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Manage your R&D funding more effectively

Whether you are a Catapult organisation, a University Research department, or a private R and D team, research into new products, technologies, and techniques often relies on external R&D funding. However, each funder will demand data that justifies their investment, such as:

  • Detailed plans that scope and cost the project
  • Reporting of time spent and actual costs incurred, to justify the funding call off.

Resource management software can have a key role to play here.

Research Organisations often start by compiling this data in spreadsheets. But as the number of research projects and the people working on them grow, these spreadsheets can become a complex project in their own right! Spreadsheet owners may spend hours sifting through data from multiple sources to provide the required reports. This gets compounded when individual funders require different reports; in some cases, researchers working on more than one project need to record their time in different ways if there are different funders.

If you are spending too much effort in compiling such spreadsheets, Innate’s Resource Management software could be the answer. It retains the look and feel of Excel, but with the data stored in a central database and a comprehensive report writer, the variety of funder’s requirements can easily be met.

Scoping and estimating each project

Project templates provide logical starting points when developing a work plan for a new R&D project. Work breakdown structures (WBS) help ensure that complex projects are accurately scoped. Resource estimates generate realistic costings for submission to the funders. Non-personnel costs such as Travel or Capital Equipment can also be included in the plan, enabling you to easily report on the month by month funding requirements at the level of detail requested by each funder

Time tracking and reporting

Time can be booked against the required level of the WBS for each project. Status reports highlight any researchers who are late submitting their time logs, and automated email alerts will chase them. Timesheet information can be entered using a PC, Tablet, or Smartphone making it easy for researchers to submit their time log. Innate’s report writer creates a suite of reports tailored to each of your funding sources requirements, enabling you to efficiently submit your funding support reports.

In these ways, resource management software can streamline your R&D funding process.

Barry Muir is a Director of Innate Management Systems Ltd. We have been implementing resource management software in a wide variety of professional services organizations for more than 20 years.
Posted in resource management software

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