On the Southern Africa side, the project lead is Bas Rijnen from the Namibia University of Technology (NUST). He is supported by a Southern African team has diverse expertise in research management, is geographically dispersed and are from institutions that are at different levels of professionalisation, thereby bringing different experiences and perspectives together. Some team members had previously collaborated in an EU Erasmus+ funded project StoRM (Strengthening of Collaboration, Leadership and Professionalisation in Research Management in SADC and EU Higher Education Institutions). The StoRM project successfully implemented a Postgraduate Diploma in Research Management and Administration (RMA), an executive Masters degree curriculum for mid-career RM professionals, a recognition mechanism for senior RM professionals and a vibrant staff exchange and mentoring programme, aimed at good practice and developing RM capacities across SADC. Through their interactions with various stakeholders in SADC, the team recognised the need for practical tools, guidelines and resources focused on ECRMs to streamline and intensify research management practices and international collaborations in the region.
The UK team is jointly lead by Kate Clift and Clare Edwards from Loughborough University. They are supported by a UK team drawn from three different institutions. Each has different experiences of international research and each brings a range of experience to the project. The team is spans the career stages and whilst all members of the UK team have experience of international research, none had previously taken part in an international capacity building exchange programme. The UK team were motivated to take part by a desire to learn different perspectives and approaches to research management from different contexts and office set ups, and to implement best practice for successful projects and collaborations.
For both teams the IRMSDP programme represents an opportunity to further their own individual knowledge and networks by learning from their peers and building capacity within their institutions and beyond.
Both teams applied separately to the IRMSDP programme, and were matched together due to the synergies between the proposals, which both focused on the development of skills and successful collaborations.