UCT Research Facilities Management Project

Notice of meeting

Thursday 7 March, 14:00-15:30

Health Sciences Library, Level 8 Meeting Room

Repeated

Tuesday 12 March, 09:00-10:30

Research Office Seminar Room, Ist Floor Allan Cormack House, 2 Rhodes Avenue, Mowbray

Background

5617687776. multi-instrument facilities have expressed the need to better manage their resources by means of a central booking and billing system.   The management of instruments, software and services poses a considerable administrative burden in each facility; and forecasting and budgeting is erratic without accurate usage statistics. UCT eResearch conducted an initial investigation of software solutions, supported by a proof of concept in partnership with the Electron Microscope Unit in the Aaron Klug Centre for Imaging and Analysis.  Mandated by the DVC Research and Internationalisation to extend the investigation to include both infrastructure and the human resources providing critical support to users of the facilities, consultations with a number of user groups have reflected wide interest in the utilisation of a shared facilities management system.

The second phase of the project culminated in a university wide survey to map the needs and variances across Faculties, and the purpose of this meeting is to report back to the user community on survey results and software recommendations.

The IT Investment and Prioritisation Committee (ITIPC) funded this initiative in 2018-2019 based on the initial proof of concept.  The final recommendations of the user community will be considered in this meeting, to guide the selection of the most suitable solution.

Draft agenda

1. Welcome and apologies
2. Background to the Research facilities management project
3. Survey results
4. Software matrix
5. Multi-tenancy licensing model
6. Final recommendations
7. AoB