Special Interest Groups
The Special Interest Groups focus on sharing ideas, exchanging best practice and developing tools on how to manage today’s challenges within research support and administration.
DARMA SIG’s were established at the 2014 General Assembly at CBS in Copenhagen.
Volunteers
DARMA is driven by volunteer engagement. DARMA is relying on individuals to volunteer and engage in the activities of our association. To support our volunteers we have created this SIG where the board and the other volunteers can support each other by sharing ideas and best practice.
Members can volunteer by chairing a SIG, sharing knowledge or arranging activities of interest to the members. This can be in the form of meetings, courses, webinars or study tours and much more. To become a volunteer reach out to the board.
Board Liaisons
Stine Skipper, CB
Kristina Bøhnke, SDU
Contact Person
TBA
Staff Management in RMA
This Special Interest Group gives the leaders in RMA the opportunity to strengthen the quality and effect of their work by meeting and discussing topics and issues related to personnel management in a specific RMA context.
Motivation and background
DARMA’s SIG for Staff Management was established by DARMA’s Board in the autumn of 2013 and held its first meeting January 2014. The purpose of this SIG is to give the leaders in the Danish RMA context an opportunity to strengthen the quality and effect of their work by meeting and discussing topics and issues related to personnel management in our profession. Examples of topics can be:
- Recruitment
- Retention
- Staff development
- Management of knowledgeable employees
- Organizational development
- Personnel responsibility
- Organization of a research support office
- Management information
The SIG is the formal framework for our joint forum, in which managers of or in Danish research support offices can meet for the above purposes.
Tasks
The SIG is managed by the contact person, who ensures that meetings are convened, the agenda is sent to all members of the SIG and uploaded to the SIG’s area on DARMA’s website. The board liaison can be helpful in posting material on the website, etc.
The host of the meeting is responsible for sending Outlook invitations to the Group members, book a meeting room and order food/drinks. The host of the following meeting is the minute taker and distribute the minutes to the members who attended the meeting within a week. Minutes are considered confidential and are not distributed to non SIG-members or posted online.
Finances and resources
This SIG meets 2-3 times a year as needed. The meetings are held online or in-person and the agenda as well as the time and place for the next meeting are agreed from time to time.
The SIG does not have its own budget or finances. Expenses for meals in connection with meetings can be covered by DARMA by prior agreement with the Treasurer. Travel expenses are borne by the individual members themselves (usually covered by their home institutions).
How do I become a member of the SIG Staff Management
To be a member of the SIG on Staff Management you must be a member of DARMA, and you must have a management function with personnel responsibilities within RMA. Personnel management is defined in this context as holding ‘MUS’.
DARMA’s President can attend the meetings regardless of whether he or she has management responsibility or not.
Contact the board liaison if you would like to become a member of the SIG on Staff Management.
Board Liaison
Jane Finnerup Johnsen, CBS
Contact Person
TBA
Danmarks Forskningsportal
DARMA is represented in Research Portal Denmark’s Advisory Board: https://forskningsportal.dk/da/om-forskningsportalen/advisory-board/
The Special Interest Group (SIG) for Research Portal Denmark is the main platform for knowledge sharing between the Advisory Board and DARMA’s members. Material from the Advisory Board meetings is shared with the SIG, and SIG members can contribute with input for the Advisory Board meetings. The SIG may organize DARMA events about Research Portal Denmark.
Visit Research Portal Denmark: https://forskningsportal.dk/da/
Board Liaison
Kristine Albrektsen, KU
Contact Person
Marianne Gauffriau, ITU
Data and Automation
The DARMA Data & Automation SIG is for individuals who wish to share experiences and know-how from within the digitalisation field broadly. Digitalisation solutions from all administrative or supportive areas are relevant.
The SIG focus on tasks and processes that are or can be supported by digitalisation in partly or fully automated processes. The digital solutions may be any kind of commercial products or internally developed tools or robots.
Data is considered to be any information that can be stored electronically in tables, databases or IT systems, such as numbers, text or links. The initial focus of the SIG will be defined in the SIG kick-off meeting in the spring of 2022.
Board Liaison
Mads Lykke Berggreen, VIA
Contact Person
Esben Flindt, SDU
EARMA RM Roadmap
The RM-ROADMAP project supports the strengthening of an inclusive research management community by creating a roadmap for the future of research management (RM) in Europe.
