Advancing Research Management in Europe: Insights from the 2nd RM-Roadmap Ambassadors’ Meeting

Advancing Research Management in Europe: Insights from the 2nd RM- Roadmap Ambassadors’ Meeting. On the 13th of March 2024, we held the 2nd RM-Roadmap Ambassadors’ Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, hosted by Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. The meeting was a great opportunity to come together and learn more about both the current and future developments in research management in Europe.

The programme included a mix of plenary sessions, networking opportunities, and also some group work between ambassadors, one further opportunity to learn from each other, create closer links, and share experiences.

It was also the first opportunity to meet the recently appointed thematic ambassadors and to network with them, to help them to better integrate the project and become more aware of the next steps and how they can contribute.

The open session in the morning attracted a lot of attention and we were able to welcome around 120 external participants, both online and in person, people who were not directly involved in the project yet welcomed the chance to learn about it and the way it is contributing to the enhancement of the research manager profession. Research managers, journalists, academics, policymakers, and many university vice-chancellors, were all keen to be there as well as to help to further disseminate information about the project in their own institutions and networks.

Marc Mattis represented the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission at the meeting and reinforced the relevance of the project in pursuing the objectives related to implementing the ERA Policy Agenda.

The event was also a renewed opportunity to liaise with colleagues from the CARDEA project and further develop the links with this sister project. Marilou Ramos Pamplona, representing the CARDEA consortium, presented the more recent developments in the project, very useful information which will also inform the developments of the RM-Roadmap project.

Participants in the event came away happy and grateful for the chance to meet in person and share concerns and ideas; all feeling more engaged and energised, all of which will contribute to achieving the overarching and very relevant goals of the RM-Roadmap project.