Dani Guzman, Ex Libris

The nature of university research is changing rapidly, forcing higher-education leaders to adapt in response.

In conversations with members of the Ex Libris Research Management Advisory Council, research office and library leaders at prominent universities worldwide discussed how they’re overcoming key hurdles like these at their own institutions.

We’ve collected these experts’ insights in a new ebook, “How Research Universities Can Rise to Meet Critical Challenges,” which we’re making available to higher-education leaders free of charge.

Here’s a glimpse at what the ebook contains:

• Martin Kirk, Director of Research Operations for King’s College London, compares the task of leading world-class university research to launching a spacecraft to the moon—and he reveals how his institution is reducing the drag force that’s slowing research down.
• Kirk and Dr. Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost for University College London (UCL) Library Services, highlight three important barriers to open-access publishing—and how to get around them.
• Ayris reveals how the UCL Library Services team is driving open-access publishing across his institution in ways that are raising the visibility of research output.
• Mary Croughan, former Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas, and Maggie Farrell, Dean of University Libraries at UNLV, explain how they strengthened collaboration between the library and research office, helping UNLV become an R1 institution in an accelerated timeframe.
• L. Scott Mills, Associate Vice President of Research for the University of Montana, reveals how he’s helped foster interdisciplinary research at his institution.
• Lorna Thomson, Director of the University of Edinburgh Research Office, explains how she has created an agile team who can respond quickly to emerging research opportunities—and how this businesslike approach has helped the university adapt to a shifting landscape for research funding.
• Mills and Thomson highlight three challenges and three opportunities for supporting researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can download this free ebook here.