Workshops

Pre-conference Workshops are 3 ½ or 7-hour deep dives into specific learning topics, led by one or more experts. These are designed to allow attendees to explore an area of interest, learn new skills and develop new strategies. Workshops may include more hands-on exercises, discussion groups, and other in-depth experiences. Workshops are offered on Monday only. The workshops are marked with "WS." Pre-conference Workshops are an additional fee and are NOT included in the meeting registration.

Monday - April 27th

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

This required half-day workshop serves as the foundation of the Global Research Management Certificate (GRMC). It introduces participants to the fast-evolving global research landscape and examines the expanding role of research management within it.
 
As international collaborations grow in scale and complexity, research managers must navigate diverse governance systems, funding environments, cultural contexts, and stakeholder expectations. This interactive session explores global research trends, emerging challenges, and strategic opportunities, while highlighting how research management and administration professionals create value across borders.
 
Participants will reflect on the needs of institutional leaders, funders, and partners, and consider how to foster equitable, sustainable, and impact-driven international collaborations. The workshop sets the conceptual and strategic framework for the required and elective GRMC sessions that follow.

Content level: Intermediate

Learning objectives:

  1. Analyze key global trends and drivers shaping international research collaboration and their implications for research management practice.
  2.  Articulate the evolving value proposition of research management in enabling equitable, sustainable, and high-impact global partnerships.

Global Research Management Certificate: Required Workshop

Speaker(s): Katrina Lawson, Grants and Communications Manager, Oxford University, Olaf Svenningsen, Independent Research Advisor, Research Lighthouse

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

This workshop introduces key leadership concepts and tools for research managers working in global and resource diverse environments. Through interactive discussions and hands-on activities, participants will explore leadership models, reflect on their own leadership approaches, and consider how leadership practices can support effective research management across varied institutional contexts. The session emphasises practical applications, self-awareness, as well as strategies and tools for leading teams and navigating complexity within global research ecosystems.

Content level: Intermediate

Learning objectives:

  1. Acquire knowledge about various leadership models and consider their relevance to research management in diverse global contexts.
  2. Reflect on their own leadership approaches, identifying strengths, relevance, and areas for development.
  3. Apply key leadership concepts to practical research management scenarios, including strategic, operational, and cross institutional challenges.
  4. Identify context appropriate strategies for leading teams, supporting colleagues, and managing change, particularly in resource constrained or complex environments.
  5. Develop an initial personal leadership focus, outlining specific behaviours and practices to further build their capacity to effectively lead their teams to success in their day to day work.

Leadership Certificate: Required Workshop

Speaker(s): Rachid Zaffou, Senior Research Director, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Silke Blohm, Director, 4Sciences Group

Coming Soon

Speaker(s): Amanda Breeden, Associate Chief, Research, Denver Health & Hospital Authority 

This full-day workshop provides a practical, end-to-end introduction to research administration using the grant lifecycle as its organizing framework. Designed for new and early-career research administrators, the session demystifies how funding moves from proposal development through award management and final closeout, and highlights the critical role administrators play in ensuring compliance, financial stewardship, and successful research outcomes.
 
Participants will explore the core responsibilities and decision points at each phase of the lifecycle—pre-award, award setup, post-award management, and closeout—through real-world examples, case studies, and interactive exercises. Emphasis is placed on understanding sponsor requirements, managing risk, supporting principal investigators, and recognizing how actions taken at one stage directly affect downstream processes.
 
By the end of the workshop, participants will have a holistic understanding of research administration, increased confidence in navigating sponsor rules and institutional processes, and practical tools they can apply immediately in their roles. The workshop also fosters peer learning and collaboration, reflecting the cross-functional nature of effective research administration.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

  1. Describe and apply the core responsibilities of research administrators at each stage of the grant lifecycle, from proposal preparation and award acceptance through post-award management and closeout, with an understanding of how decisions impact compliance and financial outcomes.
  2. Identify common risks, compliance challenges, and best practices in research administration, and demonstrate effective strategies for supporting principal investigators while maintaining sponsor and institutional requirements.

Speaker(s): Ali Hussaini, Senior Grants Manager, Aga Khan University, Asaad Nafees, Assistant Professor, Aga Khan University

 This workshop targets a central challenge for pre-award research managers: how to support researchers in writing successful, competitive funding applications. Drawing on a structured framework used in peer-review panels and proposal development coaching, the workshop explores what sets funded proposals apart from rejected ones.
 
During the workshop participants will work with real successful and unsuccessful grant applications (anonymized), to gain deeper insights into the key features that influence reviewers’ decisions. Using an established set of guiding questions and reviewer criteria, participants will learn how to critically analyze proposals, provide constructive feedback, and guide researchers through effective revisions.
 
We also explore how generative AI can be used responsibly and effectively in the context of proposal development: not as a replacement for expert judgment, but as a support tool to identify linguistic weaknesses, structural gaps, and areas where clarity, novelty, or impact could be enhanced.
 
Target Audience: Pre-award research managers and advisors involved in proposal development support.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

  1. Identify the most common features that distinguish successful from rejected research proposals
  2. Practice providing evidence-based, constructive feedback to researchers

Speaker(s): Anders Wennstroem, Director and CEO, Profectus Academy, Dr. Folmer Bokma

1:30 PM - 5:00 PM

This half-day workshop offers research administrators and other non-lawyers an expert-led overview of research contracts. The session will cover the structure and purpose of common contract types, highlight frequently encountered terms and conditions, and explain their practical implications for managing research projects. Designed for participants without a legal background, the workshop emphasizes clarity, context, and best practices for supporting compliant and effective research agreements.

Content level: Basic

Learning objectives:

  1. Gain a foundational understanding of the key components of research contracts and their role in supporting sponsored projects.
  2. Develop the ability to identify potential risks, obligations, and points of negotiation in research agreements.

Speaker(s): Graham Cowan, Senior Legal Counsel, Khalifa University, Rashank Sangra, Associate Director, Research Contracts, New York University Abu Dhabi