Research Information & Systems
The Research Information and Systems SIG has been established to provide a dedicated forum for professionals working with research management systems, including Current Research Information Systems (CRIS), grant management platforms, institutional repositories, ethics systems, impact tracking tools, and research analytics platforms. It aims to foster the sharing of best practices in the procurement, implementation, management, and optimisation of research management systems.
The SIG is open to all ARMA members with an interest in research management systems. With a growing recognition of the critical role research systems play in underpinning institutional decision-making, research performance monitoring, and regulatory compliance. It caters to ARMA members responsible for research intelligence, systems implementation, and policy development, offering a space to exchange insights, share experiences, and develop sector-wide solutions.
Champions:
Our Special Interest Group champions are responsible for the activity and resource base of the group.
Jason Milburn, Research Information & Systems Manager, University of Southampton
Jason joined the University of Southampton in 2022 and lead on setting up the business as usual processes for the University’s new research management system. He is currently managing the research information and systems teams whose scopes include the provision of research insights, addressing data quality issues, systems training and service desk queries.
He has a keen interest in the sharing of best practice concerning development of dashboards and data infrastructure, as well as ensuring institutions can effectively leverage the tools available to us.
Kim Storey, Research Information & Insights Manager, Queen’s University Belfast
Kim contributes extensive experience in research intelligence, systems strategy, and data-driven evaluation. She leads the strategic coordination of research systems and research information to support institutional insight, performance benchmarking, and the development of research strategy.
Drawing on a background in private sector strategic intelligence, she brings a strong analytical perspective to the use of research data and systems. Her work focuses on delivering high-quality intelligence across the research lifecycle, with particular interest in data-driven decision-making and the future role of automation and AI in research infrastructure. She is committed to fostering sector-wide collaboration and advancing best practice in research management.
Sam Ritchie, Performance, Data and Process Manager, University of Stirling
Sam leads on research intelligence, systems development, and performance monitoring at the University of Stirling. Her work includes the implementation and optimisation of research management systems, reporting tools and dashboards. She holds a Master’s in Systems Thinking in Practice and has a particular interest in AI, process mining, and systems thinking approaches to support data-driven decision-making. Sam is committed to sector-wide collaboration and innovation in research systems.
Tamsin Burland, Research Management Team, JISC
Tamsin has worked in and around research for more than 30 years. She spent 10 years as a researcher after which she moved into Research Management, working at 3 different universities at both the departmental and institutional level. In 2015, she joined Jisc, the UK sector body which supports universities in their use of digital technology and data.
Her experience as a research manager includes the management of research information and data for 3 consecutive REF submissions. In addition, she was involved in the procurement and implementation of CRIS systems at 2 different institutions. In her current role, she heads up a team focussed on supporting UK universities in their research information management. This includes acting as the lead for the UK ORCID consortium.
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