As part of the Leadership Excellence Award in Research #LExA , we have asked several experts, why they think leadership in academia is important.

Today we have Susanne Leeb, who is the director of the LBG Career Center.

Her full statement on the importance of leadership in academia:

Having leadership responsibility is a real challenge for researchers and it is not yet getting the attention and is not being rewarded in a researcher#s career as needed.

With the LExA Leadership Award, we would like to put inspiring leadership personalities in the spotlight!

For many years in researchers´ careers, it is about proving oneself in the respective field of research by acquiring professional expertise so that many researchers attain leadership positions without also having acquired the required leadership skills.

Leaders in research are additionally confronted with specific challenges that arise from the working and structural conditions of the research environment such as uncertain working conditions, complex and variable organizational structures or heterogeneous teams. And at the same time, leaders in the scientific environment are still expected to meet high professional expertise.

And last but not least, the challenge for researchers in leadership positions is not only to further advance their own research career, but also to take responsibility as a mentor for the career development of young researchers and for the transfer and sharing of knowledge.

The new award LExA underlines the relevance of leadership competencies in the scientific environment. We want to highlight individuals who not only master these challenges, but meet them in a joyful and positive way, thus being a role model and inspiration for young researchers. In this regard, better conditions for young researchers and their research work can be created in the medium term and, as a result, better research results can be achieved.

Nominations are open until June 30, 2023.

Further information on our website: https://cc.lbg.ac.at/lexa/