Transferable Skills

Being a research administrator requires a number of hard skills, from understanding budgets, interpret call texts, and to understand the academic environment you are working in. But to act in the often contradictionary environment between the researcher and his or her team, the institutional rules and regulations and the research funding bodies you will often come short by only building on hard skills. As a research administrator you will need to master skills going beyond the technical requirements. The communication and presentation skills are obvious key competencies, but they will have to be complemented with diplomacy, team-working skills, and not least: a good sense of humor and self-insight. In this chapter, we will present some of these skills and how you as research administrator better can handle the complex environment you are acting in.