Defining a New Role for Defining a New Role for

Research Management in the Research Management in the

Changing Research Environment Changing Research Environment

in HKin HK

ASAIHL 2013 Conference - Country Paper

Benjamin Tak-Yuen ChanLingnan University

Organisation of Organisation of PresentationPresentation

▪ Research mission and research management (RM) in universities

▪ Organisation of RM

▪ Skills and professional development in RM

▪ RM practice in HK

▪ Changing research environment in HK

▪ Proposition for new roles

▪ Boundary issues impinging on new roles

Research Mission of UniversitiesResearch Mission of UniversitiesWhy do universities do research?

▪Mission

▪Internationalisation under the notion of global knowledge economy (competition for prestige and ranking)

▪National policy to contribute to economic and social development (measured as impact)

▪Source of funding

▪Sustain vitality of academic staff and enrich curriculum

How do universities monitor research activities?

▪Set Research strategy, policies and priorities

▪Implement policies through research governance structure (PVC-Research, Research Committee, Research Office)

Research Management in Research Management in Universities Universities (Role definition)(Role definition)

▪Differentiate between research leaders who are academics (e.g. PVC Research) and research managers (Director of Research Services and Managers) who are administrators working in research offices (RO)

▪RM refers to “All administrative and operational functions dealing with the management of research. It covers pre- and post-award management, contractual arrangements, and can include any functions related to IP, business development, spinout companies and technology transfer” (Green and Langley 2009)

Organisation of Research Management Organisation of Research Management Functions (UK Study by Green and Functions (UK Study by Green and Langley 2009)Langley 2009)

Organisation of RM/KT Functions Organisation of RM/KT Functions (CUHK)(CUHK)

Organisation of RM/KT Functions Organisation of RM/KT Functions (HKU) (HKU)

Organisation of RM/KT Functions Organisation of RM/KT Functions (HKUST)(HKUST)

Organisation of RM/KT Functions Organisation of RM/KT Functions (HKUST)(HKUST)

Full range of activities covered by support structure

Interaction with faculty

Staff in Research Offices (UK)Staff in Research Offices (UK)

UK Study of 20 universities (Green and Langley 2009)

Staff in Research Offices Staff in Research Offices (US)(US)

US Study of members of NCURA

(Shambrook and Roberts 2011)

▪Female (80.1%), Age 40-59 (60.8%), Bachelor or Masters (78.7%)

▪Primary role: Dept. admin (30.3%); Pre-award (29.6%); Post-award accounting (18.1%); Research integrity/compliance (18.8%)

▪Years in RM: 1<5 (25.1%); 5<10 (26.5%); 10<20 (30.7%)

▪Certified Research Administrator status: 14.1%

Staff in Research Offices Staff in Research Offices (HK)(HK)

▪ Rank and file: 118 staff (8 Director/Head; 62 Managerial, Technical and Executive; 48 Clerical)

▪ Approximately 2.7% of administrative manpower in the 8 UGC universities

▪ 7/8 Heads are female; 3/8 Heads have doctoral degrees; 2/8 Heads are titled as SAR/Asst Registrar as their ROs are affiliated to Registry/Graduate School; 2/8 ROs have responsibility for Research postgraduates

▪ 4/8 ROs have technical writer/editor

▪ Only 2 ROs have more than 20 staff

The Research Management The Research Management RoleRole(What do research (What do research administrators do?)administrators do?)

UK Perspective (Deem 2010)

Visible Roles:

1. Assist and provide information on grant application and managing accounts

2. Create research strategies and policies in response to external policies

3. Collect data on research activity

4. Work on knowledge transfer

Australian Perspective (Morcom 2009)

1. Advisor

2. Supporter

3. Mentor

4. Obstacle

The Research The Research Management RoleManagement Role(Challenges)(Challenges)

▪ Disadvantaged by lack of professional qualification and academic capital; No clear measure of job success (Deem 2010)

▪ Required to mediate between needs of funding bodies and administration-averse academics (Shambrook and Roberts 2011)

▪ Need to be multi-skilled and able to handle high degree of complexity, emotion, and accuracy of both outputs and advice (Morcom 2009)

Skills Required of RM StaffSkills Required of RM Staff(UK Study by Green and Langley (UK Study by Green and Langley 2009)2009)

Skills required Training needs

Skills Required of RM StaffSkills Required of RM StaffIs RM role a generalist or Is RM role a generalist or specialist one?specialist one?

