Abstract

Harnessing the Potential of Experimental Infrastructure in Research Projects

In recent years research support services have extended beyond pre and post award to include transversal research support services. These services allow research managers and administrators meet project requirements throughout the life cycle of a project. However, this extension of service provision relies on having an experimental infrastructure coordinator. Individual projects and their host organisations invest heavily in state of the art experimental infrastructure to develop, gather and analyse data for research projects. Frequently, this infrastructure has a lifetime beyond that of the lifetime of project, providing an opportunity to build and leverage experimental capability across an organisation optimising fiscal efficiency whilst extending the innovative reach of new funding opportunities.
Teagasc, is the national agency responsible for providing research, advisory and education in the agri-food industry in Ireland. The Teagasc research directorate is comprised of seven research centres hosting approximately 450 research projects publishing approximately 500 research papers annually. The recent appointment of a Teagasc experimental infrastructure coordinator represents new capacity to create enabling processes to enhance experimental infrastructure collaboration, to bring about efficiencies, while helping the organisation meet its corporate requirements. The approach puts people in the centre of the flow of information in relation to experimental infrastructure allowing for cross programme collaboration throughout the entire lifecycle of a project. Three supporting pillars were developed to support the information flow. Firstly, TRICI, the Teagasc Research Infrastructure and Capability Inventory which collates metadata associated to the purchase of new equipment formulated to allow easy access for the researcher yet provides the tabular data required for equipment planning. Secondly, TTP, the Teagasc Technical Platform, an internal online space to post quick updates and relevant information to staff and finally Teagasc TechCon, an internal conference to network, share and demonstrate the latest technical advances within Teagasc. Successful implementation of these initiatives relies on the communication of the pillars across the whole organisation to inform, for example, funding proposals. The combination of these three pillars allow all stakeholders in a project to plan, locate and utilise Teagasc experimental infrastructure while also adhering to corporate governance.