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Content The Chairman's corner ____________________________________________________ 1

Upcoming EARMA events _________________________________________________ 2 Annual Conference, Malta 2017: Registration is open at: _______________________________________ 2

Open Calls ______________________________________________________________ 2 Website Designer for EARMA public website _________________________________________________ 2

From the Working Groups _________________________________________________ 3 Professional Development (PD) WG: ________________________________________________________ 3 Annnual Conference Committee ___________________________________________________________ 4 European Research Area (ERA) WG: ________________________________________________________ 6 Global Development (GD) WG: ____________________________________________________________ 7

Reports on Events ________________________________________________________ 8 Perspectives for Research Managers in Portugal - Embracing the Challenge ________________________ 8 “Pact for Innovation – INPACT” ____________________________________________________________ 9

International ____________________________________________________________ 10 On the post-referendum road: news from London ___________________________________________ 11 YERUN, Young European Research Universities network – first steps _____________________________ 12

Reports on Projects ______________________________________________________ 13 (T)raining Research Support Staff: Best practice in Research Administration _______________________ 13 FP7 project ___________________________________________________________________________ 15 GENOVATE LTU Main outcome and achievements ___________________________________________ 15

Research management, funding, and policy in the news _____________________ 16

The Chairman's corner A Managing Director for EARMA Finally, after several years of work, the Board has advertised, interviewed and selected a person to be the new Managing Director for EARMA.

This was one of the key actions identified in Tarragona in March and will let EARMA become a much more professionally organised association. Many thanks to all our members who worked tirelessly over the last 22 years through good and bad times to keep EARMA alive and thriving. The new MD, working with the Board and our other partners, will allow EARMA to really become the voice for RMAs in Europe. The new MD will be formally introduced to the membership in Malta. Annual Conference, Malta April 2017 There is no doubt that compressing the time between Annual Conferences, like we have done this year, really accelerates that pace at which things have to be done. Programming decisions will start early in January while most people are still celebrating Christmas and the New Year. There is still time to get your presentations into the planning process. It would be great to hear from colleagues newly started in the profession about their experiences (BestPrac?).

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Following on the very successful 'pre-conference' programme we piloted in Luleå in 2016, another pre-conference programme is in place for Malta. Registration for the conference and the pre-conference workshops isopen now. Upcoming EARMA events Annual Conference, Malta 2017: Registration is open at: http://www.earmaconference.com/

see also the description of the pre-conference Leadership event (next page)

Open Calls

Website Designer for EARMA public website EARMA, as part of its improvement of services to members, is currently rebranding the corporate image and upgrading its web services. As part of this, we are inviting bids from professional web designers. In particular, we require the successful bidder, in consultation with the EARMA Communications work group, to carry out the following:

• Using the new EARMA logo and design style guidelines rebrand the complete public EARMA website. This would require

• The development of a prototype of the new EARMA Web pages.

• A complete redesign of the home page with the aim to improve the user experience for our members and potential members.

• Transfer of the approved prototype to the live site.

The successful bidder will work with WordPress together with our chosen CMS, Wild Apricot, to modify existing templates for a re-designed look and feel on the basis of the existing corporate colours and logo. It is envisaged that a prototype of the new pages would be ready to launch in time for our Annual Conference in Malta starting on the 24th of April.

Please find details of the call in the EARMA News Blog

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From the Working Groups

Professional Development (PD) WG: European Certificate in Research Management – A few places still available! There are still a few places remaining on the second Cohort of the EARMA Certificate in Research Management. If you would like to apply, please contact secretary@earma.org by the 20th of December 2016. The induction session and first workshop will be held on the 22nd (evening) and 23rd of January 2017.

The qualification is designed to help students to consolidate the knowledge and skills required to be successful Research Managers. This qualification is a great benefit for both students and their institution, organisation, workplace.

This professional qualification requires participants to complete five mandatory units and one optional unit, and involves up to 180 learning hours over 18 months. It comprises formal learning, reading, research and the preparation of a work-based portfolio of evidence and written assignments.

