Althea Wilkinson Radio Net Project Manager University of Manchester Jodrell Bank Observatory

1. Althea Wilkinson RadioNetProject Manager University of Manchester Jodrell Bank Observatory Mid-Term Review Management Aspects Grenoble April 2007

2. Outline • Collaboration and Interaction - LGurvits • Administrative • Financial • Current status • Comparison with original planning • Situation for rest of FP6 project • Recommendations for FP7

3. Finance workshops • Finance workshop – October 2005 – • Aimed at administrative staff supporting RadioNet around Europe • Best practice for Form C, Justification of costs, audits etc. • Finance workshop for SKADS coordinators administration at their start-up, Dec 2005 • Best practice, pitfalls, etc

4. RadioNet Management Structure Networking Joint Research Activities Transnational Access

5. Management - administration • RadioNet has worked well – achieved goal of improving European contact and collaboration • Scientific and Technical management • By JRA Leaders, NA leaders and TNA contacts • Administrative and financial management • Shared administrative responsibility between JBO and JIVE • Contract amendment • Co-ordination of reporting – technical and financial • Distribution of EC finance • Co-ordination of audits

6. Communication within RadioNet • 2 Board meetings/year – different functions & sizes • Sub-committees (eg FP7) - telecons • Communication via RMT (about every 6 weeks) and Exec telecons (~ every 3 months) • WIKI – temporary document exchange, meetings in formation, minutes, etc. • Permanent RadioNet Document Archive – storage of all documents, plans, minutes, etc.

7. Administration (4) • Issues • Role of JIVE as separate banker – mechanism needs to be streamlined for FP7 • Sanctions on feedback difficult to enforce • Look at more use of videoconferencing • JBO Management team produced 582kg of CO2 in flights for this meeting

8. Finance - Overall status

9. Finance – TNA status

10. TNAs • 135% claimed in Y1 – hence 65% in Y5 • Hours of access lower in Y3 – engineering works – still 1.9 x minimum • Re-allocations – to create contingency • So far 2.5% • By end of Y5 – 3% • Enables outreach, workshops and training meetings, Hands on Universe, SKA office contribution, calendars, etc…

11. TNA reallocations

12. TNA issues • Publications • Y2 – 5 • Y3 – 63 – increasing satisfactorily • Acknowledgement of RadioNet • User feedback • Feedback forms not uniformly returned • AI from Board meeting to re-circulate TNA operators with guidelines, and on operators to ensure acknowledgment and feedback achieved

13. JRAs - ALBUS Funded activity will continue to end of FP6 RadioNet

14. JRAs - PHAROS JBO development (beam former) delayed – continues to end 2007 On-telescope testing – reduced programme to test only on Lovell telescope proposed AI on further €50K funding for ASTRON

15. JRAs - AMSTAR Several institutes now finished work – all complete by Dec 2007 Projected over-run of €20K – re-allocation approved by Board

16. Management – N1 Management staff/other costs Still sufficient total budget JIVE overrunning – still positive overall JIVE originally planned only for 4 years Management travel Formally over-running Result of more activity than expected – support for Board members travel to Board meetings Can still be accommodated within overall costs Monitor closely

17. Networking – N2 Originally planned for 2 years Will run into 2007 with meetings and residual staff support

18. Networking – N3 Over-run every year With reallocations, can run at same rate until mid 2008

19. NA3 Meetings - 2007

20. Networking – N4 & N6 Taken together – situation similar Both within budget Both started slowly Both should complete without problems Small re-allocations towards N3 5K from N4 10K from N6 Still to be cleared with NA chairs

21. Networking – N5 Minimal activity – terminated by agreement with Board and NA5 chairs Funds reallocated to JRAs and NAs

22. Networking N7 Has expanded significantly beyond original plan Covers all outreach activities Where most of re-allocated funds have been used (TNA travel 30K, TNA re-allocation, 5Y,180K)

23. Networking – N8 Well under control Should complete with no problems

24. Projection to end 2008

25. 18 months Implementation Plan – 2007 to June 2008 Current request is € 3 181 352.11 EC have pointed out this is close to the maximum we can request, and have queried whether this is what we really want We can only get 80% of unaudited EC contribution before end of project At present, only audited up to end of Y2 Also still only get 75% of request minus what remains of previous pre-financing. Current request will give us pre-financing of € 1 746 636.31

26. Implementation Plan (2) • Left to claim at start 2008 - € 87 471.80 • Left to claim at start of 2009 - € 1 328 752.78 • Strategy discussed at Board meeting yesterday for the • financing of the end of FP6 RadioNet • Alternatives presented were: • Have another audit at the end of 2007 • Claim everything now • Spread claim evenly over last two years

27. Strategy for financing last two years of FP6 RadioNet • All institutes will be asked to accept an additional audit of Y4 and Y5 at the end of 2007 • The current IP will be modified slightly to increase the current request to the maximum allowable • Only request next year will be for prefinancing freed by 2007 audit

28. Finance – suggestions for FP7 • Bear in mind funding of: • Contingency • Outreach • Board Meetings • Larger fraction for management • Consider how travel should be funded

29. Collaboration and Interaction • Within RadioNet • NAs and JRAs by definition are collaborative projects • NA events facilitate collaboration on European (eg YERAC, ERIS) and worldwide (eg ALMA) scale outside RadioNet community • Active European collaboration has grown from this experience – has worked well and we know each other better

30. Interactions outside RadioNet • Board meetings foster contacts at high level through “at large” members from other I3s (ILIAS, Opticon, EuroPlanet, Astronet – now on Road Map panels ) • Represented at each others Board meetings • Joint meeting with ILIAS planned for 2008 • With other major projects (ALMA,SKA etc) • Board Representatives • Plan FP7 JRAs connected with these projects • With observatories/institutions worldwide • Outreach activities (calendars, brochures, HOU project,IAU etc) • Attendance at EAS, IAU, I3-Net and JENAM meetings