NCURA Annual Meeting: Reflections on community, connection & shared challenges

ARMA Chair Grace McConnell reflects on attending the NCURA Annual Meeting in New York, what it revealed about research management through a US and international lens, and why community remains central to how we respond to shared challenges. 

Attending the NCURA 68th Annual Meeting in New York was a particularly meaningful moment for me. The first full day of the meeting was also my first day as ARMA Chair, and it felt fitting that it began in a setting so clearly shaped by a diverse and passionate research management community; albeit one with a far more outgoing approach to keynotes and gala dinner activities. 

The NCURA Annual Meeting brings together research administration professionals, with sessions spanning pre-award, post-award, compliance, international collaboration, leadership, systems and many other areas of practice. For me, its value was not only in the breadth of the programme, but in the chance to learn about research management in the US, globally, and in Europe through a US lens.  

A real highlight was the opening NCURA Live keynote panel, which included EARMA Chair Dipti Pandya. The panel explored many of the issues currently shaping our profession: attracting, retaining and developing talent, the opportunities and challenges of AI, building resilience, and finding strength through community. What struck me was how familiar those conversations felt. The context may differ, but none of these challenges belongs to one country or system. 

That was one of my strongest reflections from the meeting: we are not as different as we sometimes assume. Many of the themes we have discussed recently within ARMA, including in the reflections I wrote with Lorna following the ARMA Conference, are echoed internationally. Across oceans and borders, research managers are asking how we build sustainable services, support excellent research, navigate complexity, and continue to demonstrate the value of our profession. 

The importance of regional and international communities 

I was also struck by the warmth of the NCURA Region VIII community. As the international region, Region VIII plays an important role in creating a home for members working across different countries and systems. The welcome from its chairs and volunteers was a reminder that professional communities do not happen by accident. They are built through time, effort, openness and repeated opportunities for people to connect. 

That resonated strongly with the work ARMA has been doing to develop regional groups. As Board Director of Member Engagement, I was involved in starting this initiative through MEC, and it has been brilliant to see momentum building. The launch of the ARMA West Midlands Regional Group in Birmingham (Thursday 10 September) is one example of how local networks can create space for research management and administration professionals to meet, share experience and shape activity that reflects the needs of their own region. 

What I took away from NCURA is that local, regional and international communities are mutually reinforcing. Regional groups give people a practical route into connection and peer support. International meetings remind us that the challenges we face are bigger than any one institution or country, and that the solutions are stronger when they are developed together. 

Looking ahead 

I left NCURA with renewed confidence in the theme of its Annual Meeting “the power of community”. Community gives us opportunities to learn from one another, builds resilience, and gives us a way to recognise and celebrate the expertise of research professionals. As I begin my term as ARMA Chair, that feels like exactly the right place to start. 

If you’d like to connect with colleagues in your region, registration is now open for the next ARMA London Regional Group event on 12 October 2026 at the University of Westminster, exploring UKRI’s Five-Year Strategy 2026–31 and what it means for universities.