The certificate is validated by the UK Award for Training on Higher Education (ATHE) in accordance with the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) throughout Europe. It has been developed in partnership with ARMA-‐UK who provide support services.

For further information and to register please see earma.org/About-the-certificate.

EARMA Academy invites you to a side event to the EARMA Annual Conference: “Leadership in research – Delivering Excellent Research Management and Administration” April 23-24 2017 - Grand Hotel Excelsior Malta

The purpose of the seminar is to discuss, learn and develop your leadership skills as head of a research office. You will network with colleagues from outstanding European research institutions. The outcome of the seminar is new knowledge, documented and shared among the participants. The seminar aims at enabling you to tackle some of the most pressing challenges for you as a head of research office.

Who should attend?

Leaders of units like research offices and grant offices are the key target group; this includes administrative leaders at e.g. centers of excellence, key personnel at a University’s central administration, and key staff at research funding organizations such as Research Councils. Typically, they will have worked in research administration for 7 years or more.

This seminar focusses on three main themes:

1. Developing Excellent Research Administration Services

Many research administration services are considering reorganization to meet new challenges in the funding landscape and the political contexts. High quality support services can (and must) be organized differently, depending on the context and organizational culture of the institution. How to develop dynamic and forward looking services that suits your organization best? From

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Participants of the Leadership event 2016 in Luleå

presenters and among the participants, different models of support services will be investigated, and tools for analyzing services, such as benchmarking and indicators, will be presented. Introduction: John Donovan, Dublin Institute of Technology

2. External Research Benchmarking

Excellent research support requires engagement in developing strategies for profiling and focusing of the research activity at your institution. This entails working closely with the academic leadership and staff, balancing different roles and using tools and techniques that supports the leadership and researchers to develop projects and applications that contributes to meet the academic objectives of the institution. How to prepare for strategic research reviews and what are the relevant tools and techniques? Introduction: Dr. Peter Hedges, Head of Research Office at University of Cambridge

3. Open Science and its relation to societal impact of research

Open Science is the new kid on the block. What are the challenges for the Research Office and how is the concept of open science linked to the increased focus on societal impact of research? Presenters will give us updated insight behind the headlines and the group will work on how this field might change the way we work, strategically and practically, to support the research activity/our researchers in the future. Introduction: Associate Professor David Budtz-Pedersen, Aalborg University Copenhagen.

Annnual Conference Committee Malta Here We Come! EARMA Annual Conference, April 24th-26th 2017 As many of you will have seen, registration is now open for the EARMA Annual Conference 2017.

Next year’s conference promises to be a ground-breaking event for EARMA, with a record number of delegates. Our conference theme, “Negotiating Research: What is the Best Deal for Europe”, promises you an interesting and exciting programme exploring the challenges and implications of significant changes for supporting researchers in Europe, including the

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implications of the decision of the UK to leave the EU. There will be plenty of opportunities for networking with colleagues and to meet both new and currently active members. The pre-conference workshops and conference reception will take place on April 24th, with the main conference on the following two days.

Our venue, the Mediterranean Conference Centre, is an exceptional venue with a history to match and has hosted Heads of State summits and other prestigious events.

Malta has a long, distinguished and elegant history. Famous as a fortress city of the Knights of St John, its position, at the heart of the Mediterranean basin, has given it a strategic relevance far beyond what its size would suggest. Between January and June 2017, Malta again moves centre stage holding the Presidency of the EU with all that that entails. Valletta is a vibrant city well worth exploring.

The Annual Conference Committee (ACC) is busy planning the final programme, and we will hold our final selection meeting in January at the conference location. Shortly after this the draft programme will appear on the conference website.

The ACC operates as a closely knit team, and each member, listed below, plays an important role in ensuring that we have exciting and innovative conference programme. And of course, we are heavily indebted to our Professional Conference Organiser, Advantage ICO, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly on the day.

We hope that you have already submitted your topic proposal and our aim is to also encourage new people to submit as well as our talented core of regular supporters.

Make sure to keep the dates free and register now to avoid disappointment. Please note that early registration closes 17th February 2017.

We look forward to seeing you in Malta and please remember to pack your sun cream!