Consider that ROs perform many of the following functions:

Research Strategy and themes; Horizon scanning; RAE and metrics; Benchmarking; Pre-award skills, research development and costing methodologies; Internal peer review; Contract negotiation; Post-award mgt and adherence to funder’s statutory terms and conditions; Audit (EU, research council and research governance); Specialist knowledge about individual and collaborative disciplines; Networking with funders; Portfolio mgt and reporting, trend analysis; Project mgt of large contracts and bids; Clinical research and governance; European funded research; KT and IP; Spin outs and commercialisation; Consultancy; Business systems; Management information and reporting

UK Study by Green and Langley (2009)

International Developments in International Developments in Training for RMTraining for RM

Certified Research Administrator (CRA)

▪ Developed by the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC) in US for administrators of sponsored research programs

▪ It tests a body of knowledge in 4 areas: project development and administration; legal requirements and sponsor interface; financial management; general management

Professional Development Framework (PDF)

▪ Developed by the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA) in UK

▪ It lists 21 competencies in 7 functional areas to guide planning of training and CPD activities

▪ The 7 functional areas: developing proposals; project lifetime; translation; postgraduate researchers; policy and governance; management of information and related functions; service organisation and delivery

Paradox of RM as a Paradox of RM as a Profession?Profession?

▪ Specialist in nature but viewed as general administration

▪ Low perception of importance for RM in institution despite importance attached to research activity and income

▪ Weak professional identity despite having a high international profile, “Global profession” (Kirkland 2009), and being served by national and regional professional associations, journals and CPD activities

New Roles for RM?New Roles for RM?

▪ Must first realise that the predicament of RM is caused by continuing entrapment in a traditional administrative role that is inward looking and perceived to be of low value-added to the university

▪ RM can leverage on new skills that respond to university’s goals to externalise research performance and outcomes (i.e. gain research income and achieve higher status). By doing so, its expertise can be valued beyond a generalist administrative function

New Roles for RM? (cont’d)New Roles for RM? (cont’d)

▪ This approach is supported by Carter and Langley (2009) who concede that current key areas of RM are in management of research outputs (REF, open access), customer interactions, KM, and governance in all its forms

▪ Deem (2010) also recommends closer alliance between RM and academics. Role for RM in: (a) locating new funding sources; (b) facilitating interdisciplinary research team; (c) tracking impact and enhancing public engagement; (d) developing shared sets of success indicators

Nature of RM Practice in HK Nature of RM Practice in HK

▪ RO ONLY deals with grants, contracts, administration of funded projects and collection of data on research inputs and outputs

▪ Overwhelmingly influenced by major funding body for research – UGC (block grant)/RGC (competitive earmarked research grants)

▪ Two major influences on work in RO

#1 Responding to cycles of funding application, funded project mgt requirements, annual return of data on research income and outputs (CDCF return)

#2 Composition of grants and contracts earned by universities from sources other than UGC/RGC

Effect of Funding Body Effect of Funding Body Requirement on RM Work in HK Requirement on RM Work in HK (Influence #1)(Influence #1)▪ A conditioning effect since the establishment of RGC

in 1991 and launch of CERG (former name of GRF)

▪ Information systems are set up by ROs to collect data to satisfy reporting requirements of RGC (CDCF return)

▪ Funded project management procedures and internal monitoring mechanisms mirror that of DAMA prepared by RGC

▪ RO is mainly concerned with monitoring of projects for compliance with RGC rules which renders work monotonous, inwardly in focus on the research life cycle. But it does provide a sense of routine and regularity to tasks performed by RO staff

Effect of Funding Source on Effect of Funding Source on RM Work in HK (Influence RM Work in HK (Influence #2)#2)

Expenditure on R&D in HK 2011 (CSD data)

▪HK$13,944.6 mil (0.72% of GDP); HK$7,154.9 mil (51.3%) of which is undertaken by HE sector

Amount of contract and grant income reported by HE sector 2011 (RGC data)

▪HK$14,616.2 mil (HK$12,076.2 mil grants + HK$2,540 mil contracts); ratio of 4.8:1 by money terms and 5.3:1 by project terms

Share of funding by UGC/RGC for grants

▪1:1 money terms; 2.7:1 project terms

Share of funding by Other Gov’t sources for grants

▪11.6% and 5.9% by money and project terms

Share of funding from Overseas sources for grants

▪4.7% and 3.3% by money and project terms

Conclusion: HE sector does most of the research, funding by grants predominate, UGC/RGC is the largest source for research funds

Effect on RM Work in HKEffect on RM Work in HK

▪ The two major influences combined cause a natural tendency for ROs to set their priorities to dovetail on policies and fine directives of the main funding body (RGC)

▪ Exerts restrictive effect on the kind of work ROs perform

▪ Only general admin skills, IT and financial mgt skills are necessary

▪ Specialist skills in contract and agreement drafting, negotiation, IP, KT, commercialisation are not required because these functions are located in separate KT Office, Technology Transfer Office, Enterprise Office

