Research managers

Research Managers: a reality we have been working with for years — and still struggle to name.

The European Research Manager Competence Framework is often described as a tool to structure skills.

That is true — but it only captures part of what is at stake.

For many of us, this is not new.

The roles grouped under “administrative” have been evolving for years — in practice, if not always in recognition.

They now span project design, institutional strategy, financial stewardship, partnership development, and impact delivery.

We know this. We work with it every day.

What the RM Competence Framework does is make this reality explicit: this is no longer a set of support tasks, but a structured professional field at the intersection of operational delivery and strategic decision-making.

These roles are embedded in the research ecosystem itself — ensuring its continuity, coherence, and capacity to evolve.

And yet, we still struggle to name them for what they are.

Calling these roles “administrative” is no longer just imprecise — it obscures the reality of the work.

It places them in a support category, even as they increasingly shape how research is designed, delivered, and governed.

This is not a marginal issue.

It affects how roles are valued, how careers develop, and who is included in decision-making.

The RM Competence Framework is therefore more than a professionalisation tool.

It brings into view a structural shift that has been underway for some time.

But naming something does not automatically transform it.

Across institutions, this shift still meets resistance — often not explicit, but deeply embedded in organisational cultures and assumptions about who “does” research and who “supports” it.

Addressing this requires more than frameworks.

It calls for structural change — in how roles are positioned, how responsibilities are shared, and how decision-making is organised.

It also requires a cultural shift, across institutions and research communities, in how we understand who contributes to research — and how.

And it cannot happen without the support of institutional leadership and policy-makers — from organisational boards to ministries in charge of research.

As long as these roles are seen as support, they will remain positioned as such — regardless of the responsibilities they actually carry.

Recognising Research Managers is not about adding another category.

It is about acknowledging that the way we organise and describe research no longer reflects how it actually works.

Across Europe, this shift is already visible.

Many are already working within it.

The question is whether we are ready to fully recognise it — and to act on it, at all levels.

(orginal publication on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7440494834198446083/)