Synopsis

Keywords: Transferable skills: Project management, Transferable skills: Research coordination

In a world of rising prices and trimmed research budgets how can you fully deliver your research project? We will discuss how to plan your expenditure and resource management to maximise the delivery of your science. How can we deal with inflation and still purchase the equipment needed? How can we conduct our imaging to minimise experimental costs? What extra resources can we bring to the project? These are important questions to consider for anyone whose research is under financial pressure, which is probably all of us.

You worked hard to win your research grant and now you have to deliver your project. You are excited to get to work but funds are limited. The funding body decided to trim the budget you requested by 20%. Moreover, inflation is raging and with each month that passes the spending power of your grant reduces by about 1%. What can you do to deliver a good project, with the good publications that you have promised your funding body? You need this to work out so that you can get the next grant and continue your research.

We will discuss strategies for reducing the negative effects of budget constraints on your science. This begins with carefully considering your grant funding request to the grant body so that your costs are well justified. Significant time will pass between grant submission and the project starting then the project may run for some years. Prices will inevitably rise over time. How can you bring extra resources to your project, either in cash or in kind, to make up for potential shortfalls, for example, through securing institutional support?

It may be possible to save money on equipment purchases and accelerated procurement will mitigate inflation. We will consider ways of efficiently conducting experiments to reduce running costs and access charges for expensive equipment like MRI. Is it possible to reduce the duration of your scan slots or use your patients or participants more efficiently? How can we use budgets for staff to best effect obtaining the help we need, when we need it?

Examining these important questions before and during your project will help you to deliver the project you want while minimising the risk of overspending.

Acknowledgements

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References

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