The document outlines key strategies for building successful EU projects, emphasizing the importance of having a strong central idea, selecting appropriate partners, and establishing clear responsibilities. It highlights the necessity for sustainability, budgeting, and ongoing progress monitoring throughout the project. Additionally, it discusses the role of data sharing and infrastructure in enhancing project outcomes, as well as the importance of adapting plans as needed.

1. How to build a successful EU project
some personal reflections of
a project coordinator
Juan Bicarregui
Scientific Computing Department
STFC
UKRO Conference 21 September 2015 1

2. Overview
1. Build on just one good idea
2. Find the right partners
3. Have clear responsibilities
4. Build in sustainability of output
5. Set the right budget
6. Actively monitor progress

3. Build on one good idea
• Make a clear message
– It must be simple
• Don’t allow sidelines
– Not a free research agenda
• Aim for 15/15
– Need ≥4.5/5 in all three areas
• Don’t compromise
– Good proposals can fail on a fixable weakness
3

4. What is STFC?
250m
ESRF
&
ILL,
Grenoble
Daresbury
Laboratory
Square Kilometre ArrayLarge Hadron Collider
Programmes
include:
• ParBcle
Physics
• Astronomy
• Nuclear
Physics
NaBonal
Laboratories
include:
• Neutron
and
Muon
Source
• Synchrotron
RadiaBon
Source
• High
Power
Lasers
• ScienBfic
CompuBng/Hartree
Centre
• Space
Science
• Electronics,
Cryogenics
InternaBonal
include:
• CERN
• ESO
• SKA
• ESS
• ESRF
• ILL

5. What happens at the Facilities?
FiOng
experimental
data
to
model
Bioactive glass
for bone growth
Structure
of
cholesterol
in
crude
oil
Hydrogen storage for zero
emission vehicles
Magnetic moments in
electronic storage
• Over 30,000 user visitors each
year:
– physics, chemistry, biology,
medicine,
– energy, environmental, materials,
culture
– pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals,
microelectronics
Longitudinal strain in
aircraft wing
DiffracBon
paSern
from
sample
Visit
facility
on
research
campus
Place
sample
in
beam
• Over 5.000 high impact
publications per year
– But so far no integrated data
repositories
– Lacking sustainability & traceability

6. PaNdata
Neutron diffraction X-ray diffraction
}
NMR
High-quality
structure
refinement
} Photon and Neutron Data Infrastructure

7. PaN-Data Infrastructure for Photon and Neutron Sources
PaNdata Data Sharing Vision
Single
Infrastructure
à
Single
User
Experience
Capacity
Storage
PublicaBons
Repositories
Data
Repositories
SoVware
Repositories
Raw
Data
Data
Analysis
Analysed
Data
PublicaBon
Data
PublicaBons
Facility1
Raw
Data
Data
Analysis
Analysed
Data
PublicaBon
Data
PublicaBons
Facility
2
Raw
Data
Data
Analysis
Analysed
Data
PublicaBon
Data
PublicaBons
Facility
3
Different
Infrastructures
à
Different
User
Experiences
Raw
Data
Catalogue
Data
Analysis
Analysed
Data
Catalogue
PublicaBon
Data
Catalogue
PublicaBons
Catalogue

8. Overview
1. Build on just one good idea
2. Find the right partners
3. Have clear responsibilities
4. Build in sustainability of output
5. Set the right budget
6. Actively monitor progress
8

9. Find the right partners
• PaNdata was not typical:
– 11 similar facilities
– All Infrastructure providers
9
• More typically have variety of roles:
– Users, Technologists, Providers
– Large and small enterprises
• Need to deliver the Project
• Need to make an Impact

10. Overview
1. Build on just one good idea
2. Find the right partners
3. Have clear responsibilities
4. Build in sustainability of output
5. Set the right budget
6. Actively monitor progress
10

11. 2.1
Data
Policy
2.2
S oftware
Policy
2.3
User
P olicy
2.4
Integrated
Po licy
4.1
User
Propo sal
4.2
Use r
W orkshop
4.3
User
Revision
5.1
Data
Propo sa l
5.2
Data
W orkshop
5.3
D ata
Revision
6 .1
S oftware
Review
6.2
So ftware
Wo rksh op
6.3
Softwa re
Propo sal
6.4
Software
Revisio n
7.1
Inte gration
R eport
7 .2
Integ ra tio n
P ro posal
7.3
In tegration
Revisio n
3.4
F
i
n
a
l
W
o
r
k
s
h
o
p
Project Management, Knowledge Exchange and D issemination Activities
Dependencies between the m ajor project tasks
Dependencies