For further details of the conference and registration, see:

http://www.earmaconference.com/

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EARMA Annual Conference Committee members (Alphabetical order) : • Emmanuel Babatunde, University of Bergen • Evelina Brännvall, Luleå University of Technology • Anja Hegen, University of Bergen • David Lauder (Chair), University of York • Emma Lythgoe (EARMA Secretary) • Jagdees Pabla, University of Coventry • Katrin Reschwamm, EUrelations AG

European Research Area (ERA) WG: 2016 has been an active and intense year for the EARMA ERA Working Group. During the Strategy Meeting “Estoril 2” in Tarragona (March 2016) we discussed a roadmap in depth with the Board and the other Working Group.

We committed the ERAWG to provide a Position Paper on the H2020 Midterm Review and to actively monitor the development of the discussion related to the future Framework Programme for Research & Innovation, currently designated as “FP9”. Relating to this focus, we presented a first EARMA Position Paper “Contribution from EARMA to the midterm review of Horizon 2020” by ERAWG Members Doris Alexander, Anne Katrin Werenskiold and Yulia Matskevich together with John Donovan on behalf of EARMA in April 20161.

Currently the ERAWG works on a new Position Paper targeted on the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020. This is an important deadline for all the research institutions in Europe, because it aims to provide an assessment of the Horizon 2020 Programme at half time of its implementation. Results will not only impact the implementation of Horizon 2020 but – more importantly - provide a solid evidence base for FP9. This 2nd EARMA Position Paper on H2020 will be disseminated in early 2017, upon its approval by the Board.

Furthermore, we are preparing for the next EARMA Conference in Malta. On behalf of the ERAWG, our member Bettina Uhrig, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA), will present an abstract for a workshop to analyze and discus

s scientific and social impact of H2020 Projects and related challenges for research support.

1 Available for download from the EARMA Repository

Notes from the Tarragona Brainstorming

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Global Development (GD) WG: The WG on Global Development held its first face to face meeting on Dec. 1 and 2 in Delft. Main purposes of the meeting were to prepare a program for the upcoming annual EARMA conference in Malta in 2017 and to understand the expectations and ambitions of the GDWG members. It

was acknowledged that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs or Agenda 2030) are an important guiding principle for the WG. Although the SGDs concern global ambitions, the WG limits its focus on low- and middle-income countries. In August, the WG already participated in the consultation of DG DevCo on transforming EU development cooperation, which is needed for integrating the Agenda 2030. So far, the voice of universities and student bodies in this transformation process is limited and with its contribution and a session during the EARMA Conference, the WG is ready to bring a change. We discussed the connection between the policy change and H2020. Exchange of good practice and experience is another objective and was seen as an important deliverable to the WG. All members face similar obstacles on access and endorsement of research and institutional collaboration in developing countries. Getting a deeper understanding or having a sounding board for inquiry would be very much appreciated and is, thus, another aspect that the group will address. All participants agreed that professionalizing experience in tendering procedures for R&I collaboration contributes to widening the scope of funding research and will be one of the up takes by the WG.

During the meeting we got insights into the work of the TU Delft | Global Initiative by a short talk given by its program manager Jennifer Kockx, followed by a vivid discussions. We acknowledge the financial support by Delft Global for room rent and catering.

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Reports on Events

Perspectives for Research Managers in Portugal - Embracing the Challenge

By Sharon Bailey, Director Research Finance & Operations, University College Dublin EARMA Board Member & Treasurer

On the 28th November I had the pleasure of representing EARMA at an event entitled “Perspectives for Research Managers in Portugal - Embracing the Challenge" with the participation of more than 300 attendees. I was particularly interested in this discussion as the recognition of research management as a profession is an issue in which I truly believe. The event,

hosted by the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education was held in the historic Thalia Theatre in the beautiful city of Lisbon.

The programme aimed to bring together the stakeholders of the Portuguese research and innovation system to reflect on science and technology management at National and International level. The event focused on the skills and profiles of the science and technology managers, career paths, areas of action, and the added value of their action as an interface with the various stakeholders of the science and technology system.

