{"id":159408,"date":"2014-11-22T15:33:55","date_gmt":"2014-11-22T17:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=159408"},"modified":"2016-02-04T18:51:03","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T20:51:03","slug":"sophisticated-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/sophisticated-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Sophisticated support"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Illustrations\u2002Maur\u00edcio Pierro <\/span>A FAPESP initiative that seeks to reduce the time researchers spend managing project bureaucracy is beginning to bear fruit, allowing them to focus on their principal activity, which is generating knowledge. In late 2010, the Foundation established a program that offers training to teams of employees from universities and research institutions devoted to reducing the burden of work placed on the scientists in managing and administering their projects.\u00a0 The training consists of four days of sessions, which are limited to six participants to a class.\u00a0 Since the program began, more than 110 teams have\u00a0 received training at Foundation headquarters \u2013 and at least 24 of them have organized Research Support Units, which are in full operation.<\/p>\n

What is new is that these offices, besides helping purchase supplies and handle accounting, are starting to offer new services.\u00a0 Some are focusing on seeking out funding opportunities through bid announcements and calls for proposals as well as helping researchers do the work of obtaining funds directly.\u00a0 Others are providing support not only to the projects, but also to the grantees.\u00a0 \u201cThese offices are becoming more widespread and some already provide significant sophisticated support,\u201d says Marcia Regina Napoli, responsible for the Support, Information, and Communication Management Office (GAIC) of FAPESP\u2019s Executive Board, which has coordinated the program since 2010.<\/p>\n

One example is the Research Support Unit at the Albert Einstein \u2013 Israel Institute of Education and Research (IIEPAE), which has two employees who provide assistance to parties interested in submitting research proposals to funding agencies, and also support them after funds have been secured, by assisting in the purchase of supplies, handling accounts and even helping to publish the findings in scientific journals.\u00a0 Associated with the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, the institute has laboratories established in core facilities, a vivarium accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) and a clinical research center where scientific studies are being carried out by 23 contract researchers, 42 faculty members from the graduate academic program, and more than 200 physicians from the hospital\u2019s clinical staff involved in research.\u00a0 Since its establishment in 2012, the unit has already helped with the submission of 67 research project proposals.\u00a0 The approval rate for projects submitted is close to 61% and fundraising from research-funding agencies has increased 323% from 2012 to 2013.<\/p>\n

The work has various fronts in what is known as the pre-award phase.\u00a0 Every day, the team tracks calls for proposals and bids issued in Brazil (by visiting websites of research-funding agencies) and abroad (through a paid service) and sends emails to\u00a0 researchers at the institution who may be interested. \u201cThis opportunity mapping is the first thing we do every day,\u201d says Aline Pac\u00edfico Rodrigues, the unit\u2019s coordinator of research projects. When someone indicates interest, Pac\u00edfico and her team schedule a meeting for advising. \u201cSometimes we need to align the researcher\u2019s expectations with regard to funding.\u00a0 Some, for example, want the agencies to fund services or exams.\u00a0 We explain that it is easier to obtain funds to pay for supplies, buy equipment and hire third parties for occasional services,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cWe always try to offer them some solution and we never close any doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Print\"Illustrations\u2002Maur\u00edcio Pierro <\/span>The unit does not help the researcher write his or her proposal, though, because this task cannot be delegated. \u201cThe scientific merit of the project comes from the researcher.\u00a0 Our role is to eliminate the bureaucratic burden involved, which is not the researcher\u2019s core activity,\u201d Pac\u00edfico says.\u00a0 However, counseling services are provided.\u00a0 The unit hired a retired professor from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP) as consultant, tasked with conducting preliminary assessment of project proposals.\u00a0 \u201cShe analyzes the project and suggests changes that make it more competitive, and she has an eye similar to that of the project evaluator,\u201d Pac\u00edfico explains.\u00a0 This prevents a less experienced researcher from committing predictable errors.\u00a0 If the project is rejected, the offices determines whether it is possible to request reconsideration.\u00a0 \u201cWe analyze the reviewer\u2019s evaluation and sometimes, it becomes clear that only minor adjustments are needed to make it acceptable.\u201d\u00a0 Pac\u00edfico mentions the case of a researcher who was unable to hide his disappointment when his first project was rejected. \u201cHe sent an email apologizing for having wasted our time.\u00a0 I showed him that it was not the end of the line and that we could request a reconsideration.\u00a0 On the second try, the project was approved,\u201d she says.\u00a0 In some situations, though, \u201cno\u201d does mean the end of the line.\u00a0 \u201cIf, for example, the problem is curricular in nature, or if the evaluator thinks that the proposal writer does not have the experience needed to carry out a particular project, there is not much we can do,\u201d she says. Pac\u00edfico and her team also work during the post-award phase, which involves managing projects once they have been approved. They purchase the required supplies for the various projects, organize the accounts and instruct the researchers so as to avoid making mistakes.\u00a0 At the end of the project, they encourage researchers to publish their findings.\u00a0 The institute contracts the services of a science communication service, which offers workshops with article authors, and helps them write their manuscripts.<\/p>\n

