COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, NURSING AND HEALTH SCIENCES
RESEARCH STRATEGIC PLAN
2012 - 2014
Table of Contents
SECTION 1:
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................ 2
MISSION.............................................................................................................................................................................. 2
VISION ................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
SECTION 2:
PLANNING OUR RESEARCH STRATEGY ................................................................................................. 2
SECTION 3:
RESEARCH SITUATION ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 3
STRENGTHS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3
WEAKNESSES........................................................................................................................................................................ 3
OPPORTUNITIES .................................................................................................................................................................... 3
THREATS.............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
SECTION 4:
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
KEY CONTEXT FOR THIS RESEARCH STRATEGIC PLAN ........................................................................... 4
FUNDERS ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
GALWAY AND ROSCOMMON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL GROUP (GRUHG) ............................................................................. 4
PRIMARY AND COMMUNITY CARE............................................................................................................................... 4
POLICY .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
SECTION 5:
ACTIONS TO PROMOTE AND INCENTIVISE RESEARCH .......................................................................... 6
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
OPTIMISE GRANT WRITING CAPABILITY ....................................................................................................................... 6
CORE FUNDING FOR RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................. 6
EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE UTILIZATION ..................................................................................................... 7
PHYSICAL SPACE ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
MORE DIRECT LINKS WITH GRUHG AND OTHER KEY CLINICAL PARTNERS FOR CO-DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH AND CLINICAL
PROGRAMMES ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7
5.6
ACADEMIC STAFF RECRUITMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................................... 8
5.7
POSTGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................... 8
5.8
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................ 9
5.9
COLLEGE RESEARCH WEBSITE .................................................................................................................................... 9
5.10
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT............................................................................................................................................... 9
SECTION 6:
MEASURING OUR SUCCESS .................................................................................................................11
SECTION 7:
GOALS, ACTIONS AND INDICATORS ...................................................................................................12
APPENDIX A:
IRRP REVIEWER REPORTS AND ACTION PLANS ...................................................................................14
APPENDIX B:
RESEARCH RISK REGISTRY ...................................................................................................................22
APPENDIX C:
IRRP SELF ASSESSMENT REPORTS .......................................................................................................23
SECTION 1: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The Strategic Plan will outline the current situation and context of the College research strategy. It proposes
a set of realistic actions which will facilitate the success of the overarching goal, that the College undertakes
research that brings tangible benefits to patients, populations, to health and healthcare in our region and
beyond.
The College has the following research mission and vision statements:
MISSION
To formulate College strategy on research direction, to encourage relevant research activity within its three
Schools and each of their disciplines, to support all collaborative and individual research within defined
priority areas of College research, and respond to national and international healthcare needs and funding
initiatives.
VISION
Research of high quality that brings tangible benefits to patients, populations and to health and healthcare
in our region and beyond, by capitalising on our position at the interface of academic endeavour and the
health sector, and through the effective mobilisation of collaborative and individual research activity across
our three Schools and their disciplines.
SECTION 2: PLANNING OUR RESEARCH STRATEGY
The purpose of the strategic plan is to identify immediate actions to facilitate the research activity of
academic staff as well as to highlight future potential areas of development, so as to increase the overall
research performance across the College and its Schools.
This strategic plan will focus on ways to advance College research at a “macro” level, by proposing actions
that take place at the levels of how research is promoted, funded and organized in our College and to ensure
transparency at all stages. The College strategic plan for research is consistent with the University plan, and
supports individual School and smaller units working within the boundaries of the College strategic plan for
research. Our strategy is also informed by the key recommendations of recent reports from Irish
government agencies, including the Health Research Board, Department of Health and Children, HSE, Forfas
and Advisory Science Council.
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SECTION 3: RESEARCH SITUATION ANALYSIS
The College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) has engaged in the institutional review of
research performance (IRRP) via its three schools and the situation analysis prepared for the IRRP constitutes
the current state of research activity. The IRRP reports (Appendix A and Appendix C) and recommendation
(Appendix A) have been incorporated into the actions of this strategic plan.