The event was opened by the Secretary of State, Ms. Maria Fernanda Rollo and included two

Podium discussion, Lisbon. Photo credits: Inęs Domingues/Vanessa Borges, IGC

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round tables followed by a final session dedicated to science and technology managers. Each of the round tables had presentations and contributions from representatives of the National system within Portugal and also had international input and perspectives and were followed by open, lively question and answer sessions. The final session was dedicated to discuss the next steps for the operation of a national network of science managers as stakeholders in the national research and innovation system.

I had the opportunity to emphasise EARMA’s belief that research managers and administrators are key players in research, and that the profession must be recognized as a fundamental component of the complete research process. I also highlighted the benefits of EARMA membership and details of the professional certification programmes available. With the kind permission of Anne Katrin Werenskiold I shared some of the results from the two surveys performed by EARMA & BestPrac earlier this year; the Career Development Study and the Research Administration Stress Perception. The audience particularly like the pen picture of our profession i.e. the fit, healthy fortysomething female academic who likes her fruit and veggies. Unfortunately, the lights were too bright while presenting to check out if this was representative of the audience. At the Q&A sessions I provided insight into research management and administration as a profession within the Irish system and in particular my experiences of research management at my home institution, UCD.

I’d like to thank our EARMA colleagues Margarida Trindade (ITQB NOVA) and Sheila Vidal (Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência) and their co-organisers Júlio Borlido Santos (i3S), João Cortez (i3S) and Filipa Borrego (freelance consultant) for not only organising such a worthwhile day but also for their wonderful hosting and excellent restaurant recommendations. A visit to Galeto is a must if you visit Lisbon.

“Pact for Innovation – INPACT” The European Parliament’s new approach towards more impact and benefit to the society. By: Eckhard Behrendt, id2market consulting, Germany. Eckhard Behrendt studied physics, worked for around 40 years in the field of innovation and established the id2market consulting company. He is member of the German “Team Europe” of the European Commission, evaluator of the European Commission for H2020 proposals, and EARMA Ambassador.

On behalf of the EARMA Board I have participated at the “8th European Innovation Summit”, organised by the initiative K4I (“Knowledge 4Innovation”) of the European Parliament in November 2016 in Brussels. K4I is a non-profit, independent multi-stakeholder platform to bring together the EP, European Commission, academia and economy. K4I organises a perma-nent dialogue under the framework of the K4I Forum of the European Parliament and every year the “European Innovation Summits” to discuss European Research and Innovation policy to give input to the European Parliament and the European Commission.

(More information: http://www.knowledge4innovation.eu/).

The current activities are designed to strengthen and to support the European innovation strate-gy with a clear focus on impact and benefits for the society. In nearly all discussions was expressed that 2017 will be the year of revision of the EU budget and the proposals for post 2020. The mid-term evaluation of Horizon 2020 and the planning for the upcoming Framework

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Programme FP9 will be concentrated on the evaluation of the results and on necessary steps to bring together science and society, to create a next framework for bringing ideas to the market. It was mentioned that it is of great importance to keep the communication channels open for the relation between citizens, policy-makers, scientists and economy. Any technical development has social implications.

The EP has launched the “Pact for Innovation – INPACT”, signed by EP members, commis-sioners, scientific organisations, industry and other stakeholders. INPACT will be a space for close co-operation between the signed partners to discuss solutions for the existing weakness in turning knowledge created by research and inventions into innovation with impact and benefits for EU economy and citizens. Five working groups were established:

1. Mid-term review / post 2020 planning

2. Regulatory framework / Innovation principle

3. Next generation scientists, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs

4. Science Communication / relation science and society

5. Adapt political structures to new technologies and business models

Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Science, Research and Innovation has placed sci-ence communication as one of his top priorities. It was mentioned that Science Communication in Europe is significantly below the level needed to keep the public informed, to ensure a broad public debate on the impact of science on society. For example, a report recently published by the Joint Research Centre points out that Europe reports only 1/5 of the science news reported in the US.

It is therefore timely to rethink how the EU can support stronger Science Communication and to address a number of questions:

• How can science and media work better together to improve communicating science to the European citi-zens?

• What is the role and responsibility of each actor?

