The poster entitled The Research Administration Profession in Small Island States and Small Jurisdictions has won the Best Poster of the Year Award under the category ‘International Section’ during the 2016 Symposium of the Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI).
The poster was presented by Christian Bonnici, Deputy Director on Externally Funded Projects within the Project Support Office and co-authored by Dr Vincent Cassar, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics Management Accountancy (FEMA). Christian Bonnici is currently reading for a Ph.D. with the Department of Management (within FEMA) while Dr Cassar is his supervisor.
The aim of the symposium was to reward significant contributions in the field of research management and administration during the SRAI’s annual meeting, which was held in San Antonio, Texas (USA) between 22 and 26 October and was attended by 1800 delegates from 45 different countries.
The Society of Research Administrators International is the premier global research management society providing education, professional development and the latest comprehensive information about research management and administration to 5,200 members. SRAI has been established in 1966 and this year it is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, with annual meetings having been held annually since 1967.
The poster is an illustration of the paper that was published in the November issue of the Islands Studies Journal (ISJ Vol. 11, No. 2, 2016, pp. 619-636). The objectives of the poster (and paper) are to instigate a discussion that brings together two seemingly unrelated concepts in the literature: that of smallness and that of research administration; and to assess whether the research administration profession can survive and be effective within small island states and small jurisdictions, where scarce resources, especially of human capital, might be a significant bottleneck.
The poster (and paper) concludes that the research administration profession’s survival and effectiveness in small island states and small jurisdictions depend on the ability of the research administrators to re-define their roles according to the contextual realities they face. This re-definition includes, among others, the research administrators’ ability to be multi-functional, their extent of breadth specialisation that enables them to support researchers across the entire career, their ability to mediate and reduce conflicts, while engaging successfully with foreign partnerships to gain wider networks. Consequently, small island states and small jurisdictions can develop a unique profile of a research administrator while exposing aspects of the research administration profession that are less applicable to larger contexts.
The poster was judged by a group of research administration professionals as well as by the delegates present at the annual meeting. During the same annual meeting, Christian Bonnici was one of 250 speakers and delivered a presentation on the ‘Implications of the Professionalisation of Research Administration’.
The full paper is available online.
The poster was presented by Christian Bonnici, Deputy Director on Externally Funded Projects within the Project Support Office and co-authored by Dr Vincent Cassar, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics Management Accountancy (FEMA). Christian Bonnici is currently reading for a Ph.D. with the Department of Management (within FEMA) while Dr Cassar is his supervisor.
The aim of the symposium was to reward significant contributions in the field of research management and administration during the SRAI’s annual meeting, which was held in San Antonio, Texas (USA) between 22 and 26 October and was attended by 1800 delegates from 45 different countries.
The Society of Research Administrators International is the premier global research management society providing education, professional development and the latest comprehensive information about research management and administration to 5,200 members. SRAI has been established in 1966 and this year it is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, with annual meetings having been held annually since 1967.
The poster is an illustration of the paper that was published in the November issue of the Islands Studies Journal (ISJ Vol. 11, No. 2, 2016, pp. 619-636). The objectives of the poster (and paper) are to instigate a discussion that brings together two seemingly unrelated concepts in the literature: that of smallness and that of research administration; and to assess whether the research administration profession can survive and be effective within small island states and small jurisdictions, where scarce resources, especially of human capital, might be a significant bottleneck.
The poster (and paper) concludes that the research administration profession’s survival and effectiveness in small island states and small jurisdictions depend on the ability of the research administrators to re-define their roles according to the contextual realities they face. This re-definition includes, among others, the research administrators’ ability to be multi-functional, their extent of breadth specialisation that enables them to support researchers across the entire career, their ability to mediate and reduce conflicts, while engaging successfully with foreign partnerships to gain wider networks. Consequently, small island states and small jurisdictions can develop a unique profile of a research administrator while exposing aspects of the research administration profession that are less applicable to larger contexts.
The poster was judged by a group of research administration professionals as well as by the delegates present at the annual meeting. During the same annual meeting, Christian Bonnici was one of 250 speakers and delivered a presentation on the ‘Implications of the Professionalisation of Research Administration’.
The full paper is available online.
