Research Support Fund – Providing Research Office Staff with Professional Development Opportunities

In order to support research at Bishop’s University, Research Office staff members must have in depth knowledge of a wide variety of issues related to the higher education research funding environment and to the administration and management of research activities in an academic institution. In order to remain up-to-date on these issues and to network with other professionals in the field, Research Office staff members are given the opportunity to attend yearly professional conferences offered by the Association des administratrices et administrateurs de recherche du Québec (ADARUQ), the Canadian Association of Research Administrators (CARA) and the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC). CARA also offers a number of professional development webinars on topics ranging from Research and the Law to Financial Administration of Research Funds each year. These webinars are widely attended by Research Administrators in universities and colleges across the country.

In 2015, CARA launched its Certificate in Research Administration (CRA), designed to provide its students with an all-around introduction to the profession. Julie Frédette, Research Officer at Bishop’s University since October 2014, was a member of the first CRA cohort, and completed the CRA in September 2017. This certificate provides her will in-depth training that will not only allow her to enhance her daily research administration practice in the fields of research ethics, communications, knowledge mobilization and research promotion, but will also provide her with training in related fields such as grantscrafting, financial administration, drafting research contracts, and more.

The Research Support Fund supports a portion of the costs associated with professional development opportunities for Research Office staff as well as support staff such as animal care managers and ethics review committee members.