Introduction to the Challenges of Effective Research Governance

Research governance is an increasingly complex problem. Whereas the traditional definition of research governance focused on the specific challenges of management of research involving human participants, ensuring effective governance of research across the full spectrum of research disciplines is a much broader challenge. The statutory and regulatory framework in which research organisations operate is constantly evolving and hence the policies and procedures that are essential to ensure good governance of research also evolve to reflect these changing requirements. Development of an understanding of the key features and complexities of research governance is, therefore, an important skill for research managers and administrators.

Effective governance of research is, in its broadest sense, simply the implementation of a fit-for-purpose decision-making framework under which an institution can give – or refuse – its approval that a research project can proceed. Importantly, while some decisions in research governance are straight forward, others are much more nuanced as the rationale to grant or to refuse approval to proceed may be made on a combination of ethical, regulatory, statutory, reputational, contractual or financial grounds. Hence the importance that all research professionals should understand the many facets and complexities of good research governance.

All challenges provide opportunities, and the complexities and nuances of research governance are not an exception to this truism, not least because its ubiquitous interest makes it the ideal subject for a networking/L&D event for staff new to the research administration profession. Our Introduction to the Challenges of Effective Research Governance event has been designed to build on the success of an in-person introduction to research governance session held at an ARMA Essentials course some years ago, while also making the best use of the new opportunities arising from on-line delivery. We have set out to design a challenging and rewarding training event that also provides opportunities for pre-course and post-course networking opportunities for participants to share information about the processes their own institution uses to make research governance decisions. The event will also feature facilitated opportunities to highlight and celebrate examples of best practice.

Research governance can be seen as a dry or even dull subject, but we have also set ourselves the challenge of engaging our participants with an enjoyable and interactive event. This will be achieved, in part, by using real-world examples that illustrate why good governance is one of the most complex challenges in research administration and the potential risks of failure to achieve it. The event will also feature interactive group work that invites participants to identify potential governance pitfalls in what may appear to be benign examples of day-to-day queries forwarded to an institution’s research office.  It will also provide staff new to the profession with some insight to the intricacies of decision-making processes that typically operate at a senior level in their organisation.

Overall, we aim to cover the subject in a comprehensive way at a high level but also provide a deep dive into one of the most topical areas of research governance to illustrate how complex individual governance decisions can become depending on the nature and subject of research. Importantly, our overall objective is to deliver an event for a generalist audience that is valuable, informative, engaging and (at times!) fun.

Book your place for the event here.

We would be happy to answer any questions you may have about our event via e-mail to peter@bacchusbeyond.co.uk.