2022 Roundtable for Chief Research Officers

While many parts of the university shut down during the pandemic, research proceeded, initially at a crawl, then at a walk, and now we are back to an all-out sprint. The herculean efforts required to maintain (and grow!) the enterprise in the last few years have left many of us tired, thinly staffed, and wary of a future where not even a global health crisis could slow our research engines for long. The environment we now find ourselves in is one of true giants: the biggest have grown bigger, the middle majority are fighting for relevance, and the up-and-comers see their windows closing.

This requires new approaches to research—one that considers all the costs of being a research university, in a time where central resources remain limited and the number of potential strategic directions are numerous. In a past in-person roundtable session, 2022 Roundtable for Chief Research Officers, we explored the furthering of winner-take-most dynamics in research, how universities are thinking differently about their research investments and costs, and how the pandemic has heightened the next-level employability of research leaders.