Over 20 university staff working in research management in African and Caribbean countries were in London this week for a series of meetings organised by the ACU and hosted by the Wellcome Trust.

In a series of discussions, participants addressed a range of critical issues such as the size and structure of their offices, practical approaches to the costing and pricing of research projects, promoting their services within their universities, and supporting new approaches to research uptake. They also met with peers from leading UK universities, and heard from an array of UK research funding organisations.

Although UK speakers played an important role in the debate, ACU Deputy Secretary General Dr John Kirkland was keen to stress that the meetings were to exchange good practice and ideas, rather than a training exercise. 'Our main aim was to bring key individuals together to describe their own experience, and identify practical ways forward. The similarities in key issues between the UK, Africa, and the Caribbean were striking – and the discussions were genuinely two way.'

Most of the participants are also involved more widely in the ACU Research Management Programme, which is supported by external funding from the European Union, Carnegie Corporation of New York and UK Department for International Development. The programme produces a range of materials for practitioners in member universities.