EARMA Conference Oslo

MSCA Cofund management

A discussion on the opportunities, challenges and lessons learned.

Format: Fifteen-Minute Discussion Tables

Category: Operational Lessons Learned

Topic: Project Management

Cofunds foster excellence in researchers' training, mobility and career development, spreading the best practices of Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and form the next generation of research leaders. Ireland, through its several higher education institutions and research centres, has secured 17 cofunds to date in areas such as Arts & Humanities, ICT Standards, Software Engineering and Advanced Materials. This session is aimed at project managers who are currently managing MSCA cofunds and those in the process of setting up their grants, and it will discuss the challenges of running such programme. This 15-min round table will discuss 2 main topics in managing cofunds: i) Dissemination of the call and its evaluation process; and ii) Training and development. 4 PMs with different levels of expertise will stir the discussion and capture lessons learned from participants. We will focus on lessons learned, issues and their solutions, and processes that the different PMs have encountered along the post-award journey of their Grants. In each table, we will also discuss the impact that the pandemic has caused in the proper execution of the programmes focusing on how the PMs overcame those issues. Learning outcomes from this session include main issues to watch out for when managing a cofund; ideas for support and collaborative opportunities within a network of cofund managers and NCP, and how to maximize training and development opportunities. At the end of this session, we expect to have captured a comprehensive idea of the issues that all attendees have faced and we will put together a report with our findings for dissemination to the EARMA network (JoRMA).

Managing Projects or Managing Uncertainty? The Complex Role of the Post-Award PM

Defining project leadership, responsibility and accountability in the context of standard PM methodologies

Format: Fifteen-Minute Discussion Tables

Category: Discussion Starter

Topic: Project Management

Over the last year, the authors have collected survey data on existing capacities, structures and best practice in research project management across Europe. We found that while all respondents were involved in project support, less than a quarter had any formal training in project management, and only 20% consistently follow a standard project management methodology. Many of these RMAs are designated ‘project manager’ alongside a Principle Investigator (PI), but we asked ourselves, if the PI is accountable and responsible for project delivery, how well do the standard methodologies apply to the RMA-Project Manager role?

Building a Project Management Team

During this session we will discuss the Project Management team of Université de Paris’ Research Directorate, from the creation to its implementation.

Format: Oral 30 Minutes

Category: Good Practice

Topic: Project Management

Born in 2019 from the merger of the universities of Paris Diderot, Paris Descartes and Institut de physique du Globe de Paris, the ambition of Université de Paris is to lead and develop an exceptional potential to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s society. The merger that led to the creation of Université de Paris is unlike other French university mergers because both constituent institutions were quasi comprehensive and of equivalent size. As a result, the three Faculties that structure UP integrate entities from both universities and, within each Faculty, most departments will also undergo a process of transformation and merger. At the central level of the institution, in the Directorate General for Research, International, Technology Transfer et Graduate Schools Department (DRIVE), the Project Managers (PM) are responsible for a the portfolio of projects coordinated at Université de Paris. It includes ERC grants, MSCA, mutli-benieficary projects funded under H2020 Pillar 3 and COST actions. PM, as they follow closely the projects from the granting process to the end, are key actors of the research projects. They indeed: - Are expert of EU funding schemes - Close to the ground: they are in contact with the PI, the research teams and the administrators who run the laboratories - In the heart of the central level: they can easily be in contact with the Finance or Accounting office as well as HR or doctoral schools. However, their knowledge is not shared in the institution. This is the main reason why we decided to reorganise the time of projects managers and link them to the central bodies of the institution, at the DRIVE. So we split their time between projects coordination (between 50% and 60%) and share of good practice. The latter goes from creation of process to organisation of European working group and include the creation of white paper or wiki. The scientific aspect aside, the good implementation of a research project might also remain on every different administrative teams working smoothly together. This is however not easy achieve. Especially after a merging process, the communication between administrative teams can slow down. There is then an urgent need to reconnect everybody together. We hope that this new organisation will lead to the acquisition of skills for every teams participating to the success of the projects. This will also raise awareness of EU projects rules in Departments that are not at the heart of project management but who are however key to their success. We intend that the good implementation of the projects will come back to the writing Grant office in the Faculties, which will have concrete example of how to run a successful project.The purspose of this presentation is to share the actions and the tools we put in place to improve the dialogue between teams and their results.

