Every year, the EARMA conference is a highlight for our team and 2026 promises to be no exception. We’ve been attending for years — Oslo in 2022, Prague in 2023, Odense in 2024 and last year’s incredible INORMS conference in Madrid — each one bringing fresh insights, new friends, and happy memories of dancing in the legendary gala dinner conga line!
It’s a privilege to be part of this vibrant community and to share our knowledge to help research managers and administrators navigate the complexities of EU funding.
Leading for Impact: Our Focus For This Year
This year, we’re delighted to be back and we’re ready to connect with colleagues from Europe and further afield. The conference theme, “Empowering Research Managers and Administrators as Leaders for Impact,” strongly aligns with our day-to-day work at ERINN Innovation. Through targeted training, hands-on proposal support, and tailored mentoring, we equip Research Managers and Administrators (RMAs) with the practical tools, strategic insight, and confidence needed to lead on impact within their organisations.
Whether it’s strengthening impact pathways, embedding dissemination and exploitation strategies, or building institutional capacity for EU funding success, our focus is on enabling RMAs to fulfil their potential as proactive leaders delivering research with tangible societal value.
Beyond Proposals: Building Impact Capacity
One of the things we value most about EARMA is the opportunity to translate hands-on experience into practical takeaways for the community. Following the strong demand for our two sold-out pre-congress workshops on Impact-Driven Proposal Design for Horizon Europe last year, we’re bringing that same interactive approach into the main programme.
This year, Michael Papapetrou will deliver a condensed, workshop-style session, “Designing Impact Pathways: A Workshop Approach for Research Managers,” giving participants a structured, practical toolkit they can immediately apply in their organisations. We’re also particularly excited to introduce our work on knowledge transfer at this year’s conference, with Eva Greene presenting “Optimising Research to Policy Impact.” This marks a new and growing area of our work, focused on strengthening how research translates into policy and real-world decision-making.
Alongside these sessions, we’ll be showcasing posters on Living Labs and Impact Readiness Levels. Whether you’re looking for practical tools, fresh perspectives, or just a good conversation, there will be plenty of opportunities to connect with the ERINN Innovation team and explore what we’re working on.
Looking Forward to living the Gouda life in Utrecht!
As an Irish-based team, we can’t deny that we’re also looking forward to swapping the green fields of home for spring tulips in bloom! Utrecht’s rich history, culture, and energy make it an exciting destination for this year’s congress. Of course, the social side of the event is just as memorable as the professional discussions. The gala dinner is always a highlight, and we can’t wait to see if this year’s dance moves live up to previous years!
If you’re attending EARMA 2026, we’d love to connect with you. Whether it’s at one of our oral or poster presentations, or over a coffee, do come and say hello. Let’s talk proposals, impact, and how to strengthen your organisation’s approach to European funding, while also taking a moment to enjoy everything that makes this conference such a fantastic event.
See you in Utrecht!
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