Community & Member Engagement
The 2025 Research Admin Superlatives: A Lighthearted Look Back at the Year
Spotlight Story
In the spirit of appreciation — and a little well-deserved humor — we present the 2025 Research Administration Superlatives, honoring the skills, strengths, and superpowers that kept our institutions running, our investigators compliant, and our sanity (mostly) intact.
As research administrators, we spend our days navigating regulations, managing deadlines, translating PI urgency into actionable workflows, and occasionally performing miracles disguised as routine tasks. At the end of the year, it’s important to pause, breathe, and celebrate the people and moments that made 2025 unforgettable.
So, in the spirit of appreciation and a little well-deserved humor, we present the 2025 Research Administration Superlatives — honoring the skills, strengths, and superpowers that kept our institutions running, our investigators compliant, and our sanity (mostly) intact.
Fastest Inbox Zero Award
Goes to the colleague who somehow, against all laws of nature, physics, and Outlook, ends every day with an inbox that reads “0 unread.”
While the rest of us watched our unread messages climb like the national debt, this person casually clicked, sorted, archived, color-coded, and responded in real time. We’re still not sure if it’s magic, automation, or a secret pact with the universe, but one thing is clear: their email is cleaner than our entire office.
Their ability to maintain Inbox Zero during:
- amendment cascades
- sponsor clarifications
- unexpected monitor visits
- the seven emails that arrive before 9 a.m.
…will forever remain one of the year’s greatest mysteries.
May we all one day aspire to such digital enlightenment!
Most Zen During Chaos Award
This is for the colleague who stayed calm even when:
- the PI submitted the wrong version of the consent again
- OnCore froze during a deadline
- the sponsor asked for a “quick update” that required 14 screenshots
- the IRB returned a submission with “Minor Modifications” that were, in fact, not minor.
While the rest of us emotionally spiraled, clutched our coffee, or considered stress-baking muffins, this person breathed deeply, smiled gently, and said things like:
“It’s fine.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time.”
In a field where urgency is the default and chaos is practically a workflow, their presence was a human weighted blanket: grounding, steady, and a reminder that the work always gets done.
Spreadsheet Wizard Award
This one is for the person whose Excel skills defy human comprehension.
To them, a spreadsheet is not a tool — it’s an art form.
They can:
- create pivot tables in under 30 seconds
- conditionally format with one hand while sipping tea
- vlookup people into silence
- sort, filter, and reconcile data faster than we can locate our mouse.
They are the protector of accuracy, the guardian of tabs, the undefeated ruler of color-coded columns. Their sheets are so beautifully constructed that sponsors gasp, monitors admire, and colleagues quietly copy their formulas for future use.
Every department needs one, and 2025 reminded us why.
Best Email Subject Line Award
An often overlooked but highly valuable skill: crafting the perfect subject line.
This award celebrates the teammate who managed to summarize complex tasks into crystal-clear, hilarious, or impossibly efficient email titles like:
- “Consent Version 19 Now Live (Yes, Really)”
- “FYI: This Will Make Your Head Hurt”
- “Urgent but Not Scary”
- “Please Read Before Your Third Coffee”
- “Solved — You’re Welcome”
Their emails were the ones we wanted to open first — because they were direct, helpful, and occasionally, a burst of comedic relief in the middle of a regulatory storm. No clickbait. No vagueness. Just perfection.
Closing Thoughts
2025 was a year of growth, adaptation, innovation, and (yes) a fair amount of chaos. But these lighthearted superlatives remind us of something deeper: research administration is a team sport, and it’s the people — their quirks, talents, and quiet brilliance — who keep our work not just possible, but meaningful.
Here’s to the inbox warriors, the calm sages, the spreadsheet magicians, and the subject-line poets.
Here’s to your brilliance keeping us in compliance even when we all thought we were losing it.
And here’s to all of us: Making research happen, one protocol, query, and email at a time.
We’ve handed out the awards; now it’s your turn.
Which one has your name on it this year?
And if your award didn’t make this list…don’t worry — there’s always a category for:
“Most Likely to Survive Another Amendment Cascade.”
Cheers to another year of excellence, resilience, and a little well-earned laughter.
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