STRENGTHS
The CMNHS has established infrastructural strengths, notably the Clinical Research Facility
(CRF)/Translational Research Facility (TRF), and the Science Research Building (currently under construction).
Research programme strengths include stem cell and gene therapy, neuroscience, cancer research,
population health sciences including a WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promotion Research, mental
health and clinical research in chronic disease management including cardiovascular disease diabetes, and
gestational diabetes. Furthermore, clinics in podiatry and speech and language therapy enable ready access
to specific clinical populations in a single location. The College has substantial expertise in the design,
conduct and analysis of high quality clinical trials and in systematic review methodology, mixed methods and
qualitative methodologies. A further strength of the College is the inter-professional and interdisciplinary
staff that enables high quality interdisciplinary research.
WEAKNESSES
Continuing delay in building the Human Biology Building compromises the ability to develop further in the
biomedical sciences area. The College is weak in soft infrastructure for supporting research such as core
facilities and staff, bibliometrics, and support for career development of researchers. The College lacks a
review mechanism to support the most competitive submissions for large bids. No dedicated research
budget exists in the College and funding streams for research students are not clearly identified for their
support. As a College, there is a high percentage of staff who have yet to complete their PhD and many of
these staff are necessarily engaged therefore on their PhD work. However, some academic staff have little
research activity, with little incentive to become more research active.
OPPORTUNITIES
The CMNHS can capitalize on recent infrastructural developments to complement those with soft
infrastructural support for research. The inter-professional and interdisciplinary mix of staff across the
College make it easier to build collaborative networks of researchers across the College with the potential to
respond to calls rapidly.
THREATS
Failure to continue to develop research productivity may result in lower research income to CMNHS, loss of
reputation, and failure to attract and retain the best staff. As staffing levels decrease and teaching loads
increase, there is a potential that research outputs will be damaged further.
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SECTION 4: KEY CONTEXT FOR THIS RESEARCH STRATEGIC PLAN
4.1
FUNDERS
Increasingly, research funders are focussing on applied research with the potential for economic benefits in
the short to medium term. In the health research sphere, this results in a change in funding emphasis
towards more translational research rather than basic science and towards health services research. Funders
also value demonstrable inter-institutional collaborations, ideally international. As funding has reduced, the
environment has become increasingly competitive for all levels of internal and external funding
opportunities.
4.2
GALWAY AND ROSCOMMON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL GROUP (GRUHG)
GRUHG is the largest healthcare provider in the country. The clinical practice allows internationally
competitive research streams to be developed. The University has contributed enormously to the delivery
of clinical care and currently has several Professors / PIs functioning in clinical and research programmes.
The Institution is one of the top four Cancer Centres in the country because of case distribution and
geographic location and requires academic and University input into each Cancer Programme. Furthermore,
as research is an increasing requirement for advanced nursing and midwifery practitioners, there are
increased research opportunities which could be explored in those disciplines.
Increasingly close alignment of vision between the leadership of GRUHG and NUI Galway is now evident.
These institutions have collaborated to establish the jointly-governed CRF, which will be built as an
integrated unit of GRUHG, along with the TRF. Senior level engagement takes place via the liaison committee
which has explored models of joint working with mutual benefits.
Within the regional Academy structure of the School of Medicine in NUI Galway, affiliated to regional
general hospitals, clinical, population and health services research are important activities. In particular this
is important for undergraduate students who will observe the interaction between ongoing patient related
research and clinical activity. It is also important for doctors in training and more senior doctors who are
module leaders, as the research activity may feed into updates of the educational programme in each
module. The foundations of research activity are already established in the Academies and we are building
on this in a number of ways.
4.3
PRIMARY AND COMMUNITY CARE
The Department of Health and Children recognised that ‘a key component of a high quality system is a high
performing research and academic community’ (2001). While resources had been slow to follow this
strategic direction, recently the HRB announced that their investment will increasingly focus on patientoriented research, clinical including applied biomedical research, as well as health services and population
health sciences research. In this context, the College is well placed to capitalise on this burgeoning potential.
