EC funding programmes: UCL

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EC funding programmes UCLs Strategy,
Challenges and Experience

• Greta Borg-Carbott
• European Research and Development Office
• University College London
• 19th November 2009

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• University College London A brief overview

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UCL Londons Global University

• Employs over 4,000 academic and research staff in
  over 50 departments and institutes 11 associated
  teaching hospitals including Great Ormond Street
  Hospital, Moorfields Eye Hospital and Royal Free
  Hospital
• Over 22,000 students from 140 countries
  worldwide
• Ranked fourth in the world and second in the UK
  (the Times Higher Education-QS World University
  Rankings 2009) Second most highly-cited European
  university (Thomson Scientific Citation Index)
• 21 Nobel Prize winners among UCL community.

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EU funding experience

• 468 EU-funded projects since 2005 with a total
  budget of approx 140 million
• 212 active EU-funded projects (mainly EC FP6 and
  7 projects) with a total value of over 90
  million (UCL's budget alone) including
• 141 FP6 and FP7 collaborative and other projects
• 46 Marie Curie fellowships
• 15 European Research Council Grants (9 Advanced
  and 6 Starting Grants).

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UCL EU funding experience

• Success rate for FP7 in general Between 25 to
  30
• 28 success rate for ERC grants
• EU-funded projects account for 7 of UCLs
  research-funding income
• Main areas of activity Health, ICT and Physical
  Sciences

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UCLs Research Management Strategy
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UCLs Research Strategy

• Increase and strengthen thematic,
  inter-disciplinary research creation of
  faculty-crossing research hubs and centres
• Identification of 4 Grand Challenges with a
  societal focus
• Global Health
• Sustainable Cities
• Intercultural Interactions
• Well-Being

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Research Planning Strategy

• Vice Provost for Research chairs the Research
  Strategy Committee responsible for determining
  UCLs over-arching research agenda.
• Research priorities are determined at the Faculty
  level by the Dean in consultation with Heads of
  Divisions and Institutes, and Departments, senior
  principal investigators and the Vice Deans for
  Research.
• All EU funding applications are evaluated by the
  Vice Deans for Research to ensure compliance with
  strategy.

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UCL Research Management Structure
Provost
Vice Provost for Research
UCL Director of Research Planning
UCL Research Facilitator for Life and Medical
Sciences
UCL Research Facilitator for the Built
Environment, Engineering, Mathematical and
Physical Sciences
UCL Research Facilitator for Arts and Humanities,
Laws, Social and Historical Sciences, Slavonic
and Eastern European Studies
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• European Research and Development Office

Head of European Research and Development
2 European Contracts Executives
(centrally-funded)
3 Project Managers (funded by projects)

• Research and information
• Vetting of project costings and advice on
  applications
• Contract negotiation
• Consortium Agreements
• Liaison with the EC, programme bodies and
  Coordinators

• Legal, financial, administrative support
• Project management and monitoring
• Contract negotiation
• Consortium Agreements
• Financial Reporting

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European Contracts Executives Role

• Act as a one-stop shop for the provision of
  specialised information on EU funding programmes
• Liaise with EU funding bodies and information
  providers, as well as Coordinators
• Ensure costs and project applications are in line
  with EC guidelines, legislation and UCL policy,
  including Intellectual Property Rights
• Develop and distribute templates, factsheets,
  information material
• Provide Legal, administrative and contractual
  support (pre-award)

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Project management service at ERDO

• Self-sustaining service which ensures that a
  high level of project management expertise is
  developed and retained at UCL
• Provides flexible and comprehensive legal,
  administrative and contractual support to
  principal investigators, allowing them to focus
  more fully on their research thereby fostering
  excellence
• Tailor-made support provided to each project.
  Costs funded by projects management budget (160
  EC contribution under FP7 collaborative
  projects).

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Pre-award procedures

• Researcher discusses call with
• European Research and
• Development Office (ERDO).

Researcher requests Departmental and
Faculty authorisation
Preparation of Project costing using Project
Financial Appraisal and Costing tool
Application compiled and submitted
Costing report sent to ERDO for vetting and
feedback.
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Contract negotiation procedures

• UCL European Research and Development Office
  manages the Grant Agreement negotiation process,
  providing guidance, collecting, vetting and
  signing documents including the Consortium
  Agreement and project budget
• The Researcher is responsible for revising and
  negotiating the projects description of work.
• UCL ERDO provides ongoing support until project
  is set up and guidance during project
  implementation. Reporting is taken over by UCL
  Research Administration.

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Challenges

• Large number of guidance notes and programme
  documents for reference
• Large volume of individual applications and
  costings submitted close to deadlines
• Applications for funding programmes with lower
  funding rates or different financial and audit
  rules
• Applicants who fail to follow the correct UCL
  internal approval procedures
• Transfer of grants, amendments to contracts
• Tight time-frames for negotiation

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Successful solutions

• Preparation and development of factsheets and
  summaries
• Flagging up projects or programmes which are not
  cost-effective in terms of contribution rate or
  administrative demands
• Distribution of checklists to enable researchers
  to ensure their costings and applications are
  broadly in line with EC rules and guidelines

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Successful solutions

• Organisation of seminars and application-drafting
  workshops
• Exchange of experience between Principal
  Investigators and potential applicants
• Liaison with UK Research Office (UKRO), UK
  national contact points and other networks and
  helpdesks for additional support.

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Thank you for your attention