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Vince Smith, NHM, London
EC Horizon 2020 Research Infrastructures Information Day, 18 June 2014
FP7 Funded RI Project experiences some overly honest tips from a project coordinator
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My research background
Circa 5,000 spp. Mammals & birds
12,000 associations 15,000 potential hosts
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Enabling research via (small) digital infrastructures
Circa 5,000 spp. Mammals & birds
12,000 associations 15,000 potential hosts
http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/LouseBase/2/
LouseBASE
Specimens Images
(SID)
http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~SID/
Literature
PHPBib
http://myphpbib.sourceforge.net/
Lab Notebook
http://www2.flmnh.ufl.edu/pdb/
Host-Parasite Checklists
http://www2.flmnh.ufl.edu/adb/
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EC funding opportunities, a question of scale
• Became involved with (and frustrated by) EC projects
• Fixing these issues required getting involved
• Invited as a FP6 proposal reviewer
• Started writing FP6/7 proposals
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FP6/7 eInfrastructure Projects
European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT)27 EU taxonomic institutions, 5-yrs, FP6 funded NoE 2006-11, €11.5 mTowards a European Museum of Natural History by functionally federating existing facilities
Synthesis of Systematic Resources (SYNTHESYS) [1,2 & 3]18+2 partners, 4-years,FP7 funded eInfrastructure 2013-17, €8.9 mImproving physical and digital access to European natural history collections collections
Virtual Biodiversity Research and Access Network for Taxonomy (ViBRANT)17 partners, 3-years, FP7 funded eInfrastructure 2010-13, €4.75 mSupported the development of virtual research communities involved in biodiversity science
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Experiences developing, running & sustaining projects
• Project planning and design
• Management
• Sustainability
• Reviews & outputs
Mostly common sense?(Caveat: my judgment derived from experience rather than study)
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Project Planning & Design Issues
• Set "Goldilocks goals" (suitably ambitious but realistic)
• Embed your users in every aspect (and ideally be a user)
• Build in agility (reassess and redefine milestones)
• Identify realistic partners (with a track record)
• Avoid silos (for both partners & activities)
• Submit it to the right call!
Open source & modular
Open source & modular
Infrastructure maintenanceInfrastructure maintenance
Technical maintenance
Technical maintenance User supportUser support
Crowd-sourcing support
activities
Crowd-sourcing support
activities
Maximising support
efficiency
Maximising support
efficiency
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Management Issues
• Teamwork (a day-to-day project manager is critical)
• Devolve as much responsibility as possible
• Communication is key
• Use the Web as much as possible
• Keep a healthy travel budget (and use it)
• Measure and monitor progress (KPI dashboard)
• Advisory boards (mixed views)
SYNTHESYS Project Management & Access
Websites
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Sustainability Issues
• The sustainability plan starts now!
• Embed sustainability activities at every level
– For infrastructure (align with institutional strategy)
– For content (an active user community)
– For training and development (e.g. “ambassadors”)
– For marketing
– For strategy
• Think programme, not project!
23 ambassadors 23 ambassadors in 19 countries; in 19 countries;
600 communities, 600 communities, 7,100 active users 7,100 active users
23 ambassadors 23 ambassadors in 19 countries; in 19 countries;
600 communities, 600 communities, 7,100 active users 7,100 active users
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Project Reviews & Outputs
• Link to external community events where possible
• Ideally, use reviews as an opportunity to do something useful
– e.g. Public launch activities, workshops or training events
– Strategy development
• Have tangible outputs (not just reports for reviewers)
• Or have a plan to build upon (use) project reports
• Invest in marketing and outreach
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