A4B Project Management

Seminar

January 14th 2010

Agenda

1. Background to A4B2. Applying to A4B 3. Collaborating with Industry 4. A4B Project Management5. A4B Book

Introduction

DRICeri Jones – Deputy Director of DRIAli Parker – Knowledge Transfer Officer

Sarah Haynes – External Contracts Officer

WAGJulie Cunnington Hill – Centres ManagerRichard Griffiths - Regional Project Development ManagerLeanne Richards – A4B Case Officer

Raelene Orton - A4B Funding Officer

Reasons for A4B

To develop 3M activityTo support academia/industrial collaborationTo improve competitiveness of Welsh SMEsWAG + Convergence Funds = A4B/Eligibility Issues

A4B Aims

Fund audits of Intellectual Property held by academic institutions to pinpoint projects with the best potential for commercialisation; Evaluate potential projects of strategic value to WalesFill the funding gap between basic early research and the start of the market exploitation Provide revenue funding for commercial managers & technology specialists Provide capital funding to invest in new technology / marketsEncourage collaborative industrial research

Story so Far – £18.3m allocated – Jan 09

8%

10%

0%

28%

5%7%2%

5%

26%

0%

4%

1%

4%Aberystwyth

Bangor

Lampeter University    

Cardiff

Colleges

Glamorgan University   

Glyndwr

SMU

Swansea

Trinity

University of Glamorgan

Newport University  

UWIC

Projects in Swansea - £6.6m allocated - Jan 10

30%

4%

9%

3%3%0%

51%

CIRPS x 9

Knowledge Exchange Project x 3

Innovative Actions x 1

ESDF x 2

Feasibility Study x 10

CPD x 1

KTC x 7

Calls issued in November 2009Deadline February 26th 2010Projects to start June 1st 2010KTC and CIRPS onlyOnly 2 submissions allowed per institutionKey priority areas only

ICT, Low Carbon, health and Biosciences, Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing

Applying to A4B – the Competitive CallsSee A4B booklet Section 2

Applying to A4B – the process

General Advice in Writing Applications

Read guidance notes and copy key points into application form Be market driven – what is the ECONOMIC IMPACT! Find out what other HEIs are doing – avoid duplication Don’t overestimate outputs / results – these are measured! Don’t front load as far as targets, costs etc Look at risk register guidelines for risk and mitigation Be succinct – the right amount of detail Get support from Head of School – uniqueness Involve the business in helping to write the application Seek best practice advise through DRI / WAG early on What A4B is not about – EDUCATION, TRAINING, SKILLS

Ensure that your project has realistic economic impactAsk business to supply market share & size informationRefer to latest Government policiesRefer to WAG policies – http://www.swan.ac.uk/research_innovation/ResearchandProjectSupport/Academiaforbusiness/

- WAG Science Policy– WAG One Wales Policy– WAG Spatial Plan– WAG Wales a Vibrant Economy– WAG priorites

Developing Economic Impact & Meeting Policy

What happens after you apply?

DRI WAG Swansea

Eligibility Check / State Aid

WAG Technical, Policy , Regional Assessment

WAG Swansea

Application Scores (1-5, minimum 3)

Strategic, Economic, Viability, Value 4 Money

Panel

DRI Signed hard copies, confirm start date

WAG Contract to DRI

Developing projects with business

Invite all partners to join the projectGet a 3 way NDA signed (seek advise from DRI)Discuss the project with all partners presentInvite DRI along to this meeting to provide

Collaborative agreement exampleExamples of paperworkGuidance on Applications

Get letters of support from partners confirmiing in kind investment (PDF)

Manage Expectations !!

Before you start to write the proposal…………See A4B booklet Section 3

Make sure all partners are aware of the project detail and outputGet companies to sign the Collaboration agreements before the startConfirm kick off meetingsMake sure they are aware of paperwork and state aid obligations

Developing projects with business Before you start the project…………

Manage Expectations !!

Role of The Project Manager

Ensure all related paperwork is complete, and maintained in the Project File.

Company Enrolment Form Collaboration Agreements Participant Forms Staff Timesheets (where applicable) SME Logbooks (where applicable) Minutes of Meetings Quarterly Reports Tender Documents (where applicable) Participate in A4B Quarterly Monitoring

As project manager you must …….

Know what expenditure has been approved Know the dates when claims are due in Consult with A4B before any changes to the project Know the start and end date of your project –

Payments Outside This Period Are Ineligible Keep all records for 8 years after the final payment

The A4B Contract

Details the financial allocation Details the agreed targetsProfiled to WAG quarters ONLY A4B CAN AUTHORISE AMENDMENTS and reprofile! Failure to adhere to this basic rule will result in lost funding! DRI to liaise with A4B on the PM’s behalf

The A4B Funding Agreement (contract)See A4B booklet Section 4

All partners should sign and return a sub-contract

Partners must claim within the prescribed time periods – failure to do so will result in non-payment

Must claim to profile (within 15%)

SU will only pay partners once WAG pays us!

Maintain delivery of outputs and spend

Back-up information is needed to verify all claims

Most HEIs understand the brief!

