foRMAtion at the Virtual International Convention for Research Administrators
The foRMAtion project was presented by Virág Zsár, Senior Grant Advisor of HETFA at the Virtual International Convention for Research Administrators (VICRA 2022) taking place online between the 1st and 3rd March 2022.
The presentation underlined that the advancement of Research Management and Administration (RMA) as a Profession shows great variety not only across the globe, but also within Europe. The RMA Profession has reached diverse maturity levels in the field of professionalization, operation of associations, and provision of training and/or educational programmes.
However, RMAs in EU-13 and Western Balkan countries are among the less fortunate is this respect. Beside the general shortages in the field of the lack of recognition and visibility of RMAs, the lack of carrier path, the problem of ill-defined roles and responsibilities, the lack of specific educational programmes for current and future RMAs represent an important challenge in these countries as well which should be overcome in order to increase their competitiveness in the EU funded research and innovation programmes.
As a unique initiative, the achievements and short-term impacts of the foRMAtion project were showcased: the development and the testing of the foRMAtion educational module for future RMAs has already proven impact on a number of people, including the students, following the course; the teachers, teaching it; and the university administration and leadership of our partner universities.
The discussions following the presentation pointed out that any educational and training programme which is acknowledged at European or international level has a significant role in enhancing the talent pool and reducing the investment necessary to train newcomers in research performing organizations. In addition, such programmes can also contribute to reinforcing the recognition of the profession, clarifying and strengthening the professional identity, as well as setting expectations towards the job.
The presentation of foRMAtion is available here: Paving the Way Towards Professional Recognition
Recordings are still available on the website of the event: https://vicra.pathable.co/
