Embrc - European Marine Biological Resource Centre

WP 1

Management of the preparatory phase

Lead beneficiary number 1 (SZN)

Objectives

The overall objectives of WP1 are to efficiently manage the operation of the preparatory phase project, to enable strategic decisions to be taken by the governing boards, i.e. the Steering Committee (SC) and the General Assembly (GA), and to deliver the consortium documents necessary to initiate the construction phase.

Specific objectives include:

1. Overseeing the management activities of work packages and linking their activities together;
2. Maintaining communication between WPs and the SC and GA;
3. Organizing GA and SC meetings in coordination with other WPs;
4. Reporting to the EC and other stakeholders;
5. Formulating a business plan for implementation of the EMBRC based on the input from all WPs.

Description of work and role of partners

WP1 will be led by partner 1 (SZN) with input from all other partners.

Task 1.1: Establish a management team for the preparatory phase.

A Management Team (MT) will be formed (D1.2) to assist the Coordinator, the SC and WP coordinators in their tasks. A Management Office (MO) will be installed at partner 1 (SZN), composed of a Project Manager (PM) and an Assistant Project Manager (APM). The coordinating institute will select and appoint the PM and APM. WP coordinators will select and appoint WP managers, according to respective WP requirements. The network of persons appointed in the context of ppEMBRC in the various partner institutes will be coordinated by the PM.

Task 1.2: Establish and operate archiving and communication systems.

An electronic filing system with secure back-up will be implemented by the MT in order to archive all documents and other information pertinent to ppEMBRC for the period it is legally bound to do so (D1.3). The MT will assist WP11 in design, implementation, and publicising the ppEMBRC website. The MT will coordinate video- and tele-conferencing within the network. The MT will interact with the outreach project officer (WP11) to ensure timely dissemination of information and publicity relating to the project. It will also liaise closely with WP9 and WP10 to facilitate embedding EMBRC with the stakeholder community and end users of the future EMBRC infrastructure.

Task 1.3 Report on progress relative to the work plan

At the end of each year of ppEMBRC, the coordinator assisted by the MT will collect information on the progress of ppEMBRC activities relative to the work plan from all WP coordinators and partner institutes and prepare reports (D1.4) for the EC as well as national and regional stakeholders.

Task 1.4: Organize general meetings.

A series of general meetings will take place within the preparatory phase of EMBRC. The coordinator assisted by the MT will be responsible for organizing these meetings and for preparing all documentation pertinent to them. Meetings will include:

• General Assembly: three meetings; kick off (D1.1, M1.1), mid-term, and final (D1.5).
• Steering Committee and WP leaders: at least every six months (D1.6);

WP 2

Planning of top-quality research services: Strategic work

Lead beneficiary number 6 (MBA)

Objectives

1. To identify key scientific and technological themes relevant to EMBRC functioning and to evaluate existing capacities within these thematic areas.
2. To provide a strategic plan for interoperability of these capacities and short-, medium-, and long-term integration of existing and novel cutting-edge techniques and technologies.
3. To identify gaps in the provision of infrastructure and to identify the need for new infrastructure based on the overall scientific vision.
4. To define a recurrent scientific and technological review process for the future EMBRC.

Description of work and role of partners

Large-scale state-of-the-art facilities, frontier research and high quality services are at the heart of the EMBRC vision. WP2 will identify scientific and technological capacities, challenges, and opportunities in the context of the needs of the user communities (academic, government, industry) and will carry out the strategic planning required to deliver the appropriate infrastructure. A homologous process will need to be conducted on a regular basis throughout the lifetime of EMBRC in order to maintain standards of excellence and adapt to evolving user requirements. WP2 will interact with WP3 (planning e-infrastructure) and WP4 (construction plans), which in turn will inform the review process undertaken in WP2. WP2 will inform WP5 (legal work), WP6 (financial planning), WP8 (human resources provision), and the EMBRC business plan (WP1).

WP2 will be led by partner 6 with substantial input from partners 1, 3b, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11 and will involve all other partners.

