Research Support Services in Higher Education and Research Institutions: Approaches, Tools and Trends

Which are the trends that are transforming research management and how do research organizations respond to these changes? What are the available services to support research during EC projects’ life-cycles? Are there research information systems in use and to which extent are they integrated? The paper is structured as follows: a survey conducted over a sample of universities and research centers in Italy is presented in section 2. Section 3 describes significant case studies. Section 4 illustrates mobility figures and trends in EU funded projects. Section 5 concludes with considerations about trends and suggestions for improvement.