RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE COMMITTEE

Minutes for the third meeting of the Research & Enterprise Committee in the 2008/09 academic session, to be held on Wednesday 14th January at 2.15 pm in Room S310, MarySeacoleBuilding, Avery Hill Campus

PRESENT:

Prof T Barnes (Chair)

Prof A Reed (Vice-Chair)

Ms T Banton (GRE/Acting Secretary)

Ms W Curran (Finance)

Dr N Dasgupta (Humanities)

Dr M Davies (GRE)

Prof E Galea (CMS)

Dr J Jameson (Education & Training)

Prof K Jones (Architecture & Construction)

Dr J Morton (NRI)

Ms C Nyandoro-Kunzvi(GRE)

Prof S Palmer (GMI)

Mrs L Spencer (RSAO)

Prof E West (Health & Social Care)

Prof G White (Business)

Dr S Woodhead (Engineering)

Prof A Westby (NRI)

Dr D Wray (Science)

APOLOGIES:

Prof D Isaac (Architecture & Construction)

Mr D Beazleigh (Finance)

Prof C Bailey (CMS)

Dr S Richardson (Science)

Prof A Mathie (Pharmacy)

Mr J Wallace (Administrative Secretary)

ITEMS FROM THE CHAIR

There were no items to report.

09.1.1MINUTES OF THE THIRD MEETING OF THE RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE COMMITTEE HELD IN 2008 ON THE 10thDecember, 2008

The minutes of the Research and Enterprise Committee held on the 10th December 2008 were agreed as an accurate record subject to the correction of one minor error.

08.6.3.4Should be recorded as ‘Dr Davies informed members of the University’s current achievements in obtaining TSB funding, primarily held by researchers in CMS (Prof Bailey), and School of Science (Prof Jack Silva prior to his leaving the University)’.

Action: Ms Banton to amend the minutes

09.1.2MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

08.6.3.2Ms Banton confirmed that contact has been made with Karen Birkbeck, NRI as to capturing details of Institute’s bidding pipeline. The GRE financial bidding report will include NRI data to be reported at the March meeting of the Research and Enterprise Committee.

08.6.3.4 Dr Davies informed the Committee that collaborative bids are required to be industry led; however it is possible this will not exclude NGO’s from applying. All proposals require clear justification on how the collaboration demonstrates benefit to the UK economy. Dr Davies also added that Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) and Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs) may be possible alternative funding streams.

08.6.3.5Prof Barnes congratulated the Schools of Health and Social Care and Science on the organisation of their ‘Information Day’ seminar held on the 14th January 2009 and reminded them of the support that is available for this kind of event through the BDMs and GRE.

08.6.5.4 Prof Reed informed the Committee as to the University’s resource allocation model for fee-paying research students. Prof Reed confirmed that the allocation model reflects each School receives an annualincome for 3 years per research student at the same rate as a taught master’s student. In the case of overseas students an enhancement is made. Prof Reed also brought to the Committee’s attention the importance of student registration, as those not registered will not incur any income. Dr Woodhead queried the position on the University’s funding for home research students. Prof Barnes confirmed that the University would not attract funding from HEFCE for home research students.

08.6.6Prof Westby informed the Committee that following the issue of insurance provision for students carried out research in developingcountries; the University’s insurers have requested a list of all research students, the countries involved and the type of research being undertaken. Prof Reed confirmed this information will be held by Ms Boyer, RSAO and will be forwarded to Prof Westby.

Action: Prof Westby to contact Ms Boyer to obtain a list of all research students that would require insurance cover to undertake field work in third-world countries.

09.1.3GREENWICH RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE

09.1.3.1Research and Enterprise Activity Reports

Prof Barnes presented the financial report for Research and Enterprise activity to 31st December 2008. The comparison of revenues between October to December showed a significant uplift of revenues over the period. Prof Barnes congratulated all Schools on their efforts towards the overall increase on revenues which showed a growth of 48% in comparison to December 2007.

