ARMA Awards 2025: Shortlist for Research Management Team of the Year

The Research Management Team of the Year award celebrates a research management team of any shape, size and/or scope that has succeeded in working as a robust, cohesive and effective unit, resulting in a significant positive impact on their organisation’s research activities, within or beyond the organisation.

The Awards Working Group selected the following nominations for the shortlist:

• Research Development Team: University of Lincoln
  In a climate of significant financial pressure, where demand to secure external income has intensified but resources have been limited, the University of Lincoln’s Research Development Team has forged a fresh approach to pre-award research support, growing its research funding awards from £19.8M in 2022/23 to £40.2M in 2023/24. A team of only eight people, it delivers 600-800 research funding bids every year, influences the University’s strategic research direction, and raises the profile of the University regionally, nationally and internationally. Its achievements are a testament to its creativity, resilience and commitment to driving innovation in research development and management.

• Research Compliance Team: University of Bristol
  The University of Bristol’s Research Compliance Team is at the vanguard of a sector shift in research management of national security issues. Originally established in September 2021 with just 1 FTE, the team has evolved and grown to provide greater capacity to meet demand. Taking sector-leading positions in research security externally and providing a seamless, responsive and facilitative service internally using streamlined processes, effective data analysis systems, creation of project sub-teams, and detailed training provision for all stakeholders, the Team is at the forefront of research management.

• The Research Portfolio Management Team, College of MVLS: University of Glasgow
  The College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) established a team of Research Portfolio Managers (RPM) in January 2023. These appointments were underpinned by the MVLS Research Strategy 2021-2025. By providing support to the current research portfolio, RPMs provide academics with the time to be creative to develop and deliver research ideas and activities and other strategically important initiatives. The nominated team comprises five RPMs who make a robust, effective, flexible and collegiate team supporting Principal Investigators and MVLS College strategic initiatives.

• Research Office Team: Edge Hill University
  Over the last two years, Edge Hill University’s research management team has embarked on a programme to raise the University’s institutional profile. To improve the team’s visibility and influence across the University it has introduced a holistic approach to the research life cycle, managed entirely by the small team. It focuses on communicating research successes, spreading positive messages and motivating the research community through the research life cycle. The team’s initiatives have reinvigorated the University’s research environment, improving its funding record and researcher engagement, establishing a firm foundation on which to further develop effective research support.

The winner of this year’s award will be announced on Wednesday 18 June as part of the ARMA Awards Ceremony. The Awards Ceremony will take place during the ARMA Conference Gala Dinner at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Registration is currently open for the annual conference and gala dinner.