Research currently being conducted together with the potential for greater interdisciplinary and
collaborative research helps this positioning across the College. The well established WestWREN network,
the Health Promotion pillar in population health research, the emerging area of social care research within
Health Sciences as well as other existing strengths provide a capability which is aligned in this direction.
4.4
POLICY
The College is committed to continuing its contribution to national and international policy and practice in
health and social care. In addition to our input to European Health Policy developments such as the World
Health Organisation ‘Health 2020’ initiative, we draw on our international and cross-national research to
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inform and guide national and regional policy and practice development in Ireland. The forthcoming national
Health and Wellbeing policy and the Framework for Action of the Health Services Executive will provide the
structure for this work over the coming period. The goal of having ‘health in all policies’ at a national level is
well served by our contributions in the areas of population health, including health promotion, nursing and
midwifery, and therapy disciplines. The College has maintained a leading role in health research policy via
the Health Research Board, Molecular Medicine Ireland and other state bodies.
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SECTION 5: ACTIONS TO PROMOTE AND INCENTIVISE RESEARCH
5.1
OPTIMISE GRANT WRITING CAPABILITY
Action: To establish a grant writing programme with the goal of increasing external research grant income,
which will include the following elements:
a) Improve grant writing numbers and skills among our academic staff with a particular focus on
postdoctoral researchers and newly appointed academic members and staff.
b) Develop a rolling year round grant writing skills programme that will focus on identifying grant
application opportunities, how to plan successful grant applications, and develop specific skills
related to formulating, writing and proofing scientific / medical grant applications
c) Include practical review sessions for investigators planning grant applications within a peerreview system for grant writers to ensure before submission that the authors have received
internal College critical feedback
d) Conduct mock interviews for fellowship candidates
e) Focus on scientific / medical writing skills among PhD students, MB students, postdoctoral
researchers and junior academic staff.
f) Public engagement skills
Rationale: In the current economic climate a strategic approach to targeting funding will ensure the right
researchers are applying for funding within their strongest scientific remit and for which they are most
competitive for their career stage. Developing and maintaining close links with funders, directly and via
close communication with the University Research Office are essential. This will ensure that the College is
aware of upcoming funding calls, both well in advance of the deadlines and in terms of the remit and scope.
This information will enable the College/University to provide the necessary support and review of
applications that is required to aid applicants to submit a complete and competitive application.
5.2
CORE FUNDING FOR RESEARCH
Action: To identify income from research overheads and RGAM related to graduate research students, which
could be separated from general funding and used to incentivise research.
Rationale: A major deficiency in the College’s current approach to research is the lack of a defined budget to
incentivize and support research. Research generates significant funding to the University from a number of
streams. Research grants bring overhead funds, and postgraduate research students account for a significant
portion of the Universities block grant allocation from the HEA. However, those funds are “mixed” with
other funding streams and are not easy to tap for indirect support of research at the level of the College.
Research support, particularly for soft infrastructure such as core facilities and research
technicians/assistants could be significantly augmented if such indirect funds could be earmarked. Such a
designated funding stream would also incentivize research productivity.
To address this deficit, we propose that College recurrent grant related to post graduate research student
FTEs be separated from the remainder and allocated or used strategically to incentivise and support research
at discipline level through a transparent process. Research grant overhead funds should also be shared with
academic units that obtain the funds in a transparent way, rather than the ad hoc approach that is currently
employed.