The annualised revenue comparisons over the past three years demonstrated a slight drop during 2007/08, but were beginning to level out for this academic year. Prof Barnes informed members that income now captured in the revenues were scrutinized more carefully as to which allocation of activity would be recorded within the research and enterprise data. Prof Barnes also expressed a note of caution to members as this course of action may have an impact on the levels of income for the forthcoming academic year. As revenues for 2008/09 are currently in the region of £4M Prof Barnes reminded members of the overall revenue target of £12M and called colleagues to raise research activity with their School’s as to increase this amount by another £8M.

Prof Reed queried the arrangement with the School of Pharmacy between the Universities of Greenwich and Kent. Prof Barnes informed members that only one member of staff, Prof Ian Cummings, is employed by the University of Greenwich , the remaining members of staff are on the University of Kent payroll and therefore retains all research revenues. However, in the case of HEIF funding, half of eligible revenues going to Pharmacy through the University of Kent were included in the University of Greenwich’s calculation.

Revenue forecasting for 2008/09 suggested that an overall increase of approximately 5% in comparison to last year. Prof Barnes stressed that this is simply anestimate of the year-end position and is not guaranteed. Prof Barnes congratulated members on their efforts on increasing the revenues for this year and urged the committee not to be too complacent on activity for the remaining year. He noted that 5% increase – while encouraging compared to the falls in recent years - was less than was desirable in view of the increasing costs of undertaking research coupled with the desire of the University to expand research activities.

Prof Barnes informed members that contracts approved showed a significant increase in movement between October and December much to the efforts of NRI, CMS, Engineering and Science. The figures presented excluded £750K worth contracting that should reflect within the accounts over the forthcoming weeks. A sustained effort by all Schools throughout 20089 would be required in order to reach the University’s target.

Prof Barnes encouraged members to liaise with GRE on any queries pertaining to the financial data presented.

09.1.3.2Research and Enterprise Bidding Activity September 2008 – January 2009

Ms Banton presented to members two reports on the bidding and contracting activity for September 2008 to January 2009. The report for bidding showedsix research proposal submissions made to external funding bodies during late December and January. Ms Banton emphasised the importance of a timely submission of the Form 1 to GRE, as this would provide a true reflection on the month the research proposal was submitted for external consideration. Ms Banton also reminded members that GRE are willing to assist with the completion of both Form 1 & 2 once the relevant information is received such as a copy of the application or award/contract.

Ms Banton commented on six proposals that are under early stage development for potential submission to external funding bodies during January and early February. Prof Barnes urged for colleagues to contact GRE as soon as there is any consideration to construct a proposal as to assist with the pre-award stages of the bid.

Prof Galea questioned the need to submit information on proposals that were not successful at obtaining funding. Prof Barnes informed members that one of the reasons behind capturing such data was the requirement to build a centralised knowledge base where information on the successes can be shared and new opportunities maximized as a result. Prof Westby agreed that the added benefit of a repository of bids also assists with the savings of time spent on compiling a bid, for example where particular information is required by a particular funder. Ms Banton informed members that in all cases approval would be sought by the author of the proposal before sharing the information with internal colleagues.

Ms Banton informed members that the webforms as referred to at the last meeting of the Committee are currently at testing phase and will be made available shortly on the Research Information Portal. In order to quickly process the documentation Ms Banton called on members to inform colleagues that a copy of the application should accompany the form 1 and the contact/award announcement with the Form 2, all such documentation should be forwarded to GRE.

09.1.3.3Research and Enterprise Funding Opportunities

Ms Banton presented the following funding calls for the Committee to note:

  • European Commission: FP7 Co-operation Action - THEME 2: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology
  • European Commission: ACP-EU Co-operation Programme in Science and Technology
  • European Commission: FP7 Co-operation Action - THEME 3: ICT – Information and Communication Technologies
  • European Research Council: Advanced Investigator Grants/Advanced Grants

09.1.3.4Results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise

Prof Barnes presented a review of the University’s RAE2008 submission and howthe results differed in comparison to the RAE2001 return. Prof Barnes reminded the Committee the importance of remembering that the given profiles were not on an individual basis, but graded against the research outputs across the Unit of Assessment (UoA). Members observed how the grading structure between 2001 and 2008 had changed significantly with all research graded at 2* and above in 2008 having a component of international recognition for its rigour and originality.

