The aim of this project was to strengthen the supporting role of the project control support staff in externally funded research projects in both the pre-award and post-award phases. This included improving the process of preparing the project budget. Various activities were carried out and successfully completed within the project.

Budgeting module 

To streamline the budgeting process, a budgeting module was developed for common grants from funding organisations such as the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the EU. This saves time for both researchers and the project control support staff. Colleagues from various domains have been closely involved in developing and testing this module. The budgeting module is now being actively used within the organisation by the project control support staff. 

Knowledge sessions and workshops 

During the project, various knowledge sessions and workshops were held to encourage the exchange of knowledge and experiences. The subjects covered included creating a project file, the guidelines of the Horizon Europe programme (presented by RVO in collaboration with LUMC) and the role of project control support staff. In addition, a training course was offered aimed at developing your influencing skills.

Knowledge sharing

In the field of knowledge sharing, the SharePoint Project Control site was restructured and expanded with relevant documents and formats for the financial management of research projects. Among other things, Q&A on the time recording process were made available for support staff and researchers.

Mapping out processes 

The award and post-award processes have been mapped out and represented in process flows with the corresponding allocation of tasks to different staff members. The post-award processes are divided into initiating financial management, monitoring, reporting and the closing phase. The process flows give a good insight into the working methods within the various project phases and served as the basis for project 5B, the preparation of project management tooling.

Further improvement of processes and knowledge sharing

Although the project has been completed, structural efforts will continue to be made to further improve processes and knowledge sharing relating to financial project management at Leiden University. The various activities will be coordinated from the Coordinators’ Consultation on Project Control (COP). For questions about the COP or suggestions on improving project financial management processes, please contact Petra Kamer, Project Management Coordinator (FIN).