Fora

inorms 2010

11 to 15 April 2010 =Cape Town International Convention Centre = South Africa

Managing Research for Impact: New Approaches to Research and Innovation Management

The success of any funding programme depends critically on strong communication with participating institutions, their ability to manage and report on progress, and to work with funding bodies to disseminate results. These depend on a highly professional approach to research management. This has developed at an uneven pace in recent years. Most African universities and research institutions are at a very early stage in the process.

The decision to hold INORMS – the major international conference for university managers – in Africa for the first time in 2010 provides a unique opportunity both the raise the profile of the profession in Africa, and to develop a dialogue between African universities and international good practice.

For funding bodies, the first ever INORMS in Africa will provide access to a large number of practitioners, both from throughout Africa and the rest of the world. Those attending will be uniquely placed both to demonstrate their own needs and policies – and understand the capability, ambitions and problems of the organisations with which they are working.

Universities in most developed countries have invested heavily in research management structures over the past twenty years. These aim both to make institutions more competitive in attracting external funds, and better able to manage and utilise the results of such work. In most developing countries, such structures have been slow to develop, further compounding the disadvantage that universities face in the global research market.

Addressing this problem could have a significant catalytic impact. More robust mechanisms for financial and project management would give funding bodies more confidence in placing projects in developing countries. Better information on the research expertise of staff would help agencies use their funds more effectively. Better targeting and promotion of applications would help staff members to develop funding and collaboration. A more professional approach to the dissemination of research results would increase the visibility and contribution of universities to wider society.

Reflecting the importance now attached to the area, national and regional professional associations now exist in the United States, Europe and Australasia. Encouragingly, this process has also started in Africa, with the establishment of the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) and its West African equivalent (WARIMA) from 2007.

Opportunities for international contact between practitioners have been limited, but conferences of the International Network of Research Management Associations (INORMS) have become established as the major vehicle. These are held every two years. The last two conferences, in Brisbane, Australia (2006) and Liverpool, UK (2008) have each attracted well over five hundred delegates, from over thirty countries.

In April 2010, the INORMS conference will be held in Africa for the first time, as the result of a joint initiative by SARIMA and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. The conference will provide a unique opportunity for to expose African (and other developing country) managers with responsibility for developing mechanisms for research management in their institutions to international practice.

Funding bodies – whether or not they have a significant role in Africa – can play a vital role in this process, by conveying at first hand the problems that they can face in dealing with universities, the type of research activities that they are seeking to fund, and how universities and their staff can better engage with these. The intention is to provoke a three way discussion between developing country universities, those performing similar roles in developed countries, and funding bodies – to the benefit of all.

The conference will have the highly practical theme of Managing Research for Impact: New approaches to Research and Innovation Management. Funding bodies have a critical interest in the theme. Reflecting this importance, the organisers hope to integrate funding bodies at every level in the conference. This will be achieved in three ways:

· A first ever INORMS Funders Forum, hosted by the South African National Research Foundation, as part of the pre-conference programme – to allow funding bodies to share common experience

· A dedicated Research Funders Exhibition area during the conference – allowing funding bodies both to demonstrate opportunities and outcomes of their programmes

Exposure to the above discussions will benefit funding bodies and universities from throughout the world. The opportunity to involve large number of African institutions, however, will provide a unique environment a unique – with the potential both to make a lasting contribution to the development of institutional structures in the region, and develop a wide range of new partnerships.

In order to realise the strategic potential of the conference, the organisers are keen to involve as wide a range of funding bodies as possible. We hope, for example, that many will sponsor those working on or administering their programs, particularly from developing countries, to attend.

The main way of showing support, however, is simply by being present. A strong cohort of funding bodies will not only ensure an informed debate, but provide a clear indication of the importance that they attach to research management issues.

The organisers would like to produce an initial list of funding bodies that have stated their intention to attend the conference by 30 September 2009. This will both allow detailed advance planning and help market the conference to universities and other research institutions.