SARMA Annual Conference 2008
13 Nov 2008, Dübendorf
The well visited annual conference was a great success: the superior program proved to attract the attendees very much and the final panel discussion was made extensive use of. The apero offered by Empa was a great platform to discuss the topics further between speakers and attendees.
Here follows a short overview of the meaningful event under the title "Success Factor Human Resources in Research Management, find the right research managers in a global research world".
After the welcome and the introduction to SARMA activities of Dr. Georg Spescha, Board Member SARMA (transparencies), Dr. Peter Hofer, Deputy Director General, EMPA has introduced EMPA as an outstanding science and research laboratory. He declared that the attractiveness of their jobs is mainly due to the acknowledged freedom and independency of the researchers. (transparencies)
The actual session started with Prof. Dr. Ralph Eichler, President of ETH Zürich, "Long term management development and public research — a paradox?". He outlined that the 360 ETH professors are normally selected for their good ideas, but their main tasks are actually education, research and transfer of technology / knowledge. Prof. Eichler's task is to find the talents, select the professors as independent minds, search after resources and explain the process to the politics which finance the budget to 70%. Best practice for the work and careers of professors is in inter-disciplined teams. But how to get milestones for the unexpected? When to stop, when to encourage? There are two cultures to combine: the scientist should be free and the supporting services should work like industries. Therefore, the scientists have to present their results to the supporting services. In order to transfer the knowledge, the needs of the market have to be apprehended and the industries have to be involved right at the beginning. As conclusion the challenge remains in "managing the freedom".
Dr. René Imhof, Global Head of Scientific and Talent Relations, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, first outlined in his speech "Success Factor 'People' in Research Management" the history of the company for the last 100 years. He showed how the right decisions have been made and what the challenges of the future are. He then pointed out how the new Roche postdoc fellowship program will enable to find the right people for the highly networked multidisciplinary environment. First, good people have to be attracted, then found and finally hired. In order to fulfill the markets new challenges, their future slogan is "We Innovate Healthcare". (transparencies)
Dr. Walter Rambousek, Managing Director UBS AG - Global Wealth Management and Business Banking, "Success Factors for Talent Management: The Importance of Walk the Talk" underlined the importance of the corporation culture for the talent recruiting and talent management. Most crucial is an honest and decent presentation of the company and its employees. (transparencies)
Finally the panel discussion under the direction of Rolf Steinmann, Board Member SARMA, was lively used to outline statements and clarifications. Of great importance is always the composition of the team: the yeast must work and lead the team to grow. The bottom line of this annual conference was once more the motivation of SARMA: research managers have to be guided through a research career.
SARMA General Assembly 2008
Protocol, Participants (Att 1)
Balance 2007 (Att 2)
Profit & Loss 2007 (Att 3)
Finacial Report 2007 (Att 4a)
Comments RL to Financial Report (Att 4b)
Audit Report (Att 5)
Budget 08 and 09 (Att 6)