The Final Conference of the V4WB RMA Network Plus project was held in Budapest on 23-24 January, 2025. The conference was organized by HETFA Research Institute, in collaboration with the CORVINUS University, and opened by the recently appointed Rector, Prof. Bruno van Pottelsberghe.
The main aim of the project can be summarized in 5 steps: to equip research managers with special skills through organizing trainings and workshops covering several areas of their daily work, give the research support offices visibility, build a strong network of research managers in the 4 Visegrad and the Western Balkan countries. An additional goal was to give a better understanding and recognition of the profession and enable the involvement of the RMA network in the RM-related EU initiatives.
A total of 67 participants from 12 countries attended the 2-day conference. The first plenary session was dedicated to the presentations of keynote speakers, such as Giulia Carpineti, Consultant at the European Commission, DG RTD, Teodora Konach, EARMA, Head of Professional Development and Borbála Schenk, NRDIO, Head of Department for International Affairs. Their presentations focused on the research policy landscape in the European Union and in Hungary.
In the second plenary session, Virág Zsár, Research Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Hungary presented the results of the RM Roadmap survey mapping the Europe-wide landscape of research managers. After this, Edwin Kanters, EU Liaison Officer of the Utrecht University gave some advice on working together in an innovation and research ecosystem.
After the networking lunch, stakeholders of the V4WB region shared their views during a roundtable discussion about research management, focusing on what has changed in the recent past, and what changes are still needed.
We had the honour to welcome the speech of Linda Kapustová Helbichová, the Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund, which is the donor of the project. After her speech, interactive workshops followed covering challenging topics such as intellectual property management, conflict resolution at the office, and how to make the best out of funding opportunities as EU and non-EU countries.
The second day kicked off with a campus tour at Corvinus University and an introduction of the Centre for Grand and Project Management and Liaison Office led by Judit Fekete, Head of Centre and Orsolya Lugmayer, Liaison Officer of Corvinus and ELTE in Brussels.
Finally, as an addition to the conference, colleagues of the NOVA University in Lisbon organised an interactive workshop in the framework of the RM Roadmap project, titled “Advancing Research Management Training in the V4 and Balkan Regions: Needs, Insights, and Future Collaborations”. In the second part of the workshop, 3 trainers of the region presented their institutions’ training programs for research managers.
This conference provided valuable insights through 12 presentations, 6 workshops, and a stakeholder discussion. Additionally, it fostered relationship-building, networking, and strategic collaboration, enhancing the competitiveness of the V4+WB region.