Prestigious executive role for USQ academic

USQ academic Dr Ren Yi has been elected as one of only three executive members of the prestigious Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS) following the group's annual conference this month.

Dr Yi, who is the Director of the University's Office of Research and Higher Degrees, is USQ's first staff member to be selected as an executive member of ARMS.

Established in 1998, ARMS is the only professional body in the Asia Pacific region dedicated to the development of research managers and administrators and the promotion of the profession of research management.

'ARMS has around 1000 members from universities and research funding agencies across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region and is there to support research managers and policy makers.  It is also part of International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS).' Dr Yi said.

'The society is the only one of its kind in research and research management in the Asia Pacific so to be one of the three executive members is quite prestigious.'

As one of the executive members of the society, Dr Yi would be responsible for promoting research management and also said that he was determined to help establish USQ as one of the regions leading research universities.

'My role will be to manage how best to run the professional body and also how best to interact with government and help universities with research management while also governing the integrity of research.

'This includes suggesting to government's Excellent Research in Australia (ERA) how they should fund universities and also how to build capacity funding.

'Personally I want to promote the USQ research agenda, assist in putting USQ research on the map, get the University involved with research across the Asia Pacific region and foster research between USQ and other universities.'

With a number of member's vying for the senior executive roles within ARMS, Dr Yi was humbled by the confidence placed in him by his colleagues.

'There were up to ten people applying for the three positions so it was quite competitive,' he said.

'I was nominated by the University of Adelaide and Flinders University so it was good to receive this recognition from my peers.'

Dr Yi will hold the position for two years and will be eligible to apply to stay in the job once his initial term expires.

Media Contact:  Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2559