• How can the EU institutions foster better cooperation between the key stakeholders?

• What kind of institutions and incentives are needed to support better Science Communication?

Especially the working groups Mid-term review / post 2020 planning and Science Communica-tion could be of special interest for EARMA and its members. More information: http://www.knowledge4innovation.eu/inpact-pact-innovation .

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International

On the post-referendum road: news from London By Yulia Matskevitch & Michael Reynier Yulia Matskevitch is Research Development Manager (EU & International) at Brunel University, London, and EARMA ERA-WG member Dr Michael Reynier (Michael.Reynier@londonhigher.ac.uk ) is the Deputy Chief Executive of London Higher. He has overseen the economic impact study of London’s HE (London – The Knowledge Capital), set-up several London Higher programmes (Case for HE, London Medicine, London Higher Europe) and has led major research projects on HE in world cities, university spin-outs, bibliometrics, EU students, part-time study and, most recently, shared services and Open Access. He runs a variety of senior-level (PVC) networks representing research, Europe, marketing and London Centres.

On 18th November the UK Parliament's Science and Technology Committee published a report entitled “Leaving the EU: implications and opportunities for science and research.” Amongst other things the reports states that “The science and research community is understandably concerned about the implications and opportunities of the UK leaving the European Union” and urges the UK Government to reduce uncertainty by setting a vision for the future of science in a post-Brexit UK.

London and its research community of universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) has been at the forefront of engagement with the European Union (EU). According to the data for 2014/15 universities in London:

• Educated 33,000 students of non UK domicile;

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• Employed EU nationals forming 22% of academic staff and 11% of non-academic staff;

• received £208 million of research income from EU sources.

Following the decision of the UK to leave the EU, The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched the #LondonIsOpen campaign to show that London remains open to people and business from around the world. London Higher, the umbrella organisation for nearly forty universities and HEIs in London, actively participates in the campaign. In early December they arranged a reception in the UK Parliament to reinforce the 'London is Open' campaign attended by The Minister for London, the Shadow Minister for Brexit, MPs and several members of the Upper House. London Higher used this opportunity to highlight the value of university engagement with Europe, not just for London but for the whole UK.

But the UK is set on a path to exit the EU. How are universities in London going to deal with this unwelcome journey?

To ensure that the voice of London's higher education is heard in the up-coming Brexit negotiations London Higher has formed a senior level Task Group to help identify and articulate the threats. The group, which includes representative Heads of Institution and senior academic leaders is working closely with London Mayor's Office in Brussels and with Universities UK. The group is set to develop a comprehensive argument for London HE in Brexit, including highlighting the London-specific dangers of Brexit and the impact these may have. Crucially the group will also seek to offer workable solutions to some of the problems Brexit poses the London HE cluster. Simultaneously 'London Higher Europe' - a sub-group of twelve London universities - is working in Brussels (with the Mayor's European Office) to ensure that our engagement with the EU is as strong as it can be at this difficult time.

Brexit is not what UK universities wanted. And yet despite the outcome our universities remain a hundred percent committed to their EU interests, obligations and partners. Indeed, until the day of Brexit - several years away surely - the UK remains one of 28 Member States inside the EU. We look forward to continuing the vital work that we, and our continental partners, have been tasked to undertake on behalf of the 600 million people with whom we share this segment of the globe.

YERUN, Young European Research Universities network – first steps By Yulia Matskevitch, Research Development Manager (EU & International) Brunel University, London, EARMA ERA-WG member

YERUN (Young European Research Universities Network) officially launched its cooperation in January 2015 with the aim of promoting joint initiatives in the areas of research, teaching and staff mobility, and becoming the voice of European young universities in Europe. The network brings together 18 European Universities established within the last 50 years across 12 EU countries, and included in any of the rankings including universities created

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in the last 50 years.

Apart of the “age” other common denominators for YERUN Universities are their orientation towards high quality research and innovation for societal impact, commitment to internalization and emphasis on employability.

To map existing activities, and connections and synergies within the network, YERUN has run a comprehensive data collection exercise alongside axis of collaboration in research and education, knowledge exchange, and graduates’ employability. The results were presented at the YERUN General Assembly at the University of Konstanz, Germany, 22 October 2016.

