Module 2: Commencement and Collaboration – Putting Ideas Into Practice

2.2 Project plan: setting project goals and research targets

Please see Module 1: Research Strategy and Planning for more in-depth review of project planning and management.

“Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something. The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.”

This quotation, by economist and businessman Sir John Harvey-Jones, illustrates the importance of project planning. This key management competency is central to the successful delivery of your research project. Many projects, even when run by professional project managers, can run over-budget and over-time – often by more than 100%. Research projects introduce an additional set of challenges in four areas:

• Goals – while the goals of the stakeholders will overlap at times, they will not necessarily be congruent. You will need to be aware that different stakeholders may not equally value all outputs.
• Uncertainty – research is by definition unpredictable. While you may be able to assess the inputs, you cannot necessarily be confident of the outputs. Major changes in your project goals, scope, timelines, etc. are very likely – even when the resources and interests of the stakeholders do not change over the life of the project. It is essential to plan, but equally necessary to change your plan as the project progresses.
• Complexity – bringing in additional goals, disciplines, and collaborators often increases complexity exponentially.
• Management – management of the project is demanding of time and requires competencies in communication, conflict management (conflict resolution), and in relation to the conduct of research.

If you have not already done so, you will need to identify the major tasks that need to be completed, as well as any sub-tasks. As well as estimating how much time you will need to allocate for each task, you will also need to consider the dependencies between tasks/sub-projects. You will need to identify which tasks can be completed concurrently to maximise your use of time and manage your project efficiently. You will be able to identify your research targets from this process.

You may first need to re-visit your proposal and draw up a list of the expected research outcomes, and a list of the personal research goals you aim to achieve by the end of the project. When the award documents arrive, read them carefully to determine the extent to which you will be able to achieve your listed outcomes and goals. The duration and amount of funding may not be what you requested. You may need to carefully and strategically review your project plan.

• Investigators and Partner Organisations. The time lag between submitting an application and being awarded a grant can be lengthy – probably between 6 and 9 months, and sometimes up to 12 months. One or more of the project’s named investigators may have moved institutions, relocated overseas, or left university employ and may no longer be eligible. Refer to the scheme Guidelines and Funding Agreement to find out what you need to do in such cases and address the issue through your Research Office. Six to nine months is a long time in business or industry and the fortunes of your Partner Organisation (PO) in an ARC Linkage Project venture may have changed. If the PO is no longer in a position to support you, a replacement needs to be found and approved by the ARC. Again, your Research Office will assist you with this process.
• Intellectual Property (IP) issues. Address IP issues from the start. You probably discussed these with your co-investigators at the time you developed your proposal. Now is the time to re-confirm your discussions and obtain the agreement of all investigators about the ownership of existing and project IP. If necessary, seek advice from your institution’s legal office.
• Publications. At the same time that you re-confirm IP issues, draw up a publications plan and agree on the basis for determining the order of authors for each intended publication. The agreement you reach about these issues should be included in your management plan.
• Identify and focus on key issues and results. If you are in the happy (but rare) situation of being fully funded, you will be able to proceed with the research plan as outlined in your proposal. Unfortunately most research grants are not fully funded and you need to identify the key research issue(s) that need to be addressed. In the case of either full or reduced funding, you must focus on outcomes and direct your resources to the research problem that is most likely to result in publication(s).
• The impact of reduced funding. If your research project has not been fully funded you will need to re-think your approach to the research problem and re-design the project in order to concentrate on what you determine are the key issues. Think about how best to achieve your expected outcomes and your personal research goals, and how to maximise your publication opportunities. Seek advice from your mentor on the best strategy to adopt.
• Explore other avenues of funding. You may be able to make up any funding shortfall from other sources. Your Faculty and/or School may have discretionary funds that can be used to top-up a successful research grant. If you are engaged in consultancy work, the consultancy fees you earn may, depending on your institution’s policies, be available for you to top-up your grant. Think also about collaborating with others in your field who are funded for similar projects. Alternatively, you can consider applying to another funding agency, but bear in mind that there is always a time lag between application and award. This latter option may be useful if you can separate out a discrete project from the overall research program. Also check the Deed of Agreement to ensure that your primary funding agency will allow you to use funds from other sources.
• Focus on achieving early results. The average research grant is awarded for 3 years and time goes by very fast. Plan to do everything important in the first year and write up your results by the end of that year. You need to get your papers submitted as soon as possible so that they will be published within 3 years. Remember, you will be relying on results from this project to prepare your next application, and the new application needs to be submitted well before the expiry of your current grant. Experienced researchers warn that where research is concerned, it’s always later than you think!
• Student projects. If you have sufficient funds and the research program can accommodate it, it is a good idea to build Honours and PhD student projects around the grant. Adopting this strategy will result in more publications and will form the foundation of your next grant. Note: students automatically own their IP unless it is formally assigned to the institution; seek advice from you legal office concerning student IP issues.

The following table outlines some of the objectives of a good project plan at the commencement phase of your project. These objectives apply to research projects of all sizes, and all disciplines. As well as identifying the objectives, the table provides insight into potential challenges and how to manage them.