As a DARMA member, your valuable input and expertise are essential to the success of this endeavor. By joining our Special Interest Group (SIG), you will have the chance to actively participate in the project’s findings and to be informed about the latest developments of the project.
The project objectives are particularly relevant to the Danish context as we already have a well-established community, DARMA.
The objectives are:
- Connect new and existing networks on a community platform to:
- Create a bottom-up consensus about the future of Research Management.
- Inform about the existing training, networking, funding and mobility opportunities.
- Clarify the role and potential for Research Managers to support the ERA and overall R&I System:
- Efficiency & Effectiveness,
- Quality Control,
- Reducing administrative, burden for researchers,
- Trust and accountability.
Project duration
The project is running over three years, with the launch of the project Online Knowledge and Community Platform in September 2023. See full overview of the timeline here
Resources
Board Liaison
Anne Pintz, AU
Contact Person
Flora Champetier, AAU
Impact
Already at the time of application, an increasing number of funders expect that the researchers are able to explain which impact the project will have. What will be the outcome of the project and which areas in society and stakeholders will be affected?
This SIG will provide space for reflections and inspiration on how to deal with and describe impact within different, scientific disciplines. The SIG was formed after a meeting at AAU in Copenhagen 2018. After a meeting with David Phipps at SDU in February 2019, 23 people from different organisations in Denmark joined four different groups – all working with different aspects of Impact.
Board Liaison
Anne Pintz, AU
Contact Person
Vacant
Management Information
En gruppe af særligt interesserede indenfor ledelsesinformation, tal og statistik om ekstern finansiering, mødes online og drøfter uformelt status på dette arbejde på de enkelte institutioner. Formålet er videndele om best-practice og fælles udfordringer, tage dialogen med andre aktører om emnet, at identificere hvem der i Danmark særligt arbejder med dette felt, identificere emner af særlig interesse indenfor feltet samt udvikle indhold af eventuelt webinar om emnet for en bredere kreds af interesserede DARMA-medlemmer.
Board Liaison
Kristine Albrektsen, KU
Contact Person
Jakob D. Sørensen, AU
PhD Administration
SIG on PhD Administration er åben for alle medlemmer med interesse for ph.d.-administration. Gruppen vil arrangere en række emnespecifikke aktiviteter i løbet af året, som er relevante for ph.d.-administratorer. Tovholderne sørger for at planlægge møderne og drive gruppen fremad, mens øvrige medlemmer bidrager med mødeledelse, fagligt input og aktiv deltagelse i arrangementer og diskussioner.
At deltage i SIG on PhD Administration kan give flere fordele:
- Netværk: Du får mulighed for at møde og samarbejde med andre ph.d.-administratorer, hvilket kan føre til værdifulde kontakter og samarbejder.
- Vidensdeling: Gruppen arrangerer emnespecifikke aktiviteter, hvor du kan dele og modtage viden om de nyeste tendenser og bedste praksis inden for ph.d.-administration.
- Professionel udvikling: Ved at deltage aktivt i møder og diskussioner kan du udvikle dine faglige kompetencer og få nye perspektiver på dit arbejde.
- Ressourcer og støtte: Tovholderne og andre medlemmer kan tilbyde støtte og ressourcer, som kan hjælpe dig med at løse udfordringer i dit daglige arbejde.
- Indflydelse: Du får mulighed for at bidrage til gruppens retning og aktiviteter, hvilket kan give dig en følelse af ejerskab og indflydelse på området.
Board Liaison
Lone Petersen, CBS
Contact Person
Cecilie Thorsted Flo, RUC
Lone Petersen, CBS
Post-Award
Arbejder du med administration af forskningsbevillinger? Vil du gerne kunne sparre om dine opgaver med kolleger i hele landet? Så vil vi anbefale et medlemskab i DARMA’s nye netværksgruppe (Special Interest Group) for post-award-medarbejdere.
I post-award netværksgruppen mødes vi online 2 gange om året og fysisk til Årsmødet om relevante postaward emner.
Alle deltagere kan byde ind med emner, og Laila Østergren (CBS) & Camilla Riel (Roskilde Universitet) er de gennemgående tovholdere i netværket.
Board Liaison
Martin Kyvsgaard, UCN
Contact Person
Tilde Haar, ITU
Private Foundations
Darma SIG on Private Foundation arbejder med finansiering af forskning primært fra private danske fonde, men også fra virksomheder og brancheforeninger.
