Programme Director's Annual Report 2003 - Teaching and Learning ...

2003 TLRP annual report4 Progress of projectsNumber of projectsThe total number of awards during 2003 was 37, but the number of discretely managedTLRP research activities was 53. They were:• Phase I networks began in 2000 and ended in 2003. There have been 4 ofthese, within which, there were 15 projects.• Phase II projects began in 2001 and all end by 2005. There are 9 of these.• Scottish Extension projects began in 2003 and all end by 2005. There are 4 ofthese.• Phase III projects begin in 2003/4 and all end by 2008. There are 12 of these.• There have been 2 Career Development Fellows and 5 Research TrainingFellows.• During 2003 there have been 5 Thematic Groups working across theProgramme.• The Research capacity building network runs from 2002-2005.Project InvestigatorsThe total number of named award holders, across all phases of TLRP funded orcommissioned during 2003 is 110.The total number of contract research staff, engaged practitioners, technical andadministrative staff involved in the Programme is hard to quantify without criteria forinclusion and exclusion. In terms of ‘active researchers’ it is estimated that there weresome 300 involved in TLRP during 2003.Project Advisory Group meetingsTLRP strongly suggests to all projects that they establish Advisory Groups, andencourages critical friends to attend these. Half of Phase I networks have had anAdvisory Groups, two-thirds in Phase II, and all Phase III projects are expected tocreate them. The benefits of having such groups are readily apparent in terms offormalising relations with key users and providing interim opportunities to take stock.Project Site Visits and discussions by DT and SC critical friendsThe TLRP Directors’ Team and Steering Committee Critical Friends are associated withprojects on the basis of sectoral knowledge and expertise. They are thus, in principle,able to offer constructive support and critique to projects. On the basis of theirknowledge, they are often asked to advise on these projects, to comment on alterationsto awards or on any issues which may arise.The Directors’ Team has a performance goal of visiting or having substantial contactwith each project team at least twice a year. From the evidence of project reports, thisgoal was comfortably exceeded during 2003, with an average of 4.5 visits or substantialcontacts being recorded. There are normally particular reasons when the number ofcontacts is large. Whilst these may include a project in difficulty of some sort, a moreroutine reason relates to the stage that a project has reached, with coordination ofoutputs generating particular activity. In future, an ‘Output Summit Meeting’ for eachproject is being scheduled well before the end of funding to manage the impact anddissemination process more effectively. DT members are also responsible for9