Authored by:
Debra Schaller-Demers
Director, Research Outreach and Compliance
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Email: schalled@mskcc.org
I was extremely fortunate to be able to attend the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS) annual meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, held June 4-7. My participation was made possible by an SRAI Speaker Travel Scholarship.
Colleagues Mark Hochman (AU), Ian Carter (UK), and I developed a workshop entitled, “What’s so different about Research Management Leadership?” Ian and I presented this workshop to about 50 international attendees. It was a great dialogue and it became obvious that no matter your country of origin, all of us are facing similar issues when dealing with academics, scientists, trainees, and staff.
I also co-authored a poster with Annedorte Vad (Denmark) entitled, “Distress or De-Stress: How to deal with life’s daily stressors.” This poster was based on an SRAI session that Annedorte and I developed, originally for the 2015 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. We will be presenting an updated version of this session at the 2018 Annual Meeting in Orlando.
I am quite proud to have been able to collaborate with my international friends – and little did I know that both Ian and Annedorte would be recognized as winners of the inaugural INORMS prize for Excellence in Research Management Leadership (see Kudos Korner)!
In addition to many informative plenaries, Pecha Kucha talks, and workshops, a highlight of the INORMS meeting included a fun musical performance by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers at the Gala Dinner. Who knew that bagpipes and rock n’ roll make a great combination?!
The closing keynote speaker was Dr. Andy Cope – aka Dr. Happy. His stand-up comedic style of presenting was extremely engaging. His message was simple but on point: “Your happiness is your gift to the world – Choose to be positive!” I believe these are goals worth pursuing. As research management professionals, we do important work in the world – if we can’t be happy doing that work, the value is definitely diminished, not only for ourselves, but for the research communities we serve.
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