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Althea Wilkinson Radio Net Project Manager University of Manchester Jodrell Bank Observatory. Mid-Term Review Management Aspects Grenoble April 2007. Outline. Collaboration and Interaction - LGurvits Administrative Financial Current status Comparison with original planning
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Althea Wilkinson RadioNetProject Manager University of Manchester Jodrell Bank Observatory Mid-Term Review Management Aspects Grenoble April 2007
Outline • Collaboration and Interaction - LGurvits • Administrative • Financial • Current status • Comparison with original planning • Situation for rest of FP6 project • Recommendations for FP7
Finance workshops • Finance workshop – October 2005 – • Aimed at administrative staff supporting RadioNet around Europe • Best practice for Form C, Justification of costs, audits etc. • Finance workshop for SKADS coordinators administration at their start-up, Dec 2005 • Best practice, pitfalls, etc
RadioNet Management Structure Networking Joint Research Activities Transnational Access
Management - administration • RadioNet has worked well – achieved goal of improving European contact and collaboration • Scientific and Technical management • By JRA Leaders, NA leaders and TNA contacts • Administrative and financial management • Shared administrative responsibility between JBO and JIVE • Contract amendment • Co-ordination of reporting – technical and financial • Distribution of EC finance • Co-ordination of audits
Communication within RadioNet • 2 Board meetings/year – different functions & sizes • Sub-committees (eg FP7) - telecons • Communication via RMT (about every 6 weeks) and Exec telecons (~ every 3 months) • WIKI – temporary document exchange, meetings in formation, minutes, etc. • Permanent RadioNet Document Archive – storage of all documents, plans, minutes, etc.
Administration (4) • Issues • Role of JIVE as separate banker – mechanism needs to be streamlined for FP7 • Sanctions on feedback difficult to enforce • Look at more use of videoconferencing • JBO Management team produced 582kg of CO2 in flights for this meeting
TNAs • 135% claimed in Y1 – hence 65% in Y5 • Hours of access lower in Y3 – engineering works – still 1.9 x minimum • Re-allocations – to create contingency • So far 2.5% • By end of Y5 – 3% • Enables outreach, workshops and training meetings, Hands on Universe, SKA office contribution, calendars, etc…
TNA issues • Publications • Y2 – 5 • Y3 – 63 – increasing satisfactorily • Acknowledgement of RadioNet • User feedback • Feedback forms not uniformly returned • AI from Board meeting to re-circulate TNA operators with guidelines, and on operators to ensure acknowledgment and feedback achieved
JRAs - ALBUS Funded activity will continue to end of FP6 RadioNet
JRAs - PHAROS JBO development (beam former) delayed – continues to end 2007 On-telescope testing – reduced programme to test only on Lovell telescope proposed AI on further €50K funding for ASTRON
JRAs - AMSTAR Several institutes now finished work – all complete by Dec 2007 Projected over-run of €20K – re-allocation approved by Board
Management – N1 Management staff/other costs Still sufficient total budget JIVE overrunning – still positive overall JIVE originally planned only for 4 years Management travel Formally over-running Result of more activity than expected – support for Board members travel to Board meetings Can still be accommodated within overall costs Monitor closely
Networking – N2 Originally planned for 2 years Will run into 2007 with meetings and residual staff support
Networking – N3 Over-run every year With reallocations, can run at same rate until mid 2008
Networking – N4 & N6 Taken together – situation similar Both within budget Both started slowly Both should complete without problems Small re-allocations towards N3 5K from N4 10K from N6 Still to be cleared with NA chairs
Networking – N5 Minimal activity – terminated by agreement with Board and NA5 chairs Funds reallocated to JRAs and NAs
Networking N7 Has expanded significantly beyond original plan Covers all outreach activities Where most of re-allocated funds have been used (TNA travel 30K, TNA re-allocation, 5Y,180K)
Networking – N8 Well under control Should complete with no problems
18 months Implementation Plan – 2007 to June 2008 Current request is € 3 181 352.11 EC have pointed out this is close to the maximum we can request, and have queried whether this is what we really want We can only get 80% of unaudited EC contribution before end of project At present, only audited up to end of Y2 Also still only get 75% of request minus what remains of previous pre-financing. Current request will give us pre-financing of € 1 746 636.31
Implementation Plan (2) • Left to claim at start 2008 - € 87 471.80 • Left to claim at start of 2009 - € 1 328 752.78 • Strategy discussed at Board meeting yesterday for the • financing of the end of FP6 RadioNet • Alternatives presented were: • Have another audit at the end of 2007 • Claim everything now • Spread claim evenly over last two years
Strategy for financing last two years of FP6 RadioNet • All institutes will be asked to accept an additional audit of Y4 and Y5 at the end of 2007 • The current IP will be modified slightly to increase the current request to the maximum allowable • Only request next year will be for prefinancing freed by 2007 audit
Finance – suggestions for FP7 • Bear in mind funding of: • Contingency • Outreach • Board Meetings • Larger fraction for management • Consider how travel should be funded
Collaboration and Interaction • Within RadioNet • NAs and JRAs by definition are collaborative projects • NA events facilitate collaboration on European (eg YERAC, ERIS) and worldwide (eg ALMA) scale outside RadioNet community • Active European collaboration has grown from this experience – has worked well and we know each other better
Interactions outside RadioNet • Board meetings foster contacts at high level through “at large” members from other I3s (ILIAS, Opticon, EuroPlanet, Astronet – now on Road Map panels ) • Represented at each others Board meetings • Joint meeting with ILIAS planned for 2008 • With other major projects (ALMA,SKA etc) • Board Representatives • Plan FP7 JRAs connected with these projects • With observatories/institutions worldwide • Outreach activities (calendars, brochures, HOU project,IAU etc) • Attendance at EAS, IAU, I3-Net and JENAM meetings