ARMA Awards
ARMA Awards aim to celebrate the achievements of research management professionals and teams, showcasing best practice and excellence within the profession.
Through the awards, we will aim to recognise ARMA members and showcase innovation and pioneering approaches to research management.
Award categories
The following awards are open for nominations for ARMA Awards 2026:
- ARMA Volunteer of the Year
This award recognises an individual volunteer for outstanding services to the Association. It is open to all ARMA volunteers within the last two years, who have actively contributed to ARMA activities.
- Collaboration in Research Management
This award celebrates a project or initiative that has significantly benefited from a collaborative approach to research management, identifying challenges and opportunities and their resolution, and enhancing the ability of researchers to work across disciplinary, organisational, sector or global boundaries.
- Outstanding Contribution to Research Management
This award recognises an individual whose contributions to research management are of such significance and/or span a significant part of a career that special recognition is warranted.
- Innovation in Research Management
This award recognises an individual or team that has invented, modernised or transformed new or existing approaches to further and enhance their organisation’s work in the breadth of our professional areas.
- Research Culture in Research Management
This award celebrates a project or initiative that has made a significant and positive impact to research culture, identifying challenges and opportunities and their resolution and enhancing the current culture across their organisation, sector or research ecosystem.
- Research Management Team of the Year
This award celebrates a research management team of any shape, size and/or scope that has succeeded in working as a robust, cohesive and effective unit, resulting in a significant positive impact on their organisation’s research endeavours, within or beyond the organisation.
Download the full prospectus to read the full description and criteria for the award categories.
Who can be nominated?
Only ARMA members can self-nominate or be nominated for any of the awards.
In the case of the Research Management Team of the Year Award and Collaboration in Research Management, at least one member of the nominated team must be a current member of ARMA.
There does not need to be a formal relationship between nominator(s) and nominee(s). It is the responsibility of the nominator(s) to secure the agreement of the nominee(s) that their nomination may be submitted. This is particularly important as it is a condition of nomination that the nominee(s) agree, if shortlisted for an award, to work with ARMA to develop and publish case studies based on their nomination.
The nomination process and timeline
Nominations can be made by members of ARMA and non-members for any of the awards.
Nominations must be submitted via the ARMA Awards Nomination Form. This online form has been designed to provide the judges with all the information they require to arrive at decisions.
No accompanying or additional material will be accepted. The judges will only evaluate material contained on the nomination form, disregarding any prior knowledge they may have of the nominees.
Download the Guidance Notes for Nominators
An online information session was held on Tuesday 18 November where attendees learned about the nomination process, award categories, and what makes a strong submission. Click here to view a recording of the session.
Thursday 16 October 2025 | Call for nominations open |
Friday 16 January 2026 | Call for nomination closes |
January & February 2026 | Judging panels score the nominations |
Late March 2026 | Shortlist for each award category is announced |
Wednesday 17 June 2026 | Winners announced |
Judging process and shortlisting
A small judging panel will be appointed by the Awards Working Group for each award category to review and score all nominations. Each nominee will be judged based on what is written in their nomination form.
The Awards Working Group reserves the right to move a nomination to a different award category and will inform the nominator if this is the case.
Following initial consideration of all nominations and scores, a number of nominees (maximum of 3 or 4) will be shortlisted for each award category by the working group.
The working group may also, at their sole discretion, award a Highly Commended recognition to a maximum of one shortlisted nomination per category.
The shortlist will be published in advance of the Awards Ceremony.
Awards Ceremony: Announcing the winners
The ARMA Award winners and any Highly Commended awards will be announced at the Awards Ceremony during the Gala Dinner at the ARMA Annual Conference. The winners will also be publicised on the ARMA website thereafter.
The Gala Dinner will be held on Wednesday 17 June 2026 at the Harrogate Convention Centre.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to the Awards Ceremony and will receive a complimentary ticket to attend the Gala Dinner.
Please note that shortlisted candidates will be required to cover their travel and accommodation expenses.
Deadline and further information
The closing date for nominations will be Friday 16 January 2026. No late or incomplete nominations will be accepted.
For assistance, contact the ARMA Awards Team at [email protected]
Become a sponsor
There are opportunities to support the ARMA Awards through sponsorship. If you would like to express your interest in supporting the ARMA Awards, please email [email protected]
ARMA Awards 2025: Shortlisted candidates and winners
The shortlist and winner announcements for 2025 can be viewed by clicking on the links below:
