Abstract

For any research organisation, the implementation and management of a new system has its pitfalls and challenges. University College Dublin rolled out a new research funding system in 2022, a necessary upgrade from a 15-year-old nearly obsolete research management system which presented an opportunity to review our processes. We will present a summary of the preparatory work which went into the design and roll-out of our new Research Funding System (RFS) and discuss how it enabled a more streamlined, one-stop-shop approach for managing national and EU funding opportunities, proposal development and review and efficiency of supports and internal grants depository. Dr Dimitrios-Stavros Kapetanakis, Senior Project Manager UCD will discuss the design and roll-out of the system and Aine Moore, EU Research Manager UCD will discuss the proposal development journey. The RFS needed to meet the requirements of the research community while providing a mechanism for monitoring and continuous improvement by the research office. We will end the session by providing a demonstration of the new system workflow from the user’s perspective.