The Research Management Ecosystem – roles, skills and the path to training

In this third podcast episode in the RM Framework Series, I speak with Frank Ziegele (CHE - Higher Education Management and Policy) and Henning Rickelt (Center for Science & Research Management) about the European research management ecosystem. What it is, how it evolved, and why it’s so diverse across countries and institutions. We unpack the drivers developing the ecosystem: rising funding complexity, cross-border collaboration, new expectations around open science and knowledge valorisation, and the widening set of cross-cutting requirements (data, ethics, gender, integrity). We also discuss institutional vs. societal impact: How effective research management increases success rates, speeds translation, and strengthens innovation, even if its value is still under-recognised in many places.

Building on recent EU work, the guests explain RMcomp, the research management competence framework formally taken up by the European Commission, with proficiency levels RM1–RM4 and learning outcomes that map to real job profiles. We explore the project’s ambition for an interoperable European training market, inspired by Bologna-style modularity and credits, and how the upcoming training handbook will act as a process guide - not a one-size curriculum - so providers can design programmes tailored to roles, contexts and levels. Finally, we touch on pilot testing, recognition challenges (especially in smaller institutions), and why professionalising research management is about making expectations explicit and skills transparent across Europe.

Time codes:

00:02:49 Introduction

00:05:34 Fly in

00:08:46 What do we mean by the RM ecosystem?

00:20:15 The added value of research management

00:30:47 Inputs that shape the project

00:35:26 How the RM Framework project builds on this

00:45:17 Reflections