© Imperial College LondonPage 1 Research Office Roadshows John Green June 2008 Chief Co-ordinating Officer.

© Imperial College LondonPage 1

Research Office Roadshows

John Green June 2008Chief Co-ordinating Officer

Who does what

Overview of where research management sits in the College

Research Services teams in Faculties:• Pre-award assistance• Post award management of external research funding

Research Office:• Intellectual Property, Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs),

Research Contracting expertise, FP7• Expert support to RS teams• Systems management & development• Support for College research strategy• Audit co-ordination & support

What Faculties do

• Each has a Research Services Team (RS)

• Teams run by Research Services Manager (RSM)

• Each team has one or more contract specialists

– advise on FEC; authorising applications on behalf of College – advise on funder terms & conditions– accept awards on behalf of College– set up project account codes & budgets on Oracle Grants– prepare invoices & financial statements to funders– verify staff appointments & extensions

Research Office & what it does

John Green

Chief Co-ordinating

Officer

Lynne Cox

Director of IP & Research Contract

Management

Cindy Lai

Head of Research Support

Scott Rutherford

Research Systems & Information Manager

Celia Caulcott

College Research Manager

Research Office

John Green

ChiefCo-ordinating

Officer

Lynne Cox

Director of IP & Research Contract

Management

Cindy Lai

Head of Research Support

Scott Rutherford

Research Systems & Information Manager

Celia Caulcott

College Research Manager

IP and Research Contracting Policy

• Research contracting policy

• Material Transfer Agreements In (transferred from Imperial Innovations 1 April 2008)

• IP management

• FP7

Research Office

John Green

ChiefCo-ordinating

Officer

Lynne Cox

Director of IP & Research Contract

Management

Cindy Lai

Head of Research Support

Scott Rutherford

Research Systems & Information Manager

Celia Caulcott

College Research Manager

Research Support

• Policy, Governance, Assurance

• Processes and Procedures

• Audit Co-ordination

• Training & Communications

• Expert Advice to RS, Faculties, other business areas

Research Support

Procedural Support• first line support• develop and enhance procedures and guidance notes• independent advice and clarification• governance, assurance

Audit Coordination• coordinate high impact funder-initiated audits• support CEC FP6/FP7 audits• preparation of backing documentation; completion of pre-audit questionnaires• contact point for external funders

Training• develop and deliver training for InfoEd and Oracle Grants • monitor and develop training methods• develop RS “New Joiner Programme”• contribute to College-wide Induction programme• account management training and best practice

Research Office

John Green

ChiefCo-ordinating

Officer

Lynne Cox

Director of IP & Research Contract

Management

Cindy Lai

Head of Research Support

Scott Rutherford

Research Systems & Information Manager

Celia Caulcott

College Research Manager

Research Systems

• System Support

• Financial month/year end balance and close down

• Support cost centre changes

• Management Information

• System Development, e.g.:– new mechanisms to support CEC FP7 – new systems to manage Intellectual Property

Research Systems

System Support• first line support• financial month/year end support, cost centre changes• adhoc reporting to support core business

Management Information• lead input into College’s MIS strategy• internal/external information gathering • increase access to information at local level• monitoring data quality• contribute to FEC reporting requirements

System Development• new mechanisms to support CEC FP7 • new systems to manage Intellectual Property• improvements to document management • development for post-award pricing functionality • pilot for Organisational Intelligence reporting suite• Research Services website• ‘tube maps’ to guide operational activity

Research Office activity – since August 2007

• 2 major audits – NIH and QAV (follows top rating in RCUK Dipstick audit in Feb 07)

• 117 CEC project level audits

• 1,100 business support calls resolved – spanning academics, DA, RS users

• 10 consecutive month end closures on time

• 200 training sessions – covering Reporting, FEC, InfoEd, Post-doc residential, Induction training

• Over 4,800 test steps completed for recent systems development/upgrades

Research Office

John Green

ChiefCo-ordinating

Officer

Lynne Cox

Director of IP & Research Contract

Management

Cindy Lai

Head of Research Support

Scott Rutherford

Research Systems & Information Manager

Celia Caulcott

College Research Manager

Strategic support & co-ordination of research• Co-ordination of cross-College research proposals & applications e.g.

– Wellcome Trust EPSRC Medical Engineering Centres call– EPSRC Science Bridges & DTC calls

• Support to cross-College research strategy– College Strategic Research Group– College Operational Research Committee– Cross-College research strategy activities & issues

• Communication e.g.– Briefing on College-wide funding calls– Provision of information on funding bodies etc

In summary, this is what the Research Office does

• IP and Research Contracting Policy• Research Support• Research Systems• Strategic support and co-ordination of research

• FEC issues• Systems issues• IP and Contracting issues

... now some updates

FEC issues

InfoEd & Research Council Indexation

• Not permitted to include indexation when applying to Research Councils (RCs)

• At award, RCs apply own indexation (using GDP deflator); commonly below inflation for pay awards

• Result = Budget awarded insufficient for future pay rises

• No progress in changing RC indexation policy

Research Council Indexation – what can be done?

