Community & Member Engagement
The Importance of University Based Research and Why It is Worth Saving
Part 3: Expansion of the Profession, Management of Research, and Value to Society
Read Part 1: Why Are We Doing All of This? Why Does Research Matter?
Read Part 2: Brief History of the Research Enterprise in the U.S.
Since World War II, university-based, federally funded research has driven transformative advances in science and discovery to the benefit of society and the world. In parallel, the research administration profession has grown to meet this expanding need. The bottom line: these research efforts matter—and are worth saving.
The growth of the U.S. research enterprise—and expansion of research investments, often funded through competitive grants and contracts—in the decades since World War II has created the need to effectively “manage” the budgetary and administrative requirements that accompany research funding. In the “early days”, it may have been feasible for researchers themselves to handle the administrative aspects of their grants or for part-time staff to do so as part of their duties. However, the growing complexity of grant regulations, coupled with the sheer increase in research funding, made it clear that a new kind of professional support was required. Full-time professionals were needed to help researchers navigate the increasing complex external funding landscape—securing awards, ensuring compliance, and managing the financial and administrative responsibilities associated with them. From this need emerged the modern-day "research administrator” and the professional field of research administration.
Professional Organizations and Certification
As a professional field, research administration is relatively young. Organizations such as the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) and Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI) emerged in the 1950s and 1960s to support the growing field (SRAI, 2025, Wile, 2008).
According to Ken Beasly, “recipient institutions [receiving federal funding] had to create research administrative systems and employ qualified people to manage research programs” (Beasley, 2006, p. 17). As with any professional field, the hallmark of a well-trained workforce is a defined body of knowledge and a shared professional identity acquired through an education process (Otto, 2018). Because there were no formal training or degree programs in research administration at the time, organizations such as NCURA and SRAI filled this gap, facilitating the exchange of ideas, developing best practices, promoting ethical standards, and defining expectations and norms that shaped today’s robust body of knowledge that research administrators must functionally possess (Lehman, 2019).
Today, research management organizations exist worldwide. Certifications such as the Certified Research Administrator (CRA)—administered by the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC)—and the availability of formalized training programs, including advanced degrees, have professionalized the field further. Globally, the creation of the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS) brought “together research management societies and associations from around the world “to enable interactions, share good practice, and coordinate activities between the member societies, to the benefit of their individual membership” (INORMS, 2025). In recent years, the U.S. federal government has further recognized the importance of strong administrative infrastructure for a healthy national research enterprise through programs like NSF GRANTED (2025) and NIH SuRE (2025). These initiatives reinforce the value of the research administration profession—advancing initiatives like the creation of a national job classification for research administration (University of Pittsburgh & SRA International, 2025)—and acknowledge that broad participation in the federal research enterprise requires robust administration supports across both well-resourced and under-resourced institutions.
A Profession in Service of the Public Good
The field of research administration has grown in lockstep with government investment in research in the U.S and globally. In the United States, government obligations for research and development in higher education institutions have increased from $1.4 billion in 1967 to over $45 billion in 2023. As research has become more complex, so too have the regulations and infrastructure needed to support it - from the establishment of federal financial and administrative standards in the 1960s to regulations governing the ethical conduct of research involving animals and human subjects in the 1970s (Monahan, et al., 2023). The Bayh-Dole Act further accelerated the transfer of government-funded research to the marketplace, requiring institutions to develop technology transfer offices and expertise to manage intellectual property (AUTM, 2025). More recently, research security has emerged as a critical area of compliance. According to COGR (2025), there have been 271 new or revised policies and regulations governing research since 1991, with 62% of them enacted within the last decade—despite the federal government’s 26% cap on administrative cost recovery to support these mandates.
Research administrators are more important than ever, now playing an essential role in ensuring sound stewardship of public research investments, therefore upholding accountability and transparency in a multibillion-dollar enterprise that is vital to economic and national security.
University-based, federally funded has repeatedly proven its worth as a public good—driving economic growth, improving quality of life, and advancing social well-being. In FY2023, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported that every $1 in NIH funding spent generated $2.46 of economic activity. Economists estimate that each dollar of R&D investment can yield as much as $5 in societal benefits through improved living standards, health outcomes, and productivity gains. (Pethokoukis, 2025). These are exceptional returns on our collective investment. However, sustaining this public good depends on maintaining trust in science and confidence in the stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Research administrators play a critical role in safeguarding that trust, ensuring compliance with fiscal, ethical, safety, and security standards while enabling researchers to pursue discovery. As Vannevar Bush articulated in Science, The Endless Frontier, the pursuit of scientific knowledge is a cornerstone of progress and democracy. Protecting and advancing that vision remains as vital today as it was in his time.
The bottom line: university-based, federally funded research matters. It has served the nation well for more than seven decades, and it remains a crucial investment in our shared future. Don’t just take it from us—take it from Vannevar Bush.
References
American Academy of Arts &Sciences. (2016). Public Research Universities: Serving the Public Good. https://www.amacad.org/publication/public-research-universities-serving-public-good
Association of University Technology Managers. (2025, September 18). Bayh-Dole Act. https://autm.net/about-tech-transfer/advocacy/legislation/bayh-dole-act/
Beasley, K.L. (2006). The history of research administration. In Kulakowski, E. C., & Chronister, L. U. (Eds.). Research administration and management (pp. 9-29). Jones and Bartlett.
Council on governmental Relations. (2024, January 1). Changes in Federal Research Requirements Since 1991. https://www.cogr.edu/sites/default/files/RegChangesSince1991_Dec%202024.pdf
International Network of research Management Societies. (2025, September 23). Welcome! https://inorms.net/
Lehman, D.W. (2019, September 11). Organizational Cultural Theory and Research Administration Knowledge Management. SRAI News. https://www.srainternational.org/blogs/srai-news/2019/09/11/organizational-cultural-theory-and-research-admini
Monahan, K., Shaklee, T., &; Zornes, D. (2023). History of Research Administration and Management in North America. In S. Kerridge, S. Poli, & M Yang-Yoshihara (Eds.). The Emerald handbook of research management and administration around the world. (pp. 27-36). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-701-820231004
National Center for Sciences and Engineering Statistics. (2025, September 23). Table 84. Federal obligations for research and development, by performer: FYs 1967–2024. NSF Key Data Tables. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf25328/table/84
National Institute of General Medical Sciences SuRE. (2025, September 18). Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) Program (R16). https://www.nigms.nih.gov/about/overview/Pages/SuRE
National Science Foundation GRANTED. (2025, September 18). Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Economic Development (GRANTED). https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/granted-growing-research-access-nationally-transformative-economic
Otto, C. N. (2018). Professions, Professionalism, and Professional Identity. American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, 31(3), 142-147; https://doi.org/10.29074/ascls.2018000570
Pethokoukis, J. (2025, January 28). Federal R&D Funding Is Even More Valuable Than Washington Thinks. AEIdeas. https://www.aei.org/economics/federal-rd-funding-is-even-more-valuable-than-washington-thinks/
Society of Research Administrators International. (2025, September 20). Past Presidents. SRAI. https://www.srainternational.org/about/leadership/past-presidents
University of Pittsburgh & Society of Research Administrators International. (2025, September 23). Creation of a National Job Classification System for Research Administrators. https://nationalrajobclass.srainternational.org/?trk=public_post_reshare-text
Wile, H. (2008). The First Twenty-Five Years. NCURA History. https://www.ncura.edu/Portals/0/Docs/AboutUs/NCURA_History.pdf?ver=OGJ5MxIQHbD2jl--PF0fUw%3d%3d×tamp=1633025867986
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