EU Funding Seminar, UWE, April 2009 Personal experience of EU Project Management Cath Thomas Project Manager Cooperative Human Robot Interaction Systems (CHRIS) Project, Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) Research Development Manager Research & Development Division, Research, Business and Innovation (RBI) &

Personal experience of EU Project Management – About the project Cooperative Human Robot Interaction Systems (CHRIS) http://www.chrisfp7.eu/ Addresses safety issues of human & robot performing co-operative tasks in a co-located space, March 2008 - March 2012 FP7 Information Communication Technology (ICT) Collaborative Research Project, Specific Targeted Research Projects (STReP) Project co-ordinating partner: Bristol Robotics Laboratory, UK (BRL) Project partners: Four other EU institutions

Personal experience of EU Project Management – About the project BRL (UWE), Bristol, UK LAAS-CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), Toulouse, France INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale), Toulouse, France Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI), Leipzig, Germany Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Genoa, Italy

Personal experience of EU Project Management – My role FP7 Collaborative Research Projects: > 7% of total budget value can be for management i.e. project co-ordinator and/or project manager these management costs are 100% funded by EU I am 0.5 FTE for the full 4 year duration of the project

Personal experience of EU Project Management – My role Produce reports Monitor milestones, deliverables, task progress Arranging & co-run meetings Organise travel Monitor budgets and expenditure Do end of year finance report and put together claim Organise timesheets, and fill out for senior academics Manage project website Produce posters and other promotional material for the project

Personal experience of EU Project Management – Project Co-ordinator’s view “Managing large EU Programmes requires a detailed appreciation of the day-to-day dynamics of the partnership and the balance between potential new research directions and agreed aspirations. Achieving stability and integration requires a project manager” Professor Chris Melhuish Director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory & Project co-ordinator CHRIS project

Personal experience of EU Project Management - Essential skills Organisation Communication Planning Multi-tasking Prioritising & time management Assertiveness Able to carry out a diverse range of tasks Making lists!

Personal experience of EU Project Management – ‘Highs’ Getting to know about cutting edge robotics research Working as part of a pan-European team Being in control of, and managing own work Feeling of responsibility

Personal experience of EU Project Management – challenges General EU administrative requirements Workload ‘peaks’ e.g. annual report production Contractual changes Dealing with people delivering late or other forms of ‘misbehaving’! The positive news is that the project manager can ‘protect’ the academics involved in the project from much of the above!

Personal experience of EU Project Management Questions…..