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5.3
EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE UTILIZATION
Action: Optimise efficient utilisation of resources within the College to support research, including core
facilities, technical staff, scientific instruments, data sets, know-how and expertise. Secure additional
operational funding for the CRF/TRF
Rationale: Core facilities are extraordinarily valuable for enhancing research activity and the University has
established core facilities including imaging, Mass spectrometry, Flow cytometry, Screening, Animal facilities
(locally organized at different sites), as well as other strategic research clusters that provide a critical
accumulation of skills throughout the College. All of these facilities are of central importance within the
College and their collaborators across the University and at external institutions. Of particular concern are
the animal facilities; these facilities are essential to research within the College but are currently illsupported in terms of space, quality of space and staffing levels. There are also additional threats to the
supply of laboratory animals. The current function and future growth of these facilities requires a
commitment to covering maintenance costs as well as the cost of periodic staff retraining to ensure that the
College can keep pace with technological advances. In parallel with the IRRP, the College Research
Committee recommends a process to establish and fund research core facilities and clusters across all
Schools of the College.
The future vitality of the CRF and TRF is essential to the research productivity of the College. Funding of CRF
/TRF must be secured through retaining HSE and HRB financial commitments, allowing for recruitment of
CRF staff, ongoing integration of the CRF into a national network with the other Irish CRFs, and expansion of
the CRF’s activities with its academic and industrial partners.
5.4
PHYSICAL SPACE
Action: Continue to press for commencement of building projects:
a. CRF /TRF
b. Human Biology
c. The Medical Academies
Rationale: The College must ensure that adequate physical resources are provided to allow the healthy
development and expansion of the excellent research potential that exists here in Galway. Ideally, research
and teaching take place side-by-side to expose students to the excitement and value of research. Moreover,
researchers should be involved in teaching students. Plans are at an advanced stage for several buildings to
be developed for clinical and translational research (CRF/TRF), basic science (SRB) and pre-clinical science
(HBB). In order to make this happen, the University must deliver on physical resources needed to support
research, specifically Human Biology Building, CRF/TRF, and space for health services research. Furthermore,
the University must prioritize the development of space for population health sciences and health services
research, which are currently fragmented across the campus with very limited scope for expansion to new
researchers. The potential of the Medical Academies to contribute in these areas is hampered also by the
delay in the capital programme on each hospital site.
5.5
MORE DIRECT LINKS WITH GRUHG AND OTHER KEY CLINICAL PARTNERS FOR CO-DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH
AND CLINICAL PROGRAMMES
Action: Continuing engagement with HSE West, GRUHG, other clinical partners and the regional Medical
Academies to fully harness the research potential within these institutions.
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a. Incentivise academically productive consultants and other health professional in all clinical settings
to collaborate in research
b. Encourage HSE members affiliated with the College to use NUI Galway as an affiliation on their
papers
c. Specifically support key established research strengths, including
i. Cancer Research
ii. Regenerative Medicine
iii. Cardiovascular disease and Diabetes research
iv. Neuroscience
v. Health Promotion Research
vi. Population Health Research and Health Services Research
Rationale: The synergies available from collaborative research with our clinical partners provide a key
resource. These areas need to be developed and maximized. Potential incentives to collaborate more
closely with the College might include: formal honorary membership of College; access to research resources
such as the eLibrary and email; placement of research profile on University IRIS system; mentorship in career
development; internal review of manuscripts prior to submission for publication; and access to University
funding schemes to meet publication costs where relevant. Certain key clinical and research strengths are
becoming aligned at NUI Galway, GUH and other clinical settings. These areas provide opportunities for
additional reputational enhancement and growth, which should be capitalized on.
5.6
ACADEMIC STAFF RECRUITMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Action:
a. Agree a Strategic Staff Development and Staff Recruitment Plan
b. Explore alternative streams of workload allocation to academic staff according to research
productivity levels
Rationale: The research potential of the College depends critically on the research ability of its academic
staff. Academic staff recruitment seeks to identify individuals with the greatest potential in both teaching
and research. We propose that research track record and promise should become the most important
factors in designing specific academic posts and in selecting candidates for appointment to those posts, and
that this should be done via a strategic plan for staff development. The IRRP exercise has revealed that
research activity levels vary greatly among academic staff. Total workloads could be re-balanced to reflect
this variation, resulting in enhanced research productivity for those staff best able to conduct high quality
research programmes.
