improves patients’ lives matters deeply to the funders, institutions and researchers who dedicate their resources to medical and health research. But evaluating the impact of this
research on policy and guidelines is traditionally measured by standard scholarly metrics, in the absence of more targeted analysis that relates explicitly to health improvement. A new, award-winning impact tool BMJ and the pioneering technology start-up, Overton, set out to address this challenge by
collaborating to develop BMJ Impact Analytics, the first research impact tool focused on health and
social care. Launched in January 2023, it recently secured the prestigious Gold Award for Innovation in Publishing 2023 from the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP). This award recognises a product, service, technology, business model or project which is both innovative
and of significant value to scholarly communication.
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Advanced tracking
Previously, tracking real-world impact was time-consuming and costly, but BMJ Impact Analytics simplifies the process and provides the most comprehensive insights in the field of health and social care. Curated and updated daily by BMJ’s expert team, it scans documents from 30,000+ global organisations in over 1,440 health-related sources and 175+ countries. It not
only tracks citations in global health policy, clinical guidelines and grey literature, but establishes direct links to patient outcomes through decision support tools and provides citations in context. |
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Real-world focus BMJ Impact Analytics contributes to shifting the focus of research assessment systems towards real-world impact and recognising the diverse contributions of researchers. The tool supports evidence-based policy decisions by providing evidence of the impact of research in the real world. It helps researchers understand and showcase the value of their work. Find out more To request further information or a personalised Zoom demonstration for your institution, please contact info.apac@bmj.com.
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Cayuse Releases the 2023 State of Research Administration Benchmark Report |
Earlier this year, Cayuse surveyed members of the research community around the world seeking their insights and experiences surrounding the state of research today and predictions for the future. With over 1,400 responses collected representing over 600 institutions across 10 different countries, the results have been analysed, summarised, and collected in the 2023 State of Research Administration Benchmark Report. To build a clearer picture of the state of research administration, the report covers several main areas of importance to the research community: top priorities and anticipated barriers, resource allocation including time spent on tasks and annual research spend, workload volume, and systems or tools used to manage research administration.
Key findings include: One in three respondents are focused on expanding their research portfolio in the next year 76% of respondents experienced increased workloads in the past year 56% said they don’t have the right amount of staff, resources, and time
The full 2023 State of Research Administration Benchmark Report is now available to download for free from the Cayuse website. Additionally, Cayuse held a webinar overview of the results on Thursday, October 12th. Click here for a free copy of the webinar recording.
Cayuse would like to thank all survey participants for their feedback, and for helping to make this year’s report the most comprehensive yet. About Cayuse
For nearly 30 years, Cayuse has empowered organisations to conduct globally connected research and modernise research administration. Our industry-leading cloud-based research platform powers a suite of applications that maximises researcher success, improves collaboration, and simplifies work across the entire research lifecycle, including commercialization and tracking of research outcomes. The Cayuse global community includes academic institutions, hospitals and health systems, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, government agencies, independent research institutions, and non-profit organisations.
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UP IN ARMS NEWSLETTER - 2023 SCHEDULE If you would like to contribute content, please note the deadlines below.
All enquiries about newsletter content can be directed to ARMS COO, Maria Zollo, at ARMSCOO@researchmanagement.org.au. |
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ARMS acknowledges the generous support of our corporate partners: |
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ARMS EXECUTIVE OFFICE CONTACTS |
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