Caddies of science: Project Managers

Having centrally employed project managers makes everyone's life better.

Format: Oral 30 Minutes

Category: Case Study

Topic: Project Management

We all know a Principal Investigator (PI) who swore off being a coordinator because of the administrative load. They all complain about being inundated with the bureaucratic procedures , chasing partnes, keeping track of rules, deadlines etc., and not being able to do their science which is why they join the project in the first place. Just like a caddy carrying the burden of the golf clubs for the golfer and assisting with guidance on the way to success, a Project Manager (PM) working with the PI can take the administrative burden of being the coordinator of a collaborative project.
Many PIs, especially when they first try coordinatorship, try to do the project management themselves, later they push the mundane(!) tasks to a Postdoc or a PhD student. This of course decrease the time that Postdoc or PhD student can dedicate to their science and worse when they leave the knowledge/experience accrued during the project leaves the organisation with them. Employing a PM for the project duration is another option, which is of course a temporary arrangement and the PM in that position tends to start looking for their next assignment towards the end of the project losing focus or moves on at a crucial point of time. Some entities have a central project management office that take over the PM role but this of course incurs quite an economic load to the central funds.
At KTH we have our PMs employed centrally at Research Support Office and assigned to the projects according to their availability and fit, both in personality and skill. PMs keep records of their hours per project and then the projects are invoiced internally based on the timesheets. Every PM is only assigned to projects for parts of their time in order to have the possibility of supporting new proposals, develop guides and temples for the greater benefit of all our PIs such as risk management, change management, quality management, management structure, etc., which can all be customize by the PM to fit the project’s needs. We try to match our PMs with PIs at the proposal stage to coach the PI to increase the likelihood of approval as well as building personal relationships and trying out the personal chemistry before the projects are even approved. We are currently working on lessons to be included in our regular proposal workshop for PIs provided centrally and planning to create our own project management methodology for collaborative scientific projects, based on PM2, which will take KTH’s internal rules and regulations into account.
With this model of centrally employed, project funded PMs the university gets to keep the knowledge/experience accrued in house, the PM gets to have stability on both employment face and area they work on, namely EU-funded collaborative scientific projects, the EC gets to interact with PMs that are already experienced in EU projects and the PIs have their project run smoother and they and their teams can focus on their science.

Horizon Europe - cost reporting changes and possible implementation impacts

Format: Oral 30 Minutes

Category: Technical Report

Topic: Project Management

Although Horizon Europe represents an evolution rather than a revolution compared to Horizon 2020, there are some new
rules. Especially in the area of cost accounting, new questions arise with regard to the practical implementation and alignment and adaption of systems of organisations participating in Horizon Europe. In this context, new cost accounting rules such as the change from hourly to daily rates for personnel costs should be highlighted. This session will present the novelties as well as the resulting questions linked to the real implementation on the basis of a research organisation. Where possible solutions on how to manage these changes will be shown.

How To Utilize Tools for EU Project Management

Format: Oral 30 Minutes

Category: Operational Lessons Learned

Topic: Project Management

There are many reasons for fragmentation in EU
project management except from freedom of choice. Among them we can note the
following: Firstly, EU Projects change in terminology and in financial measures
every now and then, secondly, the people who manage projects constantly vary.What do we do differently? We assume that it is equally
important to manage communication of a project, rather than to manage the tasks
of the project. Hence, we built on an approach that the tool need not to manage
the project as such, but the communication of the project, in a way that will
suit EU consortia. 

In this
session we will share some practices, thoughts, and tips on how to implement
such tools properly, with a demonstration of a specific tool (Basecamp) that is
being used successfully. Aspects such as desired modus operandi, business model
and degree of access rights, as well as proposed “mapping” of a typical EU
project to the tool. This session will be very useful for experienced project
managers who seek ways to improve their skills and professionalism in handling
complex EU projects.

Managing Grant Audits Under the New Normal

Format: Oral 30 Minutes

Category: Discussion Starter

Topic: Project Management

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused chaos and challenges throughout the whole world. This session aims to provide working solutions in how to manage Horizon:2020 (and indeed other Funder) audits in such a climate.
Topics covered include:
- Working remotely and from home
- Access to substantive evidence
- How specific Funders are treating the effects of the pandemic
- What specific Funders won't (or will) accept in terms of evidence
- How to resolve issues that arise and innovative solutions

Post-award tool kit: simplification and digitalisation to support research management

Strategies and tools to support the post award phase implemented at Ca’ Foscari University

Format: Oral 30 Minutes

Category: Good Practice

Topic: Project Management

Ca’ Foscari has launched a series of initiatives aiming at simplifying and improving the current management and post award reporting procedures. This is part of the University’s plan to develop and strengthen the support offered throughout the project life cycle.

GDPR and Protection of Personal Data in Horizon Europe

A Case Study for Research Managers and Administrators

Format: Oral 60 Minutes

Category: Case Study

Topic: Project Management

This live session asks participants to interact with characters from a case study on data protection issues exposed by research partners awarded with a fictional grant. Participants will play the roles of data controller and processor, committed to handle and store personal data for research purposes. Research managers will work together to seek compliance of research activities with GDPR. Within an unconventional frame, we will share our personal experience and discuss best practices.

Establishing a cohesive cross-functional RMA team through Covid and beyond

Format: Pecha Kucha

Category: Operational Lessons Learned

Topic: Project Management

RMA in a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research centre presents many learning experiences for the RMA profession. How do we ensure compliance with a multitude of institutional and departmental practices and engage effectively to maximise synergy with local RMA support, while ensuring duplication is avoided? How do we ensure effective collaboration across both pre and post-award stages especially when faced with the challenging remote working conditions resulting from Covid? This Pecha Kucha, highlights our attempt to address such questions.Our research centre, the ADAPT Centre, is a nationally funded centre of excellence for Digital Content Technology involving eight Higher Education Institutions across three provinces in Ireland. We support over 300 researchers from numerous disciplines including Computer, Social and Health Sciences. Our RMA team, or Research Development Team (RDT), includes 3 FTE pre and 3 FTE post-award specialists. Our remit spans all activities from call horizon scanning, concept ideation and development to submission, award, project set up, management, reporting and completion, i.e. the full lifecycle. There is no one size fits all or best practice model for providing RMA in this setting and our team has evolved to cater to the needs of our researchers striving to work optimally within our affiliated institutions, through open lines of communication with all stakeholders.Establishing a Cohesive Cross-Functional Team: Pre-Covid, the crossover between the pre and post-award RMA occurred during a monthly meeting. During Covid we pivoted our operations to meet virtually bi-weekly, troubleshoot daily via Slack and prioritise regular strategic planning days. Each team member has past experience working in typical “siloed” RMA roles and this schedule has emphasised the enormous benefits of pre- and post-award experts working together regularly with constant two way knowledge sharing.Feedback on the practicalities of day to day post-award project management continuously expands the knowledge of the pre-award specialists, while content at proposal development stage is reviewed and critiqued by the post-award specialists. Strategic horizon scanning to identify follow-on funding for existing projects in advance of projects ending becomes naturally systematic. Resources and templates for EU project coordination and implementation including project handbooks, intranet structures, reporting requirements, and even essential agenda items etc. can be shared and streamlined across projects and standardised as deliverables at pre-award. ​Seamless project execution from the kick-off is also enabled with continual support and knowledge handover from the pre-award specialists who were involved during writing and submission. Relationships with applicants as well as partner organisations are further strengthened through a consistent channel of support.Operating across multiple institutions: Our modus operandi is to work harmoniously with our partner institutions RMA practices and complement and collaborate with the existing support provided while ensuring compliance with local processes. Communication is crucial with the relevant divisions, Research Offices, Contracts Sections, Heads of Schools, Deans and Directors of Research. We prioritise maintaining knowledge of local procedures and any changes to such. Strong working relationships with our RMA counterparts are invaluable and are core to our RDT’s mission.Learning outcomes of this session are aimed at research managers, both pre and post-award, at any career stage. We hope to provide a comprehensive picture of the benefits we have discovered through Covid of a cross-functional RMA set up.