ARMA Awards 2026: Shortlist for Collaboration in Research Management

The Collaboration in Research Management Award celebrates a project or initiative that has significantly benefited from a collaborative approach to research management, identifying challenges and opportunities and their resolution, and enhancing the ability of researchers to work across disciplinary, organisational, sector or global boundaries.

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

• Cross-divisional research management team: The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

LSE’s cross-divisional research management team has driven major collaborative seed funding initiatives to enable interdisciplinary research addressing pressing global challenges. By effectively collaborating with global partners, academic leaders, and professional services at LSE, we paired strong academic diplomacy with operational excellence. Our LSE-Tsinghua Research Sustainability Fund case study exemplifies how research managers navigate complex projects together across teams, institutions, and borders to drive impactful global research. We co-established a replicable infrastructure for researcher-led and strategic bilateral seed funding; co-produced LSE’s first international research sandpit; helped researchers form new interdisciplinary teams, and supported academic leadership in advancing LSE’s global research excellence.

• Joint Research Management Office (JRMO) Governance Section: Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust

The JRMO Governance Section at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust has transformed research management through inclusive, collaborative innovation. Working as a single team across two organisations and nine sites, we streamlined study setup, improved data quality, and embedded equality, diversity, and inclusion in every process. Key achievements include an automated performance dashboard, harmonised procedures and a pioneering approach to capturing patient demographics to widen participation. Our initiatives have reduced setup times, enhanced transparency and influenced practice nationally. This work demonstrates how collaboration drives excellence, accelerates research and delivers measurable benefits for patients and partners.

• Wellcome Trust-funded Valuing Voices project: University of York

The Wellcome Trust-funded Valuing Voices project has created a model of collaborative equity that is already leading to more responsible and equitable research and to new projects securing funding. We have extended our model into work with researchers and research management teams at York, and our partnerships with international institutions including Mahidol University. Using co-design and inclusive practice, we have produced a free online tool for the global research community which enhances the impact of research through practical, equitable interventions. The tool is providing more robust systems for research managers as they support research design, grant application and project delivery.

The winner of this year’s award will be announced on Wednesday 17 June as part of the ARMA Awards Ceremony. The Awards Ceremony will take place during the ARMA Conference Gala Dinner at the Harrogate Convention Centre. Registration is currently open for the annual conference and gala dinner.