Prof Barnes provided the Committee with an in-depth analysis of the University’s results against selected peers within the sector. The overall result showed that the highest percentage of research was graded 2* (41%) with 4.27% graded 4*, in total 66% of the university’s work was graded as having international recognition (that is, at 2* or higher).

Prof Barnes referred to the National Ranking of institutions by media organisations, which indicated where the University ranked amongst the sector. Prof Barnes reminded members that the number of institutions in the table differed in accordance to whether specialist or small institutions or further education colleges were included. The Times league table showed that the university had dropped by 11 places to ninety-six. Prof Barnes demonstrated how various newspapers applied different weighted percentages to the quality grades, which gives diverse ranking positions in the various league tables.

Prof Barnes presented to members a rough estimation of the changes in quality rankings between 2001 and 2008 where eight submissions were returned in the same UoA for both assessments and some kind of comparison could be made. On a ranking scale of 0-100, psychology gained eleven percentage points, where Education lost thirty-one percentage points. Prof Barnes displayed a number of statistical comparisons with Million+, the ‘London’ Group and Post-1992 Universities. When ranked on Quality alone according to the THE methodology, the University comes 15th out of 28 organisations. If submitted FTE were taken into account and a calculation done of research ‘power’, the University is ranked 6th. The University clearly submitted more FTE than most Million+ organisations and this had stood us in good stead, but it will be necessary to increase the quality of research undertaken across the institution in the lead up to the REF. Prof Barnes called on the Committee (particularly Directors of Research and Enterprise) to actively encouragestaff with the potential to do research in order to enhance the University’s research performance.

Prof Reed suggested that an RAE review of the University’s RAE2008 submission and results be compiled with a strategic analysis of where and how the University could have improved its league table position. Prof Galea made reference to the University’s drop in the league tables and the impact this has on other assessment tables compiled within the sector, with possible funding implications as a result of the slippage. Prof Galea mentioned his disappointment at the University’s lack of recognition for its researchers and thought that a positive statement be released on the website praising the efforts of the University, much like those universities who found good news stories for pockets of research within its institution. Prof Galea also called for the RAE review to include an assessment of those UoA’s that received an unclassified grade for the research environment. Members agreed that in the spirit of self-development and moving the University forward, the review would be a valuable contribution.

Prof White queried whether further analysis on the sub profiles was conducted as a useful understanding on how the grades were derived. Dr Woodhead confirmed that the profiles differed according to the UoA and advised members to refer back to the panel literature for that particular UoA, as to establish how the grades for the outputs were derived.

Prof Barnes informed members that the University has purchased a RAE benchmarking software tool and is available from GRE as to assist with individual analysis of the RAE results. Those interested in obtaining access should contact Ms Banton.

09.1.4ITEMS FROM SCHOOLS

09.1.4.1Directors of Research and Enterprise Presentations on Successes, Opportunities and Challenges in Research and Enterprise activities in each School