Apart of the impressive amount of work that went into data points’ collection and analysis of results, the exercise served to highlight key priorities that YERUN will be focusing on in the coming years. Key focus areas for YERUN members are young researchers, high-quality research responsible to our societal needs, and graduates’ employability.

Good practices and knowledge exchange among the members will increase their overall capacities by creating stronger links of international educational degrees, common research areas for collaboration and upcoming priorities for the network to become the reference of young research universities in Europe.

Members of YERUN are already benefiting from major possibilities of collaboration and are ready to share their views on the future funding programs and policies on research, innovation and higher education at European level. YERUN has chosen its Brussels Office close to the heart of the European Institutions.

Looks like YERUN is on its way – watch this space! www.yerun.eu

For further information, please contact YERUN Secretary General (Silvia Gomez Recio) – secretarygeneral@yerun.eu

Reports on Projects

(T)raining Research Support Staff: Best practice in Research Administration By Anne Katrin Werenskiold, Head of EU-Office, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried. EARMA Board member, BESTPRAC training coordinator How to increase success in winning European grant money? The provision of well-trained and experienced support staff is one central, but often neglected, cornerstone in this attempt. For example, a study presented at the EARMA Annual Conference Leiden 2015 showed a correlation of institutional success in bid writing and the availability of grant writing support (by M.Trinidade (Univ. Lisbon) and

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S. Vidal (Gulbenkian Institute, Lisbon)2 (see report in EARMA Newsletter, Sept. 2015). However, the training of research administrators is not formalized and available throughout Europe yet.

Recognizing this need, the COST organization established the Training Network for „Best practice in Research Management“ (BESTPRAC) in 2013 as a first initiative to provide a framework of training and networking options for research support staff across Europe. BESTPRAC has trained over 400 research administrators from 40 countries using three key tools. It developed into “One of the most successful Actions … in my [very] long COST association of 20 years“ as the external reviewer put it after scrutinizing the performance of BESTPRAC during the first implementation period. He also noted “…this Action has been successful in creating probably the largest network of all stage administrators of research information and project management services in existence”.

What makes BESTPRAC so special and successful? Run by a Steering Group of experienced research managers, BESTPRAC has provided training for young research administrators from 28 participating countries with a focus on inclusiveness countries though three major tools:

The three working groups Administration, Legal, and Finances cover issues that are fre-quently encountered in European third party funded projects. Regular Working Group meetings serve the discussion of topics of general interest. Any solutions identified for such issues were compiled in hands-on Guides that are freely available from the website (www.bestprac.eu ).

Another major achievement is the in-depth characterization of job profiles for the administrators active in the network. They are a useful basis for hands-on tasks as the formulations of job descriptions and the distribution of work when designing, restructuring, and upscaling a research office. The joint work supports interactions between administrators from different countries and thereby helps the participants to build and enlarge their professional network.

Short-term scientific missions (STSM), support short visits of up to 1 week to host institutions in different countries and allow young administrators to experience the organisation of research administration processes in a foreign environment and the exchange of best practices. BESTPRAC allows for both individual visits to partner institutions and for group STSMs to one or a cluster of host institutions.

Training Schools of 2-3 days focus on specific topics and provide an extended insight into best practices for up to 25 participants per school.

None of these tools is particularly complex or expensive – but still, BESTPRAC remains unique in the field so far.

“We are now coming to the end of the Network, but we hope it will be possible to have it fol-lowed up by similar initiatives” says Jan Andersen, Chair of BESTPRAC. “We need to focus on raising the quality of research support further – in particular in institutions that cannot afford costly advanced training of their support staff. Many colleagues are working “alone in the office”, they are a vulnerable group, and we can do something to help them”.

2 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/boost-grant-success-rates-with-advanced-support ,

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FP7 project The final conference of the Genovate project was held in Brussels on 2nd and 3rd of November 2016. Since the outset EARMA has been one of the stakeholders of the project, so that we could not miss to be there and see what the project has done since its kick-off meeting in January 2013 and above all what the project is going to leave as legacy.

