The role of research administrators in universities or institutions is now more important than ever, given the increasing need for external research funding.
Administrators’ work can make or break a collaborative project and define an institution’s collaborations, since cultural and procedural differences in dealing with project administration are inherent to European research consortia. Projects simply cannot perform without efficient processes running their engine.
The perfect space to connect researchadministrators and institutions
In Mr Andersen’s view, BESTPRAC has been the perfect spacefor young and experienced administrators to exchange practicesand transfer knowledge to institutions that had no experiencein supporting EU research projects. “In fact, most networkparticipants have been working in such institutions, and thelearning by doing approach has seen everyone present, discuss,or take initiative.”
“Many early-stage administrators would not have been able totake part in such meetings, had it not been for BESTPRAC”, DrStijn Delauré, one of the Belgian representatives, pointed out.
“During the past 4 years, I have noticed that several partners- especially working for institutions in Central Europe – haveevolved greatly”, Dr Delauré added.
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Exchanging practice enabled [participants] to gain expertise in anunprecedented, fast way. It empowered many of them with theself-confidence they needed to drive change at home -Jan Andersen,Technical University of Denmark
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A new alliance for pan-Europeanresearch collaborations
A valuable partnership that resulted from collaborations forged in BESTPRAC is CELSA, an alliance setup to stimulate new scientific collaborations. It funds around 10 collaborative research projects annually, connecting researchers in Belgium, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
“Thanks to all the interactions in BESTPRAC, I got the right arguments to persuade my own university to join forces with several institutions in Central Europe. (…) The network also enabled me to rethink and improve the work of the research support team at my own university, KU Leuven”, Dr Delauré commented.