5.7
POSTGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH
Action: Improve the support for postgraduate students within the College through clear guidelines, which
will be available centrally and updated as necessary. To maintain and enhance Postgraduate research in the
College with a focus on:
a. Quality, recruitment, student completion, infrastructure and resources
b. To maintain and continue to develop the structured PhD and MD programmes
c. To maintain and continue to develop the Research Masters degree programmes
8
Rationale: The guidelines will provide a clear, step-by-step, guide to all aspects of processing postgraduate
research students from initial enquires to admission, registration, thesis submission and conferring. They
will also contain additional information on key contact points, reporting hierarchy and documents/forms
required by staff and students. Continued development of higher research programmes and strategies to
increase recruitment, completion rates and support structures for research students will enable the College
to harness this key area for increasing research outputs and income across all Schools.
5.8
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH
Actions: Expand existing supports within Schools and College as described
Rationale: Participation in research is encouraged amongst undergraduate students across the College
through final year research projects and/or short summer research projects. Some supports are currently in
place to help students pair with mentors of similar research interests, apply for external and internal funding
and Schools will be encouraged to expand and build upon these structures. An induction day is provided for
incoming students and research findings are reported in the a range of events held by the Schools. We
recommend that the College expands the support for undergraduate student participation in research and
recognizes the invaluable synergy this programme represents contributing to both broader student
perspective and staff research output. Securing continued success will be aided by the improved collation
and visibility of outputs and impact of this research.
5.9
COLLEGE RESEARCH WEBSITE
Action: An immediate review of the content and layout of the research related sections of the College
website to present a clear, concise summary of the breath and strength of research being carried out across
the College.
Rationale: This is particularly important externally as the website is often the first port of call for potential
students, researchers and for reviewer selection by journals and funding bodies. The College website as it
pertains to academic staff research profiles will be expanded to provide key information and links needed by
prospective researchers, students and other externals who are looking for an overview of research areas,
courses, facilities and opportunities in the College. The link to School research sections will be maintained
and in line with the new Institutional Research Information System, enabling staff research profiles to be
reviewed and updated with greater ease and thus more regularly.
5.10
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Action: Provide a public forum for the communication of advances in human health and care in collaboration
with local care organizations. Measure the impact of this strategy by public post-event feedback forms as
part of an event series ‘Medicine and Health for the Public’.
Rationale: Increasingly, funding bodies aim to identify and reward the impact that excellent research has
had on society, policy, culture and the economy. As such, the College and individual researchers must be
aware of and respond to this changing environment where dissemination and impact of research must
extend beyond academia. Civic engagement in the community will contribute to the College mission by
raising awareness of medical illnesses and their treatment, by demystifying medicine for the public, by
having a positive impact on the perception of research participation and through creating a face for the
College in the public eye. Undergraduate and graduate professional development may converge with these
9
goals by providing students with the opportunity to engage with the public and develop values through
experiential learning as an integral element of the way of perceiving of and living with others in a social
context and increasing their awareness of the sensitivities of lay communication in their profession. Support
for innovative and participative multi-media engagement with all research stakeholders, including the
general public, must be provided and sustained.
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SECTION 6: MEASURING OUR SUCCESS
We will be assessed by key performance indicators:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total number of citations received on articles published by the staff
A metric that indicates the standing of the discipline/college level (“H” index)
Total number of publications (different types)
PhD/MD students graduated
Grant applications submitted
Grant income
These indicators are ranked in order of value and importance. These indicators will be used at a School and
Discipline level and will be reported as activity accrued over the last 5 years.
The first three metrics will be gathered by the Research Office and derived from the ISI-Web of Science
database using “Address” based searches designed to capture all peer reviewed publications. The accuracy
of the list will then be assessed by each academic staff member. The following three metrics, students
graduated, grants submitted and grant income, will also be gathered by the Research Office from data
submitted by each academic staff member.
