Sharing made easy – Jisc support for equipment sharing
From anechoic chambers to wind tunnels, mass spectrometers to supercomputers, institutions are increasingly looking to share high value items of research equipment. Martin Hamilton outlines how Jisc is working with a variety of partners to help embed and accelerate asset sharing.
CREST – Consortium for Research Excellence, Support and Training
Provides an innovative model for how to further research excellence and promote institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Kit-Catalogue – making sharing easier
Kit-Catalogue is a online database that can help universities to keep track of equipment, internal and external technology gaps and also to identify equipment sharing opportunities. Developed by Loughborough University and funded by Jisc, promotes better use of assets within and between institutions and makes them available for public and commercial application.
The efficient lab – maximising the use of scientific research equipment
The S-Lab programme aims to improve laboratory efficiency and effectiveness in all dimensions, including scientific value, resource efficiency and staff well-being. Director Peter James discusses the laboratory good practice and improvement ideas that that have emerged from the S-Lab award scheme and events.
Martin Farley: ‘my work should never harm the science, but rather aims to improve...
Straddling the disciplines of facilities management and scientific research support, the sustainable labs co-ordinator is an emerging role in universities. Rosie Niven meets Martin Farley, who became the first such appointment in the UK when he was hired by the University of Edinburgh and has since moved to King’s College London to take on a similar role.
Productive efficiencies in higher education – three case studies
These case studies were selected from the report ‘Making the best better – efficiency and effectiveness in higher education’, produced by Sarah Jackson of the N8 Research Partnership on secondment to BIS.
Raising the return – how do we do it?
In the final blogpost in our series on asset sharing, Sarah Jackson and Luke Georghiou say that despite the progress in this area, more work must be done to deliver full benefits.
UK research secures new national data centre
A new Jisc shared data centre housing the data of six leading UK scientific and academic organisations will enable the sharing of high volumes of data. The facility represents a significant example of asset sharing in the sector with the potential to deliver cost savings and reduce the procurement needs of institutions.
What are the real efficiencies from sharing equipment?
If sharing is largely collaborating then are we collaborating as much as we can? Or are we focussed on the need to collaborate more when actually such activity is fully optimised? Therefore is the question we should really be asking ourselves: “How can we become more efficient?” We have always needed partnering for knowledge or resource reasons, and we will continue to have these needs, possibly procured in more efficient processes. However, the business processes and support for our research equipment is where there is a real potential for more efficient and effective practice. Read more of this article in the July equipment.data e-newsletter.
Portsmouth University investigates sharing IT facilities with city schools
Portsmouth University, together with Portsmouth City Council, has won funding from the Higher Education Funding Council (Hefce) to investigate ways of sharing resources.