12. ERA Open Access Sharing Initiatives (examples, etc)
ERA Infrastructure Platform Initiatives (EGI, etc)
PaNdata
Support Action
Policies and
Standards
PaNdata
ODI
JRAs
Users
Data
Software
Integration
Provenance
Preservation
Scalability
PaNdata
ODI
Services
Users
Data
PaNdata
ODI
Virtual
Labs
Policies Powder Diff
SAXS &
SANS
Tomography

13. Overview
1. Build on just one good idea
2. Find the right partners
3. Have clear responsibilities
4. Build in sustainability of output
5. Set the right budget
6. Actively monitor progress
13

14. Build in Sustainability
• Sustainability is a starting point
– Have users in the consortium
– Have providers in the consortium
• Build sustainability during project
– Deploy the output during the project
– Set up ongoing governance during the project
14

15. Metadata Catalogue
Proposal
Approval
Scheduling
Experiment
Data
cleansing
Record
Publication
Scientist
submits
application for
beamtime
Facility committee
approves
application
Facility registers,
trains, and
schedules
scientist’s visit
Scientists visits,
facility run’s
experiment
Subsequent
publication
registered with
facility
Raw data filtered
and cleansed
Data
analysis
Tools for
processing made
available

16. ICATproject.org
16
Ÿ Open Source project
– 5 partners active
Ÿ OSS in itself
is not sustainability
Ÿ Need real commitment
from organisations
Ÿ Need a project structure

17. Overview
1. Build on just one good idea
2. Find the right partners
3. Have clear responsibilities
4. Build in sustainability of output
5. Set the right budget
6. Actively monitor progress
17

18. Set the Right Budget
• All partners are equal
– But some are more equal than others
• Beware of small fractions of people
– Review by other partners
• Don’t underestimate travel costs
– Balance face to face and teleconferencing
• Be clear about any subcontracting
• Watch out for exchange rate fluctuations
18

19. Staff
Effort
Table
• Each
WP
has
a
lead
partner
(red)
• Most
WPs
have
1
or
2
supporBng
partners
(blue)
• 6
Partners
have
WP
leading
roles
• All
Partners
have
something
in
Service
Deployments
WPs
• Just
3
Partners
have
development
roles
in
each
Research
AcBvity

20. Overview
1. Build on just one good idea
2. Find the right partners
3. Have clear responsibilities
4. Build in sustainability of output
5. Set the right budget
6. Actively monitor progress
20

21. Actively Monitor Progress
• Monitor delivery
– Deliverables
– Dependencies
– Milestones
– Spend by partner
– Spend by workpackage
• Be willing to change the plan
21

22. 22
Workpackage (abbreviated title) Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Milestones M1 M2 W1 M3 M4 W2
WP1 Management D D D D WP1 Management
WP2 Common data policy framework D D D D WP2 Common data policy framework
WP3 Knowledge exchange/dissemination D D D D WP3 Knowledge exchange/dissemination
WP4 Common user information exchange D D D WP4 Common user information exchange
WP5 Scientific data D D D WP5 Scientific data
WP6 Data analysis software infrastructure D D D D WP6 Data analysis software infrastructure
WP7 Integration and cross-linking D D D WP7 Integration and cross-linking
Key
D - Deliverable
M
-­‐
Milestone
W
-­‐
Workshop
Workpackage (abbreviated title)
Workshops
Data
Policy
Development
and
delivery
of
the
common
data
policy
User
and
Data
Standards
Delivery
of
draft
standards
for
data
and
user
information
Baseline
for
integration
Delivery
of
policy
on
user
information,
first
report
on
publications
and
integration
Integration
proposal
Delivery
of
policy
and
first
proposal
on
integration
and
on
analysis
software
Final
Workshop
Final
reports
on
standards
M1
M2
M3
M4
Monitor Technical Delivery

23. PaNdata ODI Joint Research Activities
PaNdata ODI Service Activities
PaNdata ODI Service Releases
Standards
from
PaNdata
Support
Action
uCat
dCat
vLabs
Prov
Pres
Scale
Rel 1 Rel 2 Rel 3 Rel 4
users
data
s/w
Integ
Jun 2014Jun 2013 Dec 2013Dec 2012
Monitor Technical Delivery

24. Eg. Service Verifications 6
24
• 4 software releases were replaced
by 9 service verifications
Be willing to change plan

25. Monitor Financial Usage
25
Budget use by WP Budget use by Partner
• Partners need to control their own spend
• WP leaders need to deliver to plan
• Reallocating of budget across WPs is easy
• Reallocation of budget across Partners is harder

26. Overview
1. Build on just one good idea
2. Find the right partners
3. Have clear responsibilities
4. Build in sustainability of output
5. Set the right budget
6. Actively monitor progress
26

27. How to build a successful EU project
some personal experiences of
a project coordinator
Juan Bicarregui
Scientific Computing Department
STFC
UKRO Conference 21 September 2015 27