These internal assessment activities will be coupled with benchmarking performed through the Research
Office. Benchmarking the research productivity is key as it establishes the relative performance of the
School’s researchers with respect to similarly organized Universities within Ireland.
The assessment of these indicators will allow a yearly appraisal of changes in research productivity across
the College and individual Schools and so can inform choices about the allocation of resources and the
impact of strategic decisions. The responsibility for measuring our success lies with the College Research
Committee
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SECTION 7:
GOALS, ACTIONS AND INDICATORS
Key Goals
Research & Funding
Actions
Indicators
Responsibility of
Grant writing
To establish a grant writing programme with the goal of increasing external research grant
income, which will include the following elements:
a. Improve grant writing numbers and skills among our academic staff
b. Develop a rolling year round grant writing skills programme
c. Practical review sessions for investigators planning grant applications within a peerreview system
d. Conduct mock interviews for fellowship candidates
e. Focus on scientific / medical writing skills among PhD students, MB students,
postdoctoral researchers and junior academic staff.
f. Public engagement skills
• Grant applications submitted
• Grant income
• Patents, spin off companies
Core funding
To identify income from research overheads and RGAM related to graduate research
students, which could be separated from general funding and used to incentivise research.
• Income from PhD/MD/Masters
students registered
Vice dean of graduate
studies
Heads of School
Websites
An immediate review of the content and layout of the research related sections of the
College website to present a clear, concise summary of the breath and strength of research
being carried out across the College.
• Postgraduate research student
interest/applications
• Visibility of College staff
profiles
Vice dean of research
Heads of School
Postgraduate
research
Improve the support for postgraduate students within the College through clear
guidelines, which will be available centrally and updated as necessary. To maintain and
enhance Postgraduate research in the College with a focus on:
• Quality, recruitment, student completion, infrastructure and resources
• To maintain and continue to develop the structured PhD and MD programmes
• To maintain and continue to develop the Research Masters degree programmes
• Total number of publications
• PhD/MD/Masters students
graduated
• Grant applications submitted
• Grant income
Vice dean of graduate
studies
Graduate Studies
Committee
Undergraduate
research
Expand existing supports within Schools and College as described
• Total number of publications
• Grant applications submitted
• Grant income
Vice dean of research
Heads of School
Heads of School
People & Environment
Resource
utilisation
Optimise efficient utilisation of resources within the College to support research, including
core facilities, technical staff, scientific instruments, data sets, know-how and expertise.
Secure additional operational funding for the CRF/TRF
• Total number of publications
• PhD/MD students graduated
• Grant applications submitted
Dean
Heads of School
Vice dean of research
12
• Grant income
Links with
GRUHG &
clinical partners
Continuing engagement with HSE West, GRUHG, other clinical partners and the regional
Medical
Academies to fully harness the research potential within these institutions.
Incentivise academically productive consultants and other health professional in all clinical
settings to collaborate in research.
Encourage HSE members affiliated with the College to use NUI Galway as an affiliation on
their papers.
Specifically support key established research strengths
Academic Staff
recruitment
Agree a Strategic Staff Development and Staff Recruitment Plan
Explore alternative streams of workload allocation to academic staff according to research
productivity levels
Physical space
Continue to press for commencement of building projects:
• CRF /TRF
• Human Biology
• The Medical Academies
Public
engagement
Provide a public forum for the communication of advances in human health and care in
collaboration with local care organizations. Measure the impact of this strategy by public
post-event feedback forms.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total number of citations
H” index
Total number of publications
Grant applications submitted
Grant income
Interdisciplinary collaborations
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total number of publications
PhD/MD students graduated
Grant applications submitted
Grant income
Total number of publications
PhD/MD/Masters students
graduated
• Grant applications submitted
• Grant income
• Income from PhD/MD/Masters
students registered
• Total number of citations
• H” index
• Grant income
Director of strategic
development
Dean
Heads of School
Vice dean of research
Director of strategic
development
Dean
Heads of School
Director of strategic
development
Dean
Director of strategic
development
College Executive
Heads of School
Vice dean of research
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