Background
No single supplier produced IT system has been identified which supports the management and administration of a University's research programme from pre-award through to post-award.
Research management and administration includes programme management, costing, application submission, contract and project administration, monitoring and reporting. Universities commonly use a mixture of spreadsheets and databases, working alongside existing finance and administration systems to manage these activities.
Introducing RMAS
The Research Management and Administration System (RMAS) is a project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to procure, develop and implement a cloud-based pre-award through post-award system for HEIs that comprises independent, but interoperable modules.
Project Plan
The feasibility phase of RMAS commenced in November 2008. The key stages were to explore how institutions currently supported research administration, how much time and resource was involved and what existing systems were used, and from this to produce an outline statement of requirements and identify possible solutions.
The second part of the feasibility study was completed in January 2010, and recommended that a pathfinder group of three institutions work with the chosen supplier to implement an RMAS and to act as a showcase for other HEIs, demonstrating not only functionality but quantifying the benefits of the software solution.
The current phase of activity, due for completion in March 2012, will see the procurement, development and implementation of an RMAS solution across the three pathfinder HEIs (one of which is Sunderland) with a potential roll-out to other institutions to follow.
RMAS Modules
The three pathfinders identified nine distinct modules which will make up the framework:
All modules will be CERIF compliant to ensure interoperability and communicate using an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). This will enable HEIs to choose individual modules to achieve their required functionality whilst retaining the benefits of an integrated system. The ESB will also allow modules to “plug-and-play” with existing HEI systems.
Pathfinders
The three HEI pathfinders are:
- University of Exeter
- University of Kent
- University of Sunderland
For demonstration and validation purposes, each HEI will implement two RMAS modules and a local ESB. Sunderland will procure a new pre-award system and connect it to our existing costing and pricing system.
The three demonstrators will facilitate the formation of the RMAS framework, which other institutions will then be able to use to source various modules to meet their own needs.
RMAS System ArchitectureEfficiency Savings
By allowing HEIs to use existing systems with new cloud-based modules, it is estimated that RMAS will deliver efficiency savings of 10-20% of associated staff time by streamlining processes, removing inefficiencies, multiple data sets and duplicate data keying. In addition, an effective system would free up research active staff by providing an efficient tool to develop, monitor and progress awards.
Further Information
For more information please contact the Project Manager, Kevin Ginty - kevin.ginty@sunderland.ac.uk