1. Revisiting Research Development in a Dynamic Funding Landscape
Aygen Kurt-Dickson and Lorna Wilson
Tuesday 6th June 2017
ARMA Conference

2. Introductions! Aygen Kurt-Dickson @AKurtD (a.s.kurt-dickson@lse.ac.uk)
Lorna

3. What will the session cover?
We’ll be looking at:
What does Research Development mean to you?
Mapping Research Development
Institutional Perspectives
Current Challenges and Research Development
Future Plans

4. What is Research Development?
Please take out your smart phone/laptop/tablet.
Think of the key words you associate with “Research Development”.
Everyone loves a wordcloud……

5. Mapping Research Development
INDIVIDAL perspectives –
INSTITUTIONAL perspectives –
Mini information sharing exercise:
Find someone you don’t know.
Introduce yourselves.
Make sure you have different coloured questionnaires.
Interview each other (5 mins) each.
Write notes and leave them behind!

6. Research Development: a specialised service?
“Research Development encompasses a set of strategic, proactive, catalytic, and capacity-building activities designed to facilitate individual faculty members, teams of researchers, and central research administrations in attracting extramural research funding, creating relationships, and developing and implementing strategies that increase institutional competitiveness.”

7. LSE and Research Development
Planned approach to identifying funding for research
(Funding Plans)
Funding calendars
‘Good’ v ‘bad’ funding
Brokering
Developing training for researchers
Proposal writing
Information days, funding surgeries
Communications
Website
Research briefing
Related to the expertise we can start to provide on external funders, their priorities, government agendas etc in order to help academics identify appropriate opportunities and tailor their applications to those to have a greater chance of being successful?
- Expertise on external funders, funding opportunities and matching this to LSE academics’ interests/research areas
Identify and disseminate targeted funding opportunities.
Advise on potential sources of funding.
One-to-one meetings to help with applications.
Departmental research funding sessions.
Provide example applications.
Advise on project budgets and provide costs for applications.
Proposal development; individual support; time and human resources
Emphasise more proactive service and bespoke approach
RDM in LSE means: making the School better equipped for accessing/securing funding
This includes: training: making sure every staff is better equipped with the right sorts of information and skills that they need to be more professional in winning research funding.
Making sure the department has the right information to have a more strategic view on funding
Having established a central Research Development Panel – for internal selection of research funding, the Panel will also be concerned with questions like how should we choose/encourage ESRC centres; what is upcoming in the Horizon

8. Newcastle and Research Development
One of the first institutions to professionalise “Research Development”.
Various levels of support for funding:
Faculty Research Development Teams (FMS, HaSS, SAGE)
Research Co-ordinators
Research Associates
School Support
As expected, this support varies per Faculty!
It is EMBEDDED within the University.

9. What Challenges are we facing as Research Development Professionals….
Demand Management
NERC
Timeframes
Institutional Caps
Global Challenges Research Fund
Supporting ODA Research
Feedback – Key Points
Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
Research? Business Development? HYBRID

10. What Challenges are we facing as Research Development Professionals….
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Inter/Multi/Cross/Pan/Trans/Post – Where are the disciplines going!
Brexit
Disengagement from funding?
Strategic Planning
Staff!
“Our great weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time” (Thomas Edison)

11. In Groups…….
10 Minutes:
What are the key challenges you feel you’re currently facing in your role?
How do you work to overcome these?
How do you think ARMA could better support you with these?

12. What next for the SIG? We’d like to hear from you! Working Groups
Global Challenges Research Fund
UK Research Development Mapping Exercise
Regional Events
Mentoring – RD Specific, Cross Institution?

13. Thank You! Any further questions or comments?
Please come and say hi over the course of the conference.
Have a great time!
Aygen
Lorna