Changing Research Environment Changing Research Environment (International)(International)▪ Trend of declining gov’t funding, rise in external

competitive funding, diversification of funding base, income derivation from alternative sources (services and commercialisation) (Hazelkorn 2004)

▪ Universities have to move towards resource allocation model based on external benchmarking, institutional assessment panels, evaluation of research inputs and outputs, and formulaic finding

▪ Drivers of RM: increasing importance of research in university’s portfolio; increased level of regulation and oversight (REF, research governance) (Carter and Langley 2009)

Changing Research Changing Research Environment (HK)Environment (HK)

▪ RGC intends to move half of the 25% block grant funding for research to competitive grant schemes (GRF and others) in a 10 year period starting from 2012/13

▪ Another round of RAE2014 to decide on funding for the remaining 12.5% of block grant for research

▪ Competitive grant schemes expanded to cover local large scale collaborations (AoE, Collaborative Research Fund) and overseas collaborations (Joint Research Schemes)

▪ Seed funding for junior researchers also is moved to competitive scheme (from Direct Allocation to institution to ECS grant)

▪ Requirements for open access, research integrity compliance, KT of research outcomes

Opportunity for RM in HKOpportunity for RM in HK▪ These changes compel RM in HK to adopt a

broader conception of the research life-cycle, i.e. pre-award, post-award, translation (measurement of impact and application) and audit (assessing research output quality)

▪ Opportunity for RM to be valued and recognised as a distinctive administrative service, and thus creating conditions for its professionalisation

▪ New skills in bibliometric analysis are required for the new role, to be used at a professional level in measuring, ranking and tracking research productivity, quality, impact and trend

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles

Three specific applications that may create value for RM

▪Proposal 1: Selection, compilation and use of journal list and output citation analysis

▪Proposal 2: Choice and use of open access publication channels and avenues for enhancing researcher visibility

▪Proposal 3: Analysis of collaboration networks and identification of external collaborative funding opportunities

Proposition for New Roles Proposition for New Roles (Proposal 1)(Proposal 1)▪ Supporting review of departmental journal list

▪ Supporting RC in decisions related to research performance (e.g. devising exchange rates for determining comparability of top journals in various disciplines and the weighting factors to be applied for various publication venues when determining university-wide research performance award)

▪ Compiling indicators of research performance and productivity at institutional level (volume of outputs, citation, H-index)*

▪ Matching staff publication behaviour to criteria of major citation databases (SCOPUS, Web of Science) and ranking agencies (THES and QS Asian University Rankings)

▪ Supporting evaluation of outputs selected for submission to RAE*

*see examples from Lingnan in following slides

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 1)(Proposal 1)

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 1)(Proposal 1)

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 1 - applications)(Proposal 1 - applications)

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 1 – applications)(Proposal 1 – applications)

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 1 - applications)(Proposal 1 - applications)

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 1 – applications)(Proposal 1 – applications)

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 2)(Proposal 2)

▪ Interest of RM is to maximise staff’s choice of open publication and self-archiving channels (pre-print service – RePEc; 3rd party repository – SSRN; academic social networking sites – academia.edu, Researchgate) for promoting university’s visibility

▪ Study in UK found that use of these services actually promotes access to outputs archived in institutional repository (Kelly 2012; Kelly & Delasalle 2012)

Proposition for New RolesProposition for New Roles(Proposal 3)(Proposal 3)

▪ Use bibliometric tools (e.g. InCites and BiomedExperts) to analyse collaboration and citation networks of researchers in institution

▪ Information to be used for planning purposes:

(a) explore exchange of fellowship scheme with overseas universities having similar research area;

(b) assist researcher to identify collaboration partner especially from different linguistic area;

(c) foster links with research offices in universities with similar research profile

▪ RM can contribute to university’s internationalisation effort

Boundary issuesBoundary issues▪ Avoid overlap with works done by existing

admin/academic support units (e.g. university planning office/library information services). RM Professionalisation not at the expense of others

▪ Easier to implement in smaller institutions and latecomers to research

▪ RM to make a case for research performance data to be elevated to a higher hierarchy in institution’s MIS

▪ Bibliometric analysis by RM is focused at institutional level, not individual staff level

Implications▪ Re-orientation of RM does not mean downplaying

traditional role in research life-cycle mgt

▪ Need to move RM staff out of comfort zone through training and recruitment of new blood (staff with dual orientation in admin and research but does not need to be research active)

▪ The discussion from HK experience may be of value to other Asian regions where RM practices are at various stages of development

▪ Experience sharing is vital and a regional network or professional association for research management staff would be a welcome development

Thank You!Thank You!Comments are most Comments are most

welcomewelcomeEmail: btychan@ln.edu.hk