The GAIC team at FAPESP, which offers training to employees and makes periodic visits to offices in the process of implementation, has noted that there are inconsistencies in the types of services offered \u2013 and there are cases where institutions cannot get the idea beyond the planning stage.\u00a0 \u201cWe see that the most well-organized offices are those associated with units whose directors are invested in the success of the initiative and are directly involved in it,\u201d says Marcia Regina Napoli, of GAIC.<\/p>\n

The Center for Project Support (CAP), associated with the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at USP Ribeir\u00e3o Preto, was established in May 2014 and is already working on managing 12 research projects, involving nearly R$10 million.\u00a0 Establishing the office was one of the campaign promises of Maria Vit\u00f3ria Bentley, who assumed directorship of the school in January 2014.\u00a0 \u201cI reallocated two employees, one with a background in accounting and the other with an undergraduate degree in information sciences, to organize the office,\u201d she says, inspired by the successful experience of the Projects Management Center (CGP) at USP\u2019s Ribeir\u00e3o Preto School of Medicine (see Pesquisa FAPESP Issue No. 203<\/a>)<\/em>. To help in the work, the office purchased financial management software customized to the needs and operating approaches of the CAP.\u00a0 The team works together with the offices of university procurement and treasury to facilitate the process of importation involving USP, FAPESP and the CNPq\u2019s Importa F\u00e1cil [Easy Import] program. They also help faculty and administrative staff manage project accounts and draft budget proposals according to agency and university rules, acting as a source of information.\u00a0 \u201cOur next step is to improve the organization and begin to seek out new opportunities,\u201d the professor says. For now, the office handles only projects whose terms of grant award were signed after its establishment, including two thematic projects under FAPESP\u2019s technical reserve for institutional research infrastructure, and international research projects, in addition to projects funded by the CNPq, FINEP and USP.\u00a0 Bentley says this number will increase.\u00a0 The unit submitted two proposals to the National Institutes of Science and Technology program and is in the process of signing an agreement with BNDES.<\/p>\n

\"Print\"Illustrations\u2002Maur\u00edcio Pierro <\/span>Some of the best examples of research support units were selected to present their experiences at a workshop scheduled for November 4, 2014 at FAPESP. The case of the Albert Einstein \u2013 Israel Institute of Education and Research is one of them.\u00a0 Another notable example was that of Embrapa Instrumenta\u00e7\u00e3o, located in S\u00e3o Carlos, whose research support staff also helps grantees.\u00a0 A third experience worthy of mention is from the Office of Research and Projects of the Institute of Language Studies (IEL), at the University of Campinas (Unicamp). It is one of the oldest researcher support initiatives, in place since 1993.\u00a0 It serves 65 faculty members and 17 researchers-collaborators from the institute\u2019s three departments.\u00a0 \u201cThe work does not consist simply of project accounting.\u00a0 The unit provides price quotes needed during project preparation, helps input data on agency sites and monitors the publication of domestic and international calls for proposals,\u201d says Prof. Matilde Virginia Ricardi Scaramucci, director of the IEL since 2011. The team consists of three staff members \u2014 a secretary and two technical staff \u2014 to assist researchers. \u201cBecause the framework is so lean, we\u2019re not able to do everything we would like to.\u00a0 But they are able to keep track of the dates when researchers and grantees need to submit their renewals,\u201d she says.\u00a0 Researcher adherence to the IEL varies, however.\u00a0 Some delegate all bureaucratic tasks to the team while others assign only a few of them. \u201cWe want to expand the service.\u00a0 We would like to have an employee who speaks English well,\u201d she says.\u00a0 In 2013, IEL submitted 128 proposals to research-sponsoring agencies.\u00a0 Last year, researchers from the Institute received R$3.9 million in funds\u00a0 from FAPESP alone \u2013 in 2011, the total was R$2 million.<\/p>\n

About three years ago, S\u00e3o Paulo State University (Unesp) decided to establish a researcher support unit on each of its 22 campuses located throughout the state.\u00a0 The Regional Office for Support to Research and Globalization (Erapi) of the School of Architecture, Arts and Communications (FAAC) in Bauru is one of the best organized. Opened in\u00a0 2012, it has seen 72% growth in requests for research assistance and 66% growth in scholarship applications.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u00a0 respond to 200 requests for information a week,\u201d says Ang\u00e9lica Parreira Lemos Ruiz, academic and technical manager at FAAC.\u00a0 She heads up a team of two employees responsible for supporting approximately105 faculty members, 400 graduate students and 1,580 undergraduates. \u201cEverything goes through us, such as requests, grant and scholarship management, research assistance, use of the technical reserve, budget preparation. We assist them in preparing proposals, obtain signatures from researchers and track cases,\u201d says Ruiz.\u00a0 A database of information on researchers and projects was established to monitor performance of the office, whose establishment was inspired by examples such as the Erapi at the Institute of Chemistry in Araraquara, which has been in place since the 1980s. \u201cWe think that within the next five years, our statistics will get a lot better, promoting research and generating quality knowledge at our institution,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Offices free researchers from bureaucratic red tape and offer new services ","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[166],"tags":[234],"coauthors":[98],"class_list":["post-159408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policies-st-en","tag-finance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159408"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=159408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}