Call for abstracts

Research Service Days is an annual professional event which brings research administration and management experts from higher education institutions and research institutes together to discuss topical issues. In 2022, the event is organised in Oulu under the theme: “Muutos – Transformation”. Research as well as its management is changing constantly. Current transformation is characterized by efforts towards sustainable development, adaptation to new ways of working and growing competition in research funding. During the Research Service Days 2022 parallel sessions, we want to get back to basics and reserve time for encounters, discussions and exchange of experiences.

1. Guidelines for proposal submission

Although the general theme of the Research Services Days is “Muutos – Transformation”, we welcome proposals on presentations and workshops on any aspect of research management and administration. Conference Programme Committee is inviting submissions for oral contributions by 31.03.2022.

Proposals can be case studies, lessons learned, practical initiatives, operational ‘lessons learned’, etc. relating to the day-to-day operations of both pre- and post-award research management. The committee welcomes in particular proposals on timely topics which provoke discussion. More information on the format of the presentation can be found in the technical guidelines below. Anyone working with research support is eligible to submit a proposal.

Please note that if the programme requires, the conference committee may propose an alternative presentation format or language instead of the proposer’s primary choice.

2. Technical guidelines for abstract submission

By default, the timeslot allocated for an oral presentation and discussion is 30 minutes. If you feel that the topic of your proposal requires more time, you may propose a 60-minute presentation. Timeslots reserved for workshops can be between 30-90 minutes. We encourage presenters to actively engage the participants and use participatory methods and tools such as Trello, Mentimeter, Padlet.

Presentation and workshops proposals can be under the following themes:

• Responsibility (e.g. research ethics, sustainability, citizen science, science communication, open sciene, gender)
• Collaboration (e.g. global (US funding, Africa collaboration, contracts), EU (advocacy, contracts, funding, proposals, dissemination and communication plan, financial management), Industry and Innovation collaboration
• Future (e.g. megatrends, research support in the new normal, new ways of working)

Structure of the Abstract:

Title (possible subheading)

Abstract (max. 500 words – will be published in the conference programme)

Theme: Responsibility/ Collaboration/ Future

Language: Finnish/English/ both are possible

Presentation format (indicate primary and secondary choice):

• 30 minute oral presentation (including presentation and discussion /Q&A)
• 60 minute oral presentation (including presentation and discussion /Q&A)
• Workshop (30-90 minutes)

Level of experience: introductory /Intermediate/Experienced/General

Presentation equipment and technical requirements:

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3. Evaluation criteria

Conference committee will evaluate all the submitted proposals for presentations according to the following criteria:

• Clarity of the abstract
• Timeliness and relevance
• Compatibility of the presentation format and topic

4. Timeline

The call for abstracts will close 31.03.2022. The conference committee will inform the proposers of the outcome by 11.04.2022. Conference programme will be published June 2022

5. Conference publication

After the Research Services Days, the accepted abstracts and main take home messages of the conference will be published in an electronic publication. Separate publication guidelines will be made available to the proposers.