EDITED BY
SIMON KERRIDGE
University of Kent, UK
SUSI POLI
Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
AND
MARIKO YANG-YOSHIHARA
Stanford University, USA
Preface
Dr Celia Whitchurch, Honorary Associate Professor, IOE, UCL’s
Faculty of Education, London, UK
This Handbook is a timely contribution giving a state-of-the-art account of a profes-
sion that has developed over the years from what might be seen as purely regulatory
and accounting roles, such as recording research income and expenditure, to more
active roles, for example contributing to the writing of research grant applications,
matching individuals and groups to specific income streams, and contributing to insti-
tutional research policy. As a result, research endeavour in institutions has become
more integrated with institutional policymaking, and research managers perform a
translational function between funders, academics and beneficiaries, for which trans-
ferable skills are required. They have, therefore, become research ‘enablers’ (King
et al., 2023), ‘science communicators’ and ‘policy analysts’ (Poli, Oliveira, et al., 2023,
Chapter 3.1), as well as managers per se. Their roles not only include knowledge
exchange and project management, but also impact assessment, liaison with busi-
ness and industry, public engagement and dissemination, in a world in which research
is increasingly output and performance driven. This involves ‘making things work’
between different governance and value systems, particularly in international collabo-
rations. Many of these types of roles put emphasis on the involvement of and feedback
by stakeholders and users such as local communities and those participating in citizen
science programmes. Those involved in such schemes are likely to be creating their own
form of Mode 3 knowledge, i.e. ‘situated’ knowledge arising from practice that also
involves stakeholders and users (Carayannis & Campbell, 2016; Whitchurch, 2023). At
the same time, however, misrecognition of their roles and identities persists, particu-
larly in respect of those elements of their work that are adjacent to academic activity.
