In October, the UKRN Stakeholder Group came together for a Virtual Café focused demonstrating the value of research professionals. The session brought together diverse voices and perspectives to explore how roles supporting research are evolving, and what steps are needed to ensure recognition, career development, and collaboration across the sector.
Helen Clare opened the session by framing the conversation around the increasing visibility and strategic importance of research professionals in the UK and beyond.
A series of short talks highlighted the breadth and depth of roles supporting research:
- Helen Clare shared insights into roles supporting open research, drawing on recent developments and community engagement from the Open Research Competencies Coalition.
- Stephen Longshaw (STFC/CoSeC) introduced the Computational Science Centre for Research Communities (CoSeC) as a model for delivering specialist expertise, showcasing how infrastructure and skills intersect.
- Aygen Kurt-Dickson (LSE/ARMA) presented the Association for Research Managers and Administrators’ (ARMA) work mapping the diversity of research professional roles, including emerging areas such as research culture and commercialisation.
Unfortunately, Prof. Simon Hettrick (Hidden REF) who was scheduled to attend couldn’t make the meeting but will come to the next stakeholder meeting to reflect on experiences from Hidden REF, the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI), and the Research Software Engineer (RSE) community, highlighting the challenge of visibility and epistemic justice.
The talks were followed by a lively group discussion, with participants raising questions around benchmarking, recognition, and the interface between technical and strategic roles.
- Recognition and career development: What mechanisms exist, and what’s missing?
- Evidencing value: How can we better demonstrate the impact of these roles?
- Collaboration opportunities: Where can we align efforts across initiatives like ORCC, CoSeC, ARMA, Vitae and beyond?
Themes included the tension between top-down and bottom-up approaches, the need for an overarching picture of activities (e.g., via platforms like the CAKE knowledge exchange), and the importance of in bridging gaps between academia and industry.
Participants highlighted several ongoing efforts and resources including European initiatives such as Cardea Hub and RM ROADMAP, and UK initiatives like the Technician’s Commitment and UKRI Network+ Digital Research Technical Professionals projects.
The UKRN Stakeholder Group will continue to explore how it can support initiatives in this area through collaboration and information sharing, particularly the upcoming Research Professional Futures Project – led collectively by Teesside University, Durham University, Imperial College London, and the University of Warwick.
Helen Clare, Chair of the UKRN Stakeholder Group