Your Idea
Research Planning
Project Planning
Impact
The project manager must ensure that the project proceeds and completes within the specified time frame, and within budget, and that all aims, milestones and reporting are accomplished. The project manager maintains relationships between co-applicants and external collaborators.
- Developing a project plan (Work Packages – see below)
- Managing deliverables according to the decided plan
- Managing the team
- Deciding the methodology used in the project
- Establishing and working to a project timeline
- Ensuring tasks are completed by team members
- Providing regular updates and reporting
- Ensure any major issues are reported to NIHR in a timely manner
- A risk register should be maintained (see Research Planning – Risk Register)
Arrangements for managing the project must be clear and ensure that all team members understand their own and other members' roles in the project (including sub-contractors, consultants and external agencies).
Work Packages
The project should be broken down into individual work packages and contain deliverables and milestones.
The work packages should be supported by a Gantt chart.
The work packages should cover the following:
- Implementation research plan – project design should target the clinical pathway and those users affected when delivered
- Health economic assessment – project should include this to aid the case for NHS adoption
- Manufacturing – project must ensure that enough devices can be produced for evaluation
- Clinical study – project involves a clinical evaluation that has ethics approval and supports how the technology fits into the clinical pathway, is safe and acceptable and produces sufficient data for planning for follow-on, larger effectiveness/efficacy trials
- Stakeholders – project undertakes a stakeholder mapping exercise to identify and engage with key stakeholders
Project Planning
Project Meetings
It is expected that there will be monthly (regular) project meetings of the team as a whole or in part to maintain project progress. This also includes ensuring public involvement groups meet as required.
NIHR expect to have quarterly meetings that include the Research Steering Group (RSG) and the Intellectual Property management Group (IPMG):
Research Steering Group (RSG)
The role of this group is to:
- Monitor the performance and technical content of the project against an agreed project plan
- Assess the ongoing results of the project and what has been learned and agree on future research
- Critically assess the results of the project
- Identify and address any weaknesses or delays in the project
- Co-ordinate internal and outsourced components of the project
- Agree to any changes to the submitted project plan
The RSG normally includes the Principal Investigator (Chair), co-applicants and relevant team members, public involvement representative, NIHR representative (Programme Manager) and may include an independent advisor.
Intellectual Property Management Group (IPMG)
The role of this group is to:
- Approve all public disclosures relating to the project, including presentations and posters
- Identify new inventions arising out of the project and make recommendations for IP strategy (patent filing, freedom to operate issues)
- Approve the commercialisation and translation strategy in relation to the Foreground Intellectual Property
The IPMG normally comprises the Principle Investigator, IP lead for project team, any relevant team members and an NIHR representative. It is advisable to include the IPMG meeting as part of the quarterly RSG meeting.