ARMA 2026

17th June

First Timer Session

Session 1.1 - Funding Development and Delivery

UKRI’s Institutional Matched Funding Policy: Implementation and Sector Response (Mrs Ruth Williams, Mrs Susan Soulsby)

Building interdisciplinary research communities across SHAPE: Practical lessons from a new Community Lab model (Dr Anouska Nithyanandan, Ms Liberty Gibson, Ms Lucy Brownsdon)

Strategic Enablers for Interdisciplinary Collaboration: The Exeter Research Networks Initiative and Complex Initiatives Fund (Dr Megan Maunder)

Session 1.2 - Research Culture

From Principles to Practice: Lessons from Co-Designed EDI Interventions in Research Management (Mrs Lizzie Ranson, Mrs Jessica Johnson)

Local Dynamism meets Institutional Direction: how do we change research culture together? (Dr Nicola Simcock, Dr Amy Mayfield, Mr Andrew Moss, Dr Mary Muers)

What we Learned from Designing and Evaluating a Research Culture Leadership Programme at Cardiff University (Dr Mair Rigby, Ms Nicola Edwards, Dr Charlotte Hennah)

Session 1.3 - Research Impact

Healthy research impact starts with a healthy institutional impact strategy (Dr Julie Bayley)

University of Birmingham’s Impact Mentoring Programme: A case of cross-disciplinary collaboration (Dr Navya Menon, Dr Stanimira Taneva)

Small Fund, Big Impact? Lessons from an internally funded research impact grant programme (Mr Daniel Holbrow)

Session 1.6 - Arts and Humanities SIG

The Arts & Humanities, in solidarity: ‘specialised’ or galvanised? (Dr Tania Cleaves, Ms Paola Palma, Dr Valentina Bertolani)​

Session 2.1 - Strategic Thinking

Squaring the Circle: Is Sustainable Research Finance Possible? (Dr Rebecca Edwards, Dr Camelia Dijkstra, Mr Charles Shannon)

Who Wants to Fill In Spreadsheets? Transforming Multi-Partner Innovation Funding (Dr Carl Samuel, Mr Steven Hall)

Good foundations: leveraging collaboration to support research environments to start right and grow sustainably (Ms Rachel Persad, Prof Emma Bond) 

What’s on the Menu for Financially Sustainable Research (Ms Bryony Frost, Mr Francis Wilson)

Session 2.3 - Research Development SIG 

Navigating the Biggest Challenges in Research Development Today: An Interactive Workshop (Mr Adam Golberg, Dr Aygen Kurt Dickson, Dr Ying Chen)

Session 2.4 - Professional Development

Keeping up the Conference Connection. An ARMA 2025 Experiment (Dr Julia Newman, Ms Oya Finch)

From Administrator to Investigator: How Research Managers Can Lead Metascience Studies (Dr Christopher Daley)

Session 2.6 - Sponsored Session - Digital Science

Streamlining REF2029 preparation and gathering impact evidence:Using AI responsibly in research information management (Mr Shane Jackson, Mr Adrian Clark)

Session 2.7 - Research and Innovation Culture SIG

Understanding change: early insights from ARMA’s 2026 Research Culture Survey of the RMA Community (Dr Louise Stanley, Dr Hayley Clissold, Mr Andrew Moss)​

Session 3.2 - Funding Development and Delivery 

Beyond traditional EDI markers: unpacking biases in research funding assessment (Dr Dong Lin)

Building Transferable Research Capacity: Reflections from the RLUK–AHRC-ARMA Research Catalyst Cohort Programme (Ms Eleanor Glenton, Mr William Nixon)

Session 3.3 - REF SIG

Policy Hackathon: Shaping the Next REF (Ms Shelly Anne Stringer, Dr Tim Brooks, Mr Chris Browne, Dr Helen Young)

Session 3.4 - Research Culture

10 Tips for Building Inclusive and Resilient Teams: Lessons in Culture-First Leadership (Dr Emily Johnson)

Shift Happens: Small tweaks to effect research culture change (Dr Emily Ennis, Ms Soo Lincoln)

Session 3.5 - Research Impact

Developing Facilitating and Sustaining Effective Place based Partnerships (Mrs Liz Ogilvie, Ms Steph Bales, Dr Caragh Dewis)

Evaluating impact: Implementing robust methods for assessing the impact of research (Dr Bridget Sealey, Dr Jenny Spear)

Session 3.7 - Postgraduate SIG

Diversifying our Research Community: Improving Postgraduate Research student experience and achieving inclusive research communities. (Lucy Parnall, Mrs Joanne Lakey, Dr Rhiannon Thompson)

Graduate Impact Assistants: supporting the future of impact through collaboration (Ms Catherine Tully, Ms Grace Beer)

Session 3.8 - Post-Award Management​​​​​​

The Efficiency Engine: Powering Post-Award Through Leaner, Smarter Workflows (Mr Charles Shannon, Dr Rebecca Edwards)

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ARMA AGM​​

Session 4.1 - Research Culture

Addressing the whole researcher in bid development: a career-oriented approach. (Dr Chris Coey)