Task 2.1: To identify key scientific and technological themes relevant to EMBRC functioning and to evaluate existing capacities within these thematic areas. To connect and refer to IAB and D 10.6 (intermediate RUG) for input.

The EMBRC encompasses an extremely broad range of scientific disciplines, technological platforms and services for which cross-network coordination, joint strategic planning, and continual innovation are essential. At the outset of ppEMBRC, the WP2 management team will formulate a preliminary list of key thematic areas relevant to EMBRC functioning. The initial bottom-up approach of this task will consist of soliciting input from in-house infrastructure users and the researchers and technical staff who contribute to operation of facilities and provision of services concerning the content of this list, existing capacities, and expressions of interest for participation in thematic working groups. The Director (or a designated representative) of each EMBRC partner institute will be responsible for collating the information from his/her institute and the WP2 management team will subsequently synthesize this information into a report to the SC on key thematic areas relevant to EMBRC functioning (D2.1). This task will be performed in close collaboration with the survey of existing physical infrastructures in WP4 (task 4.1) and the survey of existing human resources in WP8 (task 8.1).

Task 2.2: To provide a strategic plan for interoperability of these capacities and short-, medium-, and long-term integration of novel cutting-edge techniques and technologies.

The SC will validate the list of thematic working groups using a set of criteria including cross-cutting relevance to EMBRC functioning and expression of interest from at least three partner institutes. If deemed necessary, the SC will advise the WP2 management team to solicit input on alternative themes. A coordinator will be appointed for each working group, by consensus of working group members when possible, with arbitration by the SC if necessary. Each working group will be charged with (1) reviewing the scientific, technological and regulatory state-of-the-art in the relevant domain within and external to the EMBRC, (2) quantifying user demand and projecting this over different time-scales, (3) identifying and assessing options for interoperability of existing capacities, enhancement of these capacities with existing techniques and technologies, and development and integration of new techniques and technologies (including knowledge/technology transfer from related domains), (4) jointly formulating a strategic plan clearly stating immediate, medium-term (5 year) and longer-term (10 year) priorities, and (5) evaluating the infrastructure that would be required to implement this plan. Working groups will consult widely with researchers outside the EMBRC network and connect and refer to IAB and D 10.6 (intermediate RUG) for input, as well as other users and stakeholders (liaison with WP9) during this process. Working groups will function mostly by electronic communication or by exploiting pre-existing opportunities for meeting where possible. Each working group will have nine months to produce a draft white paper detailing the strategic plan in the relevant domain. These will then be submitted for broad discussion and critical assessment to a forum comprising the SC, Institute Directors, representatives of the user community (academic, industry, government) and stakeholders during a workshop session to be held at the year 1 end meeting. The working groups will then have six months to refine their strategic plans in light of recommendations of the forum, before submission to the GA for final validation. The WP2 management team will then combine the individual strategic plans to form the Initial scientific strategy report (D2.2, M2.1). This document will be a major driver for aspects of WP1 (business strategy), WP3 (e-infrastructure planning) and WP4 (construction plans). It will be updated at a later stage of ppEMBRC (Final Scientific Strategy Report D2.5) and will represent one of the major outputs of the preparatory phase designed to showcase the EMBRC vision.

Task 2.3: To identify gaps in the provision of infrastructure and to identify the need for new infrastructure based on the scientific strategy document and the requirements of users (academic, industry, government):

The information in D4.1 and D4.2 (survey of existing infrastructure) will represent the starting point for activities in this task. A workshop session will be organized in the latter stages of the mid-term GA meeting with involvement of representatives of technical work packages (WPs 5-8), institute Directors, potential new members (identified in WP9), users and stakeholders (liaison with WP9 and WP10) to identify gaps in existing or planned infrastructure and to decide priorities for new infrastructure based on D2.2 (the scientific strategy report) and D1.7 (EMBRC vision). The output of this task will be a strategic report on new infrastructure requirements (D2.3, M2.2) drafted by the WP2 management team that will also consider the need to decommission or stop some activities in order to provide headroom for identified new development. The report will provide the basis for future construction plans (WP4.3) and therefore financial planning (WP6) and the EMBRC business plan (WP1).