A short introduction about Genovate: this is a FP7-funded – funded under Science in Society SiS 2012. 2.1.1-1 programme -- action research project coordinated by Professor Uduak Archibong [MBE] of the University of Bradford. GENOVATE operates across seven European partner institutions, including Luleå University of Technology (LTU). The ‘story’ that follows is the presentation given in Brussels by the research team at LTU focusing on what has been done but, above all, on what they aim to do from now onwards.

GENOVATE LTU Main outcome and achievements By Paula Wennberg, Luleå University of Technology (LTU) Gender-aware recruitment and promotion The implementation of a gender-aware and sustainable recruitment and promotion process carried out by LTU Human Resources department has been supported by the LTU Genovate team with aim at increasing the share of women professors and changing structures at the university level. The male-dominated School of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering with about 200 employees has been used as a test-bed at the school level.

The major outcome is that the share of the women professors at the university has increased from 17 to 22% during the project period and the share of the women academic staff in the school of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering has increased from 11 to 21%. We cannot take the credit for all these good results as there were several other interventions at the university at the same time. The GENOVATE Gender Equality Action Plan was actually including collaboration with existing initiatives.

Another outcome is that staff at Computer Science is now taking over the ownership of the

change process and creating own gender equality activities to attract female students to male-

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dominated undergraduate and graduate programs. Integration of a gender perspective in research and innovation At the school level the main outcome of implementation activities is a design of gender approach in more than 30 research funding proposals in the field of ICT with participants from academia, industry and public organisations. Implementation of gender dimension in the core operations of the five ICT projects that have so far been approved funding from Horizon2020, national funding bodies etc. is ongoing. Integration of gender dimension and demand of tailored gender tasks for research funding proposals and project partnerships is now spreading to other schools of LTU and has gained external attention from universities in Sweden and Europe. How to integrate gender equality and diversity in research and innovation systems is summarised in the GENOVATE Toolkit: Promoting Sustainable Change. Gender course module in the EARMA certificate program for research managers At the European level a major outcome is the development of a gender course module in the new certificate program of EARMA – European Association of Research Managers and Administrators. The research managers who join the certificate programme are key actors in spreading gender equality knowledge at European research institutions. Gender mainstreaming is now also further promoted through establishment of a new EARMA working group on cultures and diversity. The founding members of the new working group are Susi Poli based at Bologna University, Paula Wennberg, Luleå University of Technology and Olaf Svenningsen, University of Southern Denmark. Beyond GENOVATE At LTU GENOVATE results will be utilized in a national project initiated by the government with aim at mainstreaming gender in Swedish Higher Education covering all Swedish universities and colleges. GENOVATE results will be utilized and further developed also in the Gender Contact Point (GCP) initiative. Gender Contact Point aims to support regional companies becoming competitive by making the university’s knowledge resources in gender approaches and initiatives available and easy to access. The ultimate goal of GCP, one door into the university's research on gender equality and diversity, can hopefully contribute to greater visibility also for the university’s gender research. Today, gender research is dispersed in various research subjects. As a starting point we have established a network of the university’s gender researchers with 44 members who are integrating a gender perspective in their research, projects, interventions etc.

Research management, funding, and policy in the news Under this headline, you will find links to RMA-related issues—for example, research funding, management and administration, ethics and data management, etc.—that have recently received attention in the media, whether it is positive, negative, or neutral. Do you have a suggestion for this section? Please mail the newsletter editor.

Comments and analyses on Brexit

http://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/brexit-uncertainty-disrupting-eu-uk-research

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v539/n7629_supp/full/539S26a.html

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/nov/13/what-will-brexit-mean-for-british-universities

– 17 –

— NEWSLETTER December 2016

www.earma.org Contribute ǀ Influence ǀ Change

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Research Management: Non scientists as RMs: http://www.euroscientist.com/controversial-art-research-management/

Hacking Bureaucracy – a full issue: http://www.euroscientist.com/hacking-bureaucracy/

A scientist’s view on time sheets: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/my-university-has-asked-me-keep-diary-my-work-and-i-hate-it