Partnership Arrangements

DRI Monitoring & Evaluation

Provide Advice & Guidance (Ali and Sarah)Arrange Kick Off Project Meeting (Sarah)Attend Steering group meetings (Ali)Co-ordinate Quarterly Claims (Sarah)Update IPM System (Sarah)

DRI Monitoring and Evaluation – DRI RoleSee A4B booklet Section 5

All Claims processed by DRIAttend a short meeting to verify financial and non-financial progress prior to claims submission. Project manager to prepare progress report and forward to DRI for inclusion with claims. Claims submitted quarterly via an internet Project Monitor - iPM Three part claims (Expenditure, Activity & Quarterly Progress Report) Claims due in one month after the quarterly claim period. Project Costs must be defrayed before they can be included in the claim Claims must be accompanied by a a Quarterly Progress Report Claims not fully completed will be rejected.Please check all claim entries before you produce the claim as errors can only be rectified by your A4B Case Officer once the claim has been submitted.

The DRI Claims Process

Web based data collection & monitoring tool, remote access, A4B controlMulti passwords available & Read Only or Read/Write accessDRI process financial data, projects teams can update non financial data

Progress report includes fields for notifying A4B of any good practice / potential PR opportunities, for the A4B Case Officer to make comments and for WAG Claims Executive to note the date the claim has been passed for payment giving an indication of when you can expect payment. Budget Reports - detailing original contract profile, amended profiles and actual data. Useful for budget management.Resource Area - includes iPM User Guidance, A4B Procedural Guidance, example documents such as Company Enrolment Forms , Staff Timesheets, Cost Category lists etcContacts area - includes A4B Team contact details & an area for you to add your contact details if you wish to for networking / sharing purposes.

IPM

One visit per project, could be ad hocPurpose - to ensure claims paid are fully evidenced, activity and expenditure is eligible and complies with contract and guidelines. Key personnel to be available (not necessarily present) i.e.: project manager, administrator, claims/finance input. Original documents to be retained and produced for audit, signed & authorised. Good methodical record keeping; signposting where necessary.Publicity and Case Studies- correct logos, brand@wales.gsi.gov.uk Retention dates currently 2025.Post Completion Monitoring and Evaluation - to measure project impact, additional outputs, evolution of the original project, value for money and assessment of the delivery of the project in line with the cross cutting themes included in original application (e.g. Sustainability)

Ensure you have a robust audit trail - everyday an audit day! Consult with DRI if in doubt

A4B Compliance Monitoring

Maintain Accurate Project File

Ensure robust project management system and audit trail

Don’t move funding without A4B permission

Revisit Milestones and Cashflow in contract

Verify Eligibility of Expenditure with DRI

Focus on Targets – convergence v non convergence

Keep on Top of Paperwork – company evidence, data collection, timesheets

No Nasty Surprises - Keep DRI Informed

Good Practice Guide for A4B projects

Collaborative R&D

Enterprises Assisted

Products registered

Products Launched

Jobs Investment Induced

Extra Funding

Environmental Transfer

Welsh Composites Centre

20 60 10 10 7 £250k £900k

Simulated Based Product Design SBPD

12 78 4 22 15 £1.4m

Print FM 24 58 2 18 10 £1.18m

Mimo test Bed 3 10 3 3 3 £257k 2

Cyro SEM 8 25 £66k £1.7m 4

Welsh Ultra Efficient Lighting

5 15 2 3 15

Membrane and Surface Technologies

20 38 3 5 8 £320k £800k 13

Algal Technology CSAR 15 30 3 2 5 £685k £60k 9

Summary of Knowledge Transfer Centre Outputs

TOTAL 107 314 27 63 48 £4.15m £3.46m 43

Collaborative R&D

Enterprises Assisted

Products registered

Products Launched

Jobs Investment Induced

Environmental Transfer

Sienz – Rapid Injection Moulding

6 3 3 11 5 £360K 4

Sienz – Contour 5(2) 5(2) 1 2 3 £377K 2

Claypole – Printing Antibodies

4 6 2 4 £1M

Guy – PV Solar 4 5 4 6 4 £390K 6

Brown - EMOC 2 3 1 1 4 £337K 2

Hassan – Insufficieny Fracture

3 3 2 £290k

Kingsley – Responsive Lung Control

3 3 1 1 2 £234k

MinChen – Sports Visualisation

2 7 3 2 10 £62

Summary of CIRP Outputs

TOTAL 29 35 13 27 32 £3m 14

Summary of KEP Outputs

Seminars held

Scoping Discussions

Projects Identified

Network meetings

Enterprises Assisted

Environmental Transfer

Jones – Global Connect 7 53 7 8 39

Claypole - GAIM 3 30 33 7 15 4

Min Chen - Visualisation 6 50 5 6 20

TOTAL 16 133 45 21 74 4

• Over 150 Collaborative R&D• Over 420 Enterprises Assisted• Over 130 New Products / Services registered

or launched!!!• Over 80 Jobs created or safeguarded

Summary of Outputs

A4B File

Please use as a guidance

File will be updated as necessary

Section 1 – Presentation and summary of projects

Section 2 – Guidance and Application Forms

Section 3 – Information for Business partners

Section 4 - WAG funding agreement & procedural guidance

Section 5 – Reporting and Monitoring Documentation

Conclusion and Contact Details

Record Keeping is very IMPORTANT

Auditing should be straightforward if records are kept

Keep DRI in the loopAli Parker 01792 602630, a.c.parker@swansea.ac.uk

Sarah Haynes 01792 295435 s.e.haynes@swansea.ac.uk

Involve A4B team Richard Griffiths 01792 485718 richard.griffiths@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Leanne Richards 01792 222435 leanne.Richards@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Raelene Orton 01792 222469 raelene.orton@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Julie Cunnington Hill 029 2036 8492 julie.cunnington-hill@wales.gsi.gov.uk