Waiting for the new Board – Interview with Snežana Krstić, MCAA Chair

You have been Chair of the MCAA Board since November 2013. How would you describe this experience?

There were very nice and very hard moments. It was an excellent experience and great honour to be the founding Chair of the MCAA, to develop the association from its very beginning, cooperate with outstanding and motivated scientists such as MCAA Members and blaze the trail for new achievements and successes. Over these two years the association has accomplished remarkable results and I am very proud of it. It was an outstanding feeling to hear how our work and achievements were perceived and respected by the external community and, from time to time, to receive messages from our Members expressing satisfaction and appreciation for our commitment and support.

On the other hand, the role of Chair is the most demanding. In the environment in which the MCAA operates, the Chair is exposed to various pressures and frequently to inconvenient situations, as he or she is placed between interests of the Association and Contractors, which were not always perfectly aligned during these two years. However, despite the difficulties which followed the initial phase, the outstanding success that the Association has achieved as a fruit of our common efforts, make me feel that my engagement as Chair was very valuable experience.

What did you learn?

Administrative and legal issues related to EC tenders and their execution.

Which tasks did you deal with?

There were a lot of different tasks with which I had to deal and I am not exaggerating if I say that it required 24/7 commitment, working days, nights, weekends and holidays. This interview does not provide room to properly present all tasks with which I had to deal, but generally they can be classified into the following categories:

1. Chair tasks defined by the MCAA Statute;
2. tasks related to the execution of the EC tender through which the MCAA was established, and cooperation with contractors;
3. tasks related to accomplishing the Association’s goals, its promotion, reputation, visibility and branding;
4. strategic planning, development and cooperation, including development of the MCAA Plan of Activities for 2015-2020, which served as grounds for future funding which the MCAA may receive from relevant EC sources;
5. other tasks in the Board and Executive Committee, which were not exactly the role of Chair, but which had to be done in order to ensure the Board and Association’s smooth operation, as well as our reputation and image.

All these tasks were often mutually interrelated and it is not possible to draw a sharp line between them.

Tasks defined by the Statute were mostly related to the Executive Committee and Board Meetings, preparing the Agenda respecting the needs of different parties in the team (Board and Executive Committee members, EC ex-officio members, contractors), chairing meetings, organising decisions (within or beyond meetings), signing documents, representing the Board and Association.

Tasks related to the execution of the tender took a large part of my time, and I had to deal with many administrative tasks – as this was the first year of the MCAA, it was necessary to officially register the association, establish many administrative procedures and support contractors in executing their tender.

I worked with particular enthusiasm and enjoyment on the tasks related to the accomplishments of the Association’s goals, its promotion, reputation, visibility and branding. From the very beginning, I worked strategically to create opportunities for the MCAA and its Members, to accelerate the growth of the association by attracting new Members. I did this by providing professional opportunities, highlighting accomplishments and excellence, and establishing fruitful contacts and cooperation.

I organised MCAA sessions at the largest and most prestigious European events, negotiating with organisers and providing special opportunities. There was ESOF 2014, for example, where as a very young association we created an opportunity to organise the MCAA Poster Stand for Young Researchers as well as MCAA promotional events. We received three travel grants for Board Members. Additionally, I created several opportunities to promote the MCAA at very important and high-level conferences on the basis of invitations related to my personal expertise in the fields of research integrity, mobility of researchers, internationalisation of HE, global challenges.

Among the numerous events at which I represented the MCAA, I would like to highlight the presentation I was invited to give at the Plenary of the World Science Forum, where I had the opportunity to talk about research integrity and confidence in science. Participation at these important and high-level events brought many benefits to the MCAA, significantly contributed to its branding and creating further opportunities for our Members. The funding for travel costs for all these meetings was provided by relevant organisers and I have not spent the MCAA budget on this. I was also committed to provide similar opportunities for our Members from Europe and different parts of the world, including funding for travel grants. It is not possible to precisely calculate the financial effects of all these opportunities, but I estimate that in this way the contribution to our budget was over 15 000 euro.

I also established many important and fruitful contacts for the MCAA and our Chapters. Even when I travelled for professional purposes, I kept the MCAA in mind. This is how we established cooperation with EURAXESS Links offices in Brazil, China and India, providing additional opportunities for our overseas Members. I had the opportunity to give an interview to EURAXESS Links, which was an additional opportunity to promote the MSCA experience and our goals, as well as to gain new Members and opportunities for cooperation.

In addition, I worked on many tasks related to communication. This was not related only to internal communication within the Board and association. I made significant efforts to create suitable communication and promotional material: leaflets, posters, presentations, announcements, blog entries and other texts and documents. I was active also in policy area, preparing a policy draft related to taxation.

I also took on certain activities that cannot exactly be called tasks; they were linked to my personal motivation to support our individual Members in their careers. Despite my very busy schedule, whenever it was possible for me, I tried to provide personal advice related to careers, research integrity and ethics issues, outreach activities and similar issues.

I have only presented a fraction of my tasks and activities here, but I hope that this is sufficient to illustrate the enthusiasm, positive energy, integrity and strategy with which the MCAA was led during the first Board mandate. We have started many other activities that we expect to provide results in the months and years to come. I am honoured that I had the opportunity to lead the MCAA in this most demanding period, very proud of our accomplishments and particularly appreciative to our Members for their support, synergy and motivation.

You cannot imagine how inspiring it was to read your posts and private messages, and to learn about your successes! Finally, my genuine thanks go to the European Commission and MSCA for the financial support that established the MCAA and helped us achieve our goals!