29 September - 2 October 2025 University of Aberdeen
We were delighted to welcome colleagues from Insper to the University of Aberdeen last week for an exciting four-day programme focused on strengthening research management for international collaborations and sharing best practice.
This visit is part of the British Academy funded INSPERation: Advancing Research Management Capacity for Health Data Science Excellence project.
Juliana Juk Susnik, Carolina Ayumi Nakamura (from Insper Research Office), and Jucilene Lopes dos Santos (from Insper Data & AI Centre) together with Katie Wilde, Stacey Dawson and Sharon Gordon make up the INSPERation Research Office Workstream, designed to foster innovation, enhance governance, and build strategic partnerships.
What did we do?
Over the course of the week we had a series of interactive discussions, networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities. Highlights included:
- Kick-off and Campus Tour We started the week with a welcome session. Everyone involved in the activities throughout the week joined for introductions and to welcome the Insper team. Juliana, Carolina and Jucilene introduced themselves, their institution and the aims of the visit. We followed this with a tour of our research facilities, including BHDS, DaSH, and the Foresterhill and Old Aberdeen Campuses.
- Interactive Discussions The focus of the sessions were to explore and share the details of the University of Aberdeen approach and experience to key topics, including:
- Research Ethics & Governance
- Strategic Management of International Proposal Submissions
- International Research Contracts
- Financial Management of International Awards
- Trusted Research and Innovation Overview
- Networking Over Coffee & Lunch We enjoyed informal conversations with Vice Principals, Senior Management, and colleagues involved in all the interactive sessions over coffee or lunch.
- Tour of Special Collections We took some time out to re-energise mid-week with a visit to the University of Aberdeen Special Collections with Lisa Collinson - taking in the Fear and Fascination Gothic Exhibition and having the amazing opportunity to handle prehistoric rocks from the collection.
- Celebratory Dinner We ended the week with a dinner for the core team to celebrate the connections and ideas sparked during the week.
Why It Matters?
This visit was more than a schedule of meetings - it was a chance to share expertise, build trust, and create opportunities for more effective and impactful international research partnerships. Together, we’re shaping research management to drive future collaboration and innovation.
What next?
We will capture the insights and reflections from the sessions to inform plans for a return visit to Insper to compare and contrast the challenge points and develop workshops to address the main challenge points for management of international research collaborations.
Please get in touch if you would like more information about our work: bhds@abdn.ac.uk