Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78)

This session will address three key challenges to universities’ capacity to establish and sustain international partnerships by building research administrators community for universities in MENA, Africa, and South Caucasus Region. Research management is an emerging field outside the US, with a limited capacity to build and sustain international partnerships. Consequently there is limited access to expertise and no significant networking opportunities with both local and US partners. Researchers, research administrators and managers seek collaborative opportunities to advance common scientific and technological priorities, and build sustainable partnerships, particularly towards achieving UN SDGs. Currently, disparities in research management capacities, policies, and the varied roles and responsibilities of researchers and administrators have limited effective collaboration in achieving the optimal partnership models.

This session will provide resources, knowledge, professional development, and community development tool to support a women majority community in the area of research administration and management. Through this session, the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) together with our collaborators in MENA and Georgia will share experience in capacity and community-building programs to address identified gaps and develop a community of research professionals. The session will outline the process, impact, and challenges in building local research administration and management community to support regional research, innovation, and economic development.

Expected Outcomes
1. Stimulate and facilitate an interactive discussion to re-affirm international, multilateral scientific cooperation.
2. Contribute to achieving UN SDGs through capacity-building of research administrator, principal investigators and institutions, increasing international research collaboration capacity in developing regions.
3. Identify challenges and issues to address for the next Summit, summit for the Future by re-invigorating global action in the realm of science cooperation and recommit to fundamental principles of international cooperation and strengthening multilateral research frameworks.
4. Share best practices in building grass-root community to elevate the country's and a region's progress in achieving UN SDGs.

In this session we will hear about MENA Initiatives by Fadia Homeidan, Director of the Office of Grants and Contracts as well as the Center for Research and Innovation at American University in Beirut.

This will be followed by a presentation on US - Finland Research Management initiatives, presented by Henna Moore from the University of Helsinki's Research Services and Mari Olafson Lundemo from the Finnish American Research and Innovation Accelerator (FARIA).

South Caucasis initiatives will be presented by Mariam Keburia, II Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and Natia Sirdadze, Manager and Consultant at American Councils for International Education Georgia Office.

Housekeeping:

As this session will be held in meeting format, we kindly ask you to keep your microphones muted until the dedicated Q and A sessions.