At the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), research group leaders and leaders of research and innovation centres play a crucial role in creating ambitious research environments, developing talent and building collaborations that generate new knowledge.
To support this work, USN has established its own Research Leadership Programme, a research-based leadership development programme designed specifically for the University's research leaders.
Learning to lead
The programme gives participants the opportunity to explore their own leadership style, develop their research groups and learn alongside colleagues from across the institution.
Research leadership involves more than managing projects and securing funding. It is also about setting direction, building teams, fostering a strong research culture and creating opportunities for collaboration, both within and beyond the university.
The USN programme has therefore been developed to combine strategic leadership skills with practical challenges from participants' everyday work as research leaders.
– Builds culture and understanding
Vice Rector for Research, Heidi Ormstad, believes the programme fills an important need at the university.
– A comprehensive programme has been put together in which participants will learn about effective research leadership, strategic project leadership and teamwork, as well as culture building and internationalisation. I hope and believe that this will give our research group and centre leaders a solid understanding of what it means to be a good and motivating research leader, says Ormstad.
Developed for USN and inspired by similar initiatives at the University of Oslo and Copenhagen Business School, the programme combines research-based knowledge with peer learning and reflection.
– Educational and rewarding
An important part of the programme is bringing together research leaders from different disciplines and faculties to reflect on common opportunities and challenges.
Teresa Katherine Aslanian, who leads the research group Barnekraft and co-leads the research group Qualitative Methods in Professional Practice, says the opportunity to learn from colleagues has been particularly valuable:
– This is valuable to take part in. I have gained new impulses and ideas for the further work of my research group. It was educational and rewarding to share experiences with colleagues from different research fields who have more and different experience than I do
She also highlights the programme's research-based and forward-looking approach.
The programme provides participants with tools for analysing and developing their own research groups or centres, while strengthening their understanding of the national and European research funding landscape.
Through this combination of leadership development, strategic insight and practical application, USN aims to strengthen research capacity and promote thriving research communities across the university.