Vi fokuserer på private fondes rolle i samfundsudviklingen, ændringer i det private fondslandskab og ser på uddelingsstrategier, ansøgningsprocesser og -indhold, samt på specifikke emner såsom OH, relation mellem forskning og det praksisnære og ikke mindst samfundsrelevans.
Under SIG Privat er der en mindre arbejdsgruppe, som står for at afholde forskellige arrangementer: webinarer, workshops og seminarer, ofte med deltagelse af aktører fra private fonde.
Board Liaison
Anne Katrine Kleberg Hansen, Kgl. Akademi
Contact Person
Ann Cathrine Findal Støy, SDU
Anne Katrine Kleberg Hansen, Kgl. Akademi
RMA at Hospitals
DARMA SIG on RMA at Hospitals har fokus på de særlige betingelser der gør sig gældende for forskningsfinansiering på hospitalerne. Det drejer sig både om forskningen på forskningshospitalerne, men også den forskning der udøves på øvrige hospitaler.
Hvilken rolle spiller forskningen fra hospitalssektoren, hvilke betingelser arbejder forskningen under og hvilke udfordringer er der i kommunikationen mellem forskere, forskningsstøtten og finansieringskilderne.
Det tilstræbes at SIG’en skal udvikle progressiv kontakt til såvel finansieringskilder som mellem de forskellige medlemmer. Det skal være muligt at skabe stærkere forskning i fællesskab.
Board Liaison
Mads Lykke Berggreen, VIA
Contact Person
Steen K. Thomsen, Region Syd
RMA at Small Institutions
The SIG on RMA at Small Institutions aims at reflecting on how small units should prioritise their efforts, how best to exploit the broadly based knowledge of the institution, what tasks can be out-sourced and how to divide tasks between administration and faculty.
The definition and scope of research support differs. Small units have only a few people to cover a wide variety of tasks and are often centered around pre-award, but connecting also with post-award, innovation, cooperation with industry etc.
The SIG operates primarily through seminars with a topic of common interest for small research institutions, often with visits from funders or other persons or institutions of interest.
The group is open for all DARMA members working on research institutions outside of the major research universities in Denmark.
Board Liaison
Mads Lykke Berggreen, VIA
Contact Person
Conny Wang Hansen, UCL
Tue Schmidt Schack, UCSyd
Working with US Universities and Funders
Working with US Universities and Funders is complex due to a string of compliance requirement, which are more strict than in Denmark and Europe. At the same time, it is very prestigious for many researchers to work with American colleagues. Therefore, our institutions need to have a robust administrative set-up in this complex field.
This SIG will address a number of sub-topics to address various challenges:
- What to be aware of when working with the US: compliance aspects like Financial Conflict of Interest, rules, culture, export control/dual-use, foreign influence etc.
- Pre-award: what to be aware of in the proposal phase
- Post-award: working with US universities (subaward rules, audits etc.).
- What kind of training activities do we want/need to offer through DARMA?
- ERFA-activities: what can we learn from each other’s experiences?
Apart from the networking in our SIG, DARMA members can also get additional training through the free membership opportunity in SRAI (see below). In the SIG, we will also introduce the possibilities in SRAI by telling about their annual meeting, webinars, themed meeting and micro-credentialing.
If you are working with US universities and funders, you may also be interested in DARMA’s Sister Society; the US based Society of Research Administrators International – SRA International.
SRA International is the premier global research management society providing education, professional development and the latest comprehensive information about research management to over 5,000 members from over 40 countries. SRA International’s major strength is its diversity.
DARMA offer: Free Membership of SRA International
DARMA has a special relationship with SRAI and every full DARMA member has the opportunity to join SRAI at no additional cost and to attend SRAI events at the reduced member rate. Use the DARMA membership code “DARMA-2022” when signing up for or renewing your membership. The partnership was announced on DARMA’s homepage and the SRAI homepage in March 2021.
Board Liaison
Mads Lykke Berggreen, VIA
Contact Person
John Westensee, AU
Some SIGs have been short lived others lonmg lasting. SIGs are only active as long as there is an actual member interest. An inactive SIG can always be re-activated if there is a demand for it. SIGs can be chaired by any member of DARMA and will be assigned a contact person from the Board. Reach out to the Board, if you want to reactivate or create a new SIG.
Activities can be supported financially by prior approval from the DARMA Secretariat. Meetings and events in the SIGs are only open to DARMA members.