NARMA (Norwegian Network for Administration and Research Management) was established in 2013 by Universities Norway (UHR), recognizing the need for Research Managers and Administrators to have a forum to meet, network and share their experiences.
NARMA provides a forum for research managers and administrators in Norway to meet, network and gain new expertise. Our mission is to enhance the profession of research management and administration and give access to professional networks. We aim to facilitate excellence in research through identifying, establishing and exchanging best practice. The network will contribute to skills development, career development and quality within higher education institutions’ research administrative services.
NARMA currently has 700 active participants. These are employed at the 33 universities and university colleges that are member institutions at Universities Norways (UHR). Approximately 500 research managers and administrators take part in our activities each year. NARMA activities are also open to colleagues from the research institutes, the university hospitals and other research-performing organizations.
NARMA’s four primary activities
- The annual NARMA conference takes place in March-April and attracts 400-500 participants. The program is a mix of plenary and parallel sessions, hosting both national and international speakers.
- The competence development program targets three groups: early-career, experienced and leaders within research management and administration. The programme emphasizes skills development (with a focus on soft skills), career development and quality within higher education institutions’ research administrative services.
Photo: Thi Ha Ngo 2020
- NARMA supports workshops within relevant fields such as research evaluation, IPR, ethics, open science and international and national funding.
- International/global networking: NARMA takes active part in both EARMA and INORMS. NARMA is very interested in establishing contact with other national networks, so please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to collaborate or exchange experiences!
Organisation
NARMA is organised under the auspices of Universities Norway (UHR), which is the “Norwegian rectors conference”.
NARMA has its own board, elected by the General Assembly, and a secretariat at one of the member institutions at a tri-annual basis. From 2019-2022 the secretariat is situated at Kristiania University College.
Funding
The secretariat and the governance of NARMA is funded through the institutional membership in Universities Norway. This means that all employees at UHR-institutions has free access to NARMA’s activities. However, there are participants fees for workshops, conferences and training programmes.
Photo: baona, iStockphoto.com
Secretary for NARMA
and NARMA’s professional development program:
Adviser Martine Lorentzen
Kristiania University College
Contact: post@narma.no
NARMAs professional development program
- NARMA offers courses differentiated by the level of experience of the participants.
- Seminar for best-practice exchange at the management level
About the Seminar
NARMA (Norwegian Association of Research Management) has since its establishment in 2013 put professional development of research administration at the center of its mission by establishing initiatives and forums for best-practice exchange for research administration across Norwegian higher education institutions.
In 2019 a new initiative was launched; a seminar for best-practice exchange at the management level. The initiative is aimed at managers that have strategic leadership in research administration as part of their area of responsibility at their institutions. RMAs at the leadership level may often encounter the same issues across institutions, however there’s been a lack of forums where these issues can be discussed with their peers.
The Leadership seminar aims to provide RMAs at the leadership level the following:
• Increase awareness about research administration as a profession and as a field of expertise
• Provide and facilitate best-practice sharing and discussions on the improvement of research administration at both the individual and institutional level
• Strengthen networking and collaboration in research administration
The initiative is part of NARMAs professional development program, where the courses are differentiated by the level of experience of the participants.