Dr Jameson: Education and Training

Successes

  • The School has continued to recruit successfully to both PhD and EdD programmes and has recently accepted two new MPhil/PhD research applicants.
  • The School’s RAE 2008 results were stronger than officially predicted by either the External RAE Assessor or the University RAE Scrutiny Panel. Actual results outstripped the ‘moderate 1* prediction’, achieving a profile of 5% at 4*, 5% at 3*, 45% at 2*, 40% at 1 * and 5% at U/C levels. The profile for research outputs was higher, with 6.5% at 4*; 3.2% at 3*; 58% at 2*; 32.3% at 1* and 0% at U/C levels. Strengths in the submission: good structures for supporting new researchers, an emphasis on collaboration; successful completions by 10 doctoral students.
  • Bill Bailey – journal article with J. Robson published: ‘ “Bowing from the heart”: an investigation into discourses of professionalism and the work of caring for students in further education’, British Educational Research Journal: 35, 1: 99 – 117 (2009).
  • Dr Mary Clare Martin – Education History Panel membership re. “In Market, Mountain or Mansion: the Representation of Disability in reading for the young, 1850-1950, part of panel on “Disability in European perspective” at the Ninth European Conference of Urban Historians, Lyon, August 2008 (revised version for conference publication December 31st)
  • Professor Ian McNay – journal publication, 'The crisis in higher education: the views of academic professionals on policy, leadership, values and operational practices', Higher Education Review, 40[2]
  • Professor Ian McNay – Invited to be a visiting professor at South Bank.
  • Professor Ian McNay – published three more journal issues of Research into Higher Education Abstracts.
  • Dr Jill Jameson – John Gill’s article on Dr Jameson’s research in ‘Trust, resistance and values-based leadership in higher and further education’ at SRHE 2008 was published by the Times Higher, Dec, 2008.
  • Dr Jill Jameson – journal article publication, ‘The eLIDA CAMEL Nomadic Model of Collaborative Partnership for a Community of Practice in Design for Learning’ published by EJEL, 6, 3: 197-206 (2008).
  • Dr Jill Jameson – journal article, ‘Distributed Leadership and the Visibility/ Invisibility Paradox in Online Communities’ accepted for publication in the Special issue of Human Technology: Distributed Leadership & Online Communities (eds): Dr Niki Lambropoulos and Dr. Leslie Gadman.
  • Dr Jill Jameson – appointed as a Member and Reviewer, ICEL 2009 International Conference Committee and had conference abstract accepted for a full paper on: ‘Designing Electronic Surveys on the Student Experience of e-Learning in Post-Compulsory Education’ (July 2009, Toronto).
  • Dr Jill Jameson – abstract on ‘Distributed Leadership, Trust and Online Communities’ accepted for full paper presentation, HCII 2009 Expert Session: User Innovation Networks, HCIIInternational Conference (23rd July, 2009, San Diego)
  • Dr Jill Jameson – invited EC VET expert to TTNet DVET in Malta and Greece, 2009.
  • Partnership with the University of South Africa (UNISA) – successful meeting held in Johannesburg Jan 2009 for new project on Global Leadership and e-Learning in Development Education in Africa, involving doctoral students. Led by Jill Jameson and including Dr Gordon Ade-Ojo and Mr Simon Walker.
  • Ken Marsh – leading EC VET strand in TTNet DVET in Malta and Greece, 2009.
  • Yana Tainsh – appointed as a Committee Member and Reviewer and had a paper accepted for the ECEL 2008 conference (November, Cyprus).
  • Yana Tainsh and Melanie Thorley presented a paper at the SRHE 2008 New Researchers conference in December 2008, Edinburgh.

Opportunities

  • British Council Funding for Education UK-Africa Partnerships – bid submitted by the School for this opportunity for a partnership on global leadership and e-learning, with the University of South Africa (UNISA), supported by UNISA PVC and SANPAD.
  • UKRO research presentation on Advanced Investigator European Research Grants was attended by the School, for consideration for submission of bids.
  • ESRC First Grants for researchers – the School is encouraging newer researchers to apply for these.

Challenges

  • Replacement of Research Active staff: there is a continuing need to build new research clusters and refresh the boundaries of existing E&T R&E clusters.
  • Developing research excellence profile – there is a need to achieve more recognition for existing School R&E and to stimulate new, esp.large-scale, funding applications.
  • Doctoral supervision overloads are being sorted out with the invitation of a range of new supervisors for PhD and EdD, but this continues to be a challenge in view of the large number of doctoral students.
  • There continue to be some delays and problems with the reporting of financial data, but the School is working with University and School finance staff in January, 2009 to address these issues to achieve improvements.

Professor Westby: NRI

Successes

New items of contracted work includes:

  • Fair trade study - Fairtrade (£50K gross, £20K retained)
  • Pastoralist Study, DFID (£20K retained)

Work won and currently being contracted includes: