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‘Supporting World Class Science’ conference – final programme

The final programme is now available for the S-Lab ‘Supporting World Class Science’ conference and awards dinner at King’s College, London on 1-3 September 2014.

Managing research contracts: Report for Brunswick Group October 2013

This report examines research contracts administration and includes benchmarking of resourcing levels and identifies best practice. Produced by Research Consulting for the Brunswick group of research intensive universities, October 2013.
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Jisc’s shared data centre boosts research efficiency

Jisc has developed a shared data centre for the UK’s academic research when others have tried unsuccessfully before. In this blog post, Jisc's Phil Richards explains the secret behind the project's success and shows how it is already boosting research efficiency for the founding members.
Peter Simpson, director of N8

Peter Simpson of N8: ‘deep collaboration is now the norm’

The N8 group of northern universities has a new director, Dr Peter Simpson. We caught up with the former AstraZeneca department head who nurtured collaborative projects at the pharmaceutical giant to find out his plans to encourage collaboration in higher education.

Making better use of spare lab capacity

An online tool that has been described as Airbnb for laboratories is enabling researchers for private sector firms in the USA to buy time in university laboratories with spare capacity, the Economist reports.
Unit DX Bristol Large Lab

Unit DX – a leaner approach to creating bio incubation centres

Unit DX opens its doors this month in the centre of Bristol, providing evidence of how universities' expertise is benefiting local economies. Created to solve...
Scientist using electron microscopy equipment

Sharing equipment – a welcome efficiency?

The dramatic cuts in capital funding in 2011 rocked academics working in scientific research. However as Lancaster University VC Mark Smith reports, this shock to the system has enabled the concept of equipment sharing to gain real ground.

Deal improves access to cloud and high performance computing for scientists

Researchers are beginning to rely on cloud computing to drive breakthrough science at breakneck speeds. An agreement between Jisc and Amazon Web Services in the UK makes it possible for all scientists to have their very own supercomputers in the cloud.

N8 highlights the impact of asset sharing across UK universities

The report, which reveals asset sharing's role in delivering innovation, increased productivity, and maximum value for public investment, helped to shape Thursday's Efficiency, Effectiveness and Value for Money report by Universities UK.

Developing and supporting a sharing culture

Collaboration has led to efficiencies in areas such as procurement and shared services, but it can be a challenge to embed this culture. The University of Nottingham’s Paul Greatrix shares his experiences of a successful collaboration with the University of Birmingham.