© 2013 - all rights reservedby DLR e.V. and Thelsys GmbH

10 Challenges of EU Research Projects …

… and How to Surmount Them

Dr. Martin SpieckDLR – German Aerospace Center

Hamburg

(text version of presentation)

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Köln-Porz

Lampoldshausen

Stuttgart

Oberpfaffenhofen

Göttingen

Bonn

Trauen

Hamburg

Neustrelitz

Weilheim

ETW

DNW

Braunschweig

Bad Godesberg

Augsburg

Stade DLR is Germany's national research centre for aeronautics and space.

7400 employees 32 research institutes / scientific institutionslocated at8 sites,8 locations, and agencies in Brussels, Paris, Washington and Tokyo.

Participation of DLR at:European Transonic Wind Tunnel (ETW) Deutsch-Niederländische Windkanäle (DNW)

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Successful projects? successfulfailedchallenged

Que

lle: S

tand

ish G

roup

(Bos

ton,

MA,

USA

)

0%

20%

40%

10%

30%

50%

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004200 2006 2009

16%16%

31%31%

53%53%

27%27%

40%40%33%33%

26%26%28%28%

46%46%

28%28%23%23%

49%49%

34%34%

15%15%

51%51%

29%29%

18%18%

53%53%

35%35%

19%19%

46%46%

32%32%24%24%

44%44%

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(1) Research projects are special.

• Research = new territory, uncertainty• Nightmare situation for project managers

…… common reaction: micromanagement– provides illusion of control– slows down progress, impairs results– no other positive effects

• Quality, not quantity– scientific / technical know-how and experience

essential for reliable assessment of progress

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(2) There is no „silver bullet“ for proposals.

• A well planned and well written proposal is a prerequisite, not a guarantor of success

• There is no magic formula,(e.g. consortium or team composition, must-have trends, buzz-words) - exception: „EC vocabulary“

• A proposal is more than an elaborate project plan – possible guides for good proposals:marketing / popular science / business plan

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(3) A proposal has a target audience of three: the evaluators.

• The „first impression principle“ also applies for proposals ( you have app. 30 seconds)

• Evaluators have individual habits to start reading a proposal (exec. summary, abstract, 1st chapter, …)

• Make it easy for the evaluator to fill in his evaluation sheet evaluation sub-criteria

• Make an educated guess of who is going to evaluate your proposal

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(4) Smart project planning aligns individual agendas with the overall objectives.

• partners have to be committed – not necessarily to the project, but to their part

• when a proposal is being developed, most partners do not lay their cards on the table

• your tools: active listening, level of feedback, joint proposal writing (good test case)

• the higher art of project planning is:make it altruistic to be egoistic

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(5) It is not a good idea to focus on everything.

• Most research projects rest on three „pillars“: methodology, tools, results

• You cannot expect excellent achievements in all three of these areas

• A project is already excellent if– it delivers excellent achievements in one area,– provides „advanced level“ in another area,

and– achieves a pragmatic „average level“ in the

third.

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(6) Efficient management of large projects: the „project of projects“

• Large projects, i.e budget > 5 M€ or with more than12 partners, are difficult to handle

• Alternative to expensive management layer:split project into rel. independent sub-parts– minimises risk (of complete failure)– taps „hidden“ management resources (managers

with good technical/scientific know-how)

• requires autonomy for the sub-projects (= matter of trust)

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(7) Smart reporting: administrative duties do not have to be a bureaucratic burden.

• Periodic reports are a management tool• concentrate on the essential information• Make it really easy (<30 min.) for the

project team to create periodic reports …• … but enforce reasonale reporting

(meeting deadlines, proper facts)• It all starts with good prior planning• Rule of thumb:

12 reports per project / min. 3 per year

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(8) The purpose of a meeting is not to meet, it is to work.

• „7P“ (proper pre-meeting planning prevents poor performance)

• Distribute „status info“ (e.g. results) one week prior to the meeting …

• … and ensure that participants have digested them• Follow-up on action items briefly (!) at the beginning• Have at least half of meeting devoted to constructive

and/or collaborative issues• Don‘t waste the opportunity when everyone is at the

table: solve problems, plan ahead, get things done!

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(9) Always keep your officer informed.

• Your EC project officer is on your side:Your success is also his/her success

• Sell your project, but sell it honestly(the good, the bad, the ugly)

• A P.O. who feels deceived, out-of-the-loop or twitted will cover his/her back. Bad for you!

• Accept individual preferences or „spleens“• You are the PoC of your project – do not

accept „bypathing“ from partners

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(10)Mind the gap!Traps which migth be fatal for your project…

Scope creep„Is it O.K. to add just some features?“

Lip service supportWorking hard to be hardly working …

Exit of stakeholders„This number is temporarily unavailable.“

Loss of key personnel„Jack is no longer working here, but Joe has seen once how to do it …“

Political / dark agendas

… when failing is ultimate success.