​Beyond Compliance: Building Sustainable and Equitable Global Research Partnerships Through Research Culture Strategies (Ms Anna Williams, Mrs Eunice Hansen-Sackey)​

Session 4.2 - Research Excellence Framework (REF)

Hidden REF: assessing not traditionally submitted outputs (NTOs) for REF2029 (Prof James Baker, Prof Simon Hettrick, Prof Gemma Derrick)

Navigating complexity: A pragmatic best practice approach to supporting research cultures across a single University (Dr Sarah Masefield) ​

Session 4.3 - Research Impact SIG

Craft Your Impact Journey to REF (Ms Saskia Gent, Dr Anne Jolly, Dr Hollie Johnson, Ms Charlotte Holloway)​

Session 4.4 - AI

AI Agents in Research Funding: Building, Governing and Scaling AI Support for Funding Workflows (Ms Anna Aston)

Joint funder alignment and insights on use of generative AI when applying for funding (Ms Sue Russell, Mrs Lydia Fulford)​

Session 4.5 - Funding Development and Delivery

From Silos to Synergy: Lessons from EDI in Transforming Interdisciplinary Collaboration (Dr Christina Vazquez Martin)

Game-Changer Strategies in Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Creative ways to bring supportive understanding to research environments (Dr Inna Yaneva-Toraman, Dr Charlotte George)

"Navigating Complexity: Pathways to Equitable International Research Partnerships” - Exploring practical routes to equitability in global research collaborations (Mrs Silke Blohm)

Equitable Partnerships for African Research Infrastructure and Capacity - Short presentation followed by Q&A (Ms Odile Masia)​

Session 4.6 - Professional Development of Research Management Professionals

Shaping the Future: Co-creating Recognition and Pathways for Research Professionals (Dr Dan King, Ms Steph Bales, Prof Alis Oancea, Dr Isabella von Holstein)

Session 4.7 - Strategic Thinking, Change Management, Adaptation and Efficiency

Leading through turbulent times: how to manage teams through intense change (Mrs Pauline Muya)

How can you benefit from your organisation's research equipment data? (Ms Balviar Notay, Mr John Kaye)

​Session 4.8 - Post Award SIG

Working Smarter, Not Harder: Practical Strategies for Post-Award Efficiency (Mrs Leila Cole, Mr Liam Rose, Mr Anish Kurien, Mrs Nicola Crawley)

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Plenary Session 2 (Prof Paul McGee)

Step into your future, your path forward starts here : ARMA Qualifications Information Session (Ms Katherine Carlyon)

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Session 5.1 - Governance and Ethics​

​One Due Diligence Process to Rule Them All (Dr Luke Postlethwaite, Ms Rachael Gibson)

Due Diligence in the Trusted Research Context (Mrs Megan Wood-Smith, Ms Mirna Dirghar)

Smart Practice over Best Practice (Mr Vincent Mehers)

Developing an interdisciplinary research ethics mechanism from scratch in the charitable sector (Dr Ross Goldstone, Ms Aji Ceesay)

Session 5.2 - Research Impact

Leveraging Pracademic Expertise to Drive Research Impact (Mr Alistair Quaile)

Breaking New Ground: Creating Opportunities for Policy Engagement at the University of York (Mrs Katie Heffron, Ms Antonia James)

Boosting Engagement and Impact: The Role of Small-Scale University Funding (Dr Lena Lorenz, Dr Stanislava Dikova)

Session 5.3 - Strategic Thinking

Strengthening engagement between funders and organisations: insights from Wellcome’s research funding survey (Ms Sanja Vlaisavljevic, Mrs Kerry Garfitt)

Transforming Grant Management: Delivering Sustainable Cross-Department Change at Scale (Mrs Gem Brown)

Reducing bureaucracy and enhancing interoperability: developing shared outcomes and good practice (Ms Fiona Larner, Ms Imogen Pursch)

Empowering Postdocs, Connecting Institutions: The Prosper Exchange in Action (Dr Fiona McBride, Dr Stefania Silvestri)

Session 5.4 - AI

Better practices for better impact: Evidence from the UK Metascience Unit (Mr Jack Leahy, Dr Lucy Gresley)

Session 5.5 - Research Evaluation SIG

How rankings drive university research strategies and what research managers can do about it (Dr Elizabeth Gadd, Dr James Wilson)

The Digital Sustainability Card Game: a Tool for RMAs to Encourage Digital Sustainability in Project Design (Prof James Baker)

Session 5.6 - Audit and Compliance SIG

​From Horizon2020 to Horizon Europe - lessons learned so far in Financial Compliance and Audit (Mrs Keri Dunning, Mr Jonathan Gray)

​Session 5.7 - Open Research SIG

Successful strategies for embedding open research practices (Ms Émilie Lavallée-Funston, Mr Paul Rudd, Mr Anton Muszanskyj)

Session 5.8 - Research Culture & Sponsored - Springer Nature

What views of 6,000 researchers reveal about the future of research impact, funding and culture (Mr Simon Baker)

Reimagining research practices: outcomes of a 2-year project furthering sustainability, ethics and inclusion in research (Ms Catriona Gold, Ms Becky Gordon)