• Shorten staff appointments – common practice and RCs aware

• Move money ("vire") between Directly Incurred heads– e.g. indexation awarded on non-staff costs, so “vire” to Staff

budgets at start of project

• Appoint staff at lower level

• Ensure proposed start date realistic on applications

FEC Recovery of PI/Co-I Time

• TOAST & modelling => Investigator 15% time on research funded by Research Councils/OGDs

• Sept 2007 review showed less recovery of PI/Co-I time compared to pre-FEC modelling:

• PI average = 4.04 hrs/week

• Co-I average = 2.88 hrs/week

• = <7% being recovered

• Total academic salaries for F/Y 2006/07 = £14 million

FEC Recovery of PI/Co-I Time

• TOAST & modelling => Investigator 15% time on research funded by Research Councils/OGDs

• Sept 2007 review showed less recovery of PI/Co-I time compared to pre-FEC modelling:

• PI average = 4.04 hrs/week

• Co-I average = 2.88 hrs/week

• = <7% being recovered

• Total academic salaries for F/Y 2006/07 = £14 million

FEC Technician changes 01/02/08

Directly Incurred – input by choice– dedicated to one research project – justified in Case for Support

New categories for Technicians from 1 Feb 2008 – Pool and Infrastructure:

Pool (Directly Allocated) – input by choice– support more than one project – average hourly rate– justified in Case for Support

Infrastructure (Directly Allocated) – automatically added– provides support: Health and Safety, stores, workshops, laboratory equipment 

maintenance, laboratory management, administration– average rate per project FTE – timesheets not required– no justification required

Costing new categories of Technicians in InfoEd

Pool Technicians– costing similar to existing staff member– select “Pooled Technician – all Labs” on staff picklist– Hourly rate calculated

Infrastructure Technicians– From 1 Feb 2008, Research Councils require Estates and

Infrastructure Technicians costs separated on applications– Use Contingency Workbook to pro-rata costs and attach it to

InfoEd record – on RO website

Technician Timesheets – summary

• DI Technicians < 100% awarded before 01/02/08 still complete project-related timesheets

• DI Technicians < 100% after 01/02/08 complete ‘comprehensive’ timesheets

• Required if a condition of funding

• Project underway to introduce timesheets for technicians (and administrative staff)

FEC Technicians – further information

More information on RS website:

• Guidance Notes• Infrastructure Technicians Contingency

Workbook• Q&As raised in Faculty DA presentations

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/researchservices/fecandgrants/qanda/costs/technicians

FEC Facilities

• Most equipment and facilities automatically included in Estates rate

• Since 01/02/06, College has adopted usage based charge-out rates for 10 facilities

• Rates of charged-out facilities can be included on applications (including to research councils) because costs deducted from Estates

• Each included as separate line item in InfoEd - select Facility from Direct Costs dropdown

FEC Facilities

For existing Facilities not in the Charge-Out list(i.e. their costs are within Estates):

• If funder is a Research Council or one which pays FEC, usage charges cannot be included on application

• If funder does not pay FEC, facility usage charges can potentially be included in Price

Charged-out facilities and further guidance at:

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/researchservices/fecandgrants/qanda/costs/equipmentandfacilities

Systems issues

Systems issues

• Imperial not on InfoEd vanilla version; aim to migrate early 2008 delayed- Interface with JeS- Impact on RO resource

• Managing data quality- Increased staff pressures in Faculty Research Services teams

• Increasing complexity of research management- complex processes e.g. FP7, FEC

• Which makes huge challenges for system design and processes

• Rationalising research system development (avoiding duplication)

IP and Research Contracting Policy

IP management

• Innovations responsible for:– Commercialisation of College IP

• College IP Executives will be responsible for:– Management of IP – Management of relationship with Innovations– Due diligence– IP advice and support for College investigators

• IP team in the Research Office:

Emma Toumi, Justine Soulieux & Josephine Sutcliffe Research Office – Level 1 Faculty Building, SK

Research Contracting Policy & Practice

Contracting role of the Research Office:

– Central hub of contracting & negotiating expertise

– Provide specialised advice to the Faculty Research Services teams

– Ensures research agreements consistent with College policies & terms of trade

– Facilitates review or authorisation of deviations from College policies & terms of trade

– Works with Faculties to review their internal approval frameworks

European Research Funding (FP7)

EU team in the Research Office:

– Specialised advice on all pre-contractual aspects of FP7

– Interprets EU policy– Makes recommendations for strategy and

disseminating FP7 information– Manages contractual negotiations including

Consortium Agreements

Material Transfer Agreements – (MTAs)• For exchanging materials between two or more organisations• Defines rights & obligations of parties: ownership of modifications, derivatives, any

results & IP• Research Office negotiates & executes MTAs for transfer of materials into College

(MTAs IN). • Faculty Research Service teams deal with MTAs for materials going out of College

(MTAs Out)

College unable to:• Agree an MTA if it conflicts with existing obligations • Agree an MTA that requires a veto on the publication of research results or submission

of a thesis

MTA requests:• complete questionnaire, provide detail, send to MTA mailbox:

[email protected]• Guidance at http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/researchservices/mta

College Authorisation and Approvals policy

• New policies on Costing & Pricing and on Bid Management, Faculty Approval and College Authorisation approved by Management Board

• Faculties, Business Development and International Office to develop their own policies & procedures which comply with College policies before 1 August 2008

• Underlying procedures developed within this framework will be consistent across all units

• Research Office workshop 19 June

Thank you

Questions?

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/researchservices

© Imperial College LondonPage 36