Task 2.4: Define a scientific and technological review system for the future EMBRC.

Once the overall review and strategic planning processes described in tasks 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 have been completed, the WP2 management team will analyze their performance in light of experience gained in order to provide recommendations for a recurrent scientific and technological review system that will be implemented during the construction and operational phases of EMBRC. This report (D2.5) will be delivered to the MT for inclusion in the business plan (WP1).

WP 3

Planning E-infrastructure

Lead beneficiary number 11 (EMBL)

Objectives

1. Assessing the requirements for a marine bioinformatics e-infrastructure (for external and internal access).
2. Detailed evaluation of potential e-workflow scenarios.
3. Production of a blueprint including technical benchmarking for a future EMBRC e- infrastructure.

Description of work and role of partners

Context

A fully integrated, well-designed, high quality, trans-national e-infrastructure constitutes an absolute requirement for EMBRC. This includes an integrated and standardized hardware setup as well as data acquisition and processing pipelines. The specific aim of this work package is to survey EMBRC’s bioinformatics needs, test potential work-flows to satisfy these needs, and based on these propose a plan for the requirements of a high quality, co-ordinated, transnational e-infrastructure capable of interconnecting, integrating, processing, storing and providing user-friendly access to the totality of marine biological information.

The development of the e-infrastructure is clearly transversal and critical to the entire functioning of the EMBRC concept and hence specific funds have been allocated to partners with highly relevant previous experience, ongoing interest, and complementary expertise in this domain.

Needs: A versatile e-infrastructure must be designed according to the needs of partners, end-users and stakeholders in a rapidly changing, dynamic research environment. ‘Omics’ approaches, in particular next generation sequencing technologies produce marine genomics and metagenomics data of unprecedented quantity and quality. The future EMBRC e-infrastructure has to allow processing, integration and access to these data and correspondingly has to possess high storage and computer capacity as well as the necessary network bandwidth.

Integration and standardization: It is absolutely key for the functioning of EMBRC that data acquired by various EMBRC partners and users are integrated and are accessible to the wider user community. Additionally, data must be compatible with e-infrastructure systems used by ELIXIR and by national and international partner organizations of the individual EMBRC member institutes. This requires the establishment of standardized data acquisition, data processing, integration and storage pipelines that are tailored to the specific needs of marine biology while maintain compatibility with other e-infrastructures and data repositories. This ideally can be achieved by integration of existing e-infrastructures of individual partners. However, where needed some of the individual partners may need to redesign their e-infrastructure to make it compatible with the one designed by EMBRC and this work package will also set the technical benchmarks to achieve this standardization.

Description of work

WP3 will be led by partner 11 with substantial input from partners 1, 3a, 4, 8, and 9 and will involve all other partners.

Task 3.1 Survey of EMBRC e-infrastructure requirements and identification of potential e-workflow scenarios.

This task will involve a 12-month consultation in close liaison with ELIXIR and other related initiatives to assess bioinformatics needs of EMBRC partners, end-users and stakeholders, and according to these requirementsconceptualize e-workflow scenarios for data processing, integration, handling and storage. Secondly, existing hardware and data handling capacity of partners will be surveyed and future requirements projected taking into account user surveys (WP9). First, an e-infrastructure work group will be set up involving experts of relevant EMBRC partners. At its first meeting (M6) the work group will identify the key requirements and areas to be covered. Based on this, an international Bioinformatics Workshop will be organized (M12) involving bioinformatics experts from each EMBRC partner institute, experts from other relevant European infrastructures as well as renowned international experts of specific fields. The e-infrastructure work group will compile the outcomes of the workshop in a report consisting of a small and well-defined set of potential e-workflow scenarios. The report will be submitted to the GA for approval (D3.1). At an early stage the WP3 team will connect to and refer to IAB and D 10.6 (intermediate RUG) for input.

Task 3.2 Evaluating e-workflow scenarios.

In the near future next generation sequencing technologies will be the main if not the only source of genomics and metagenomics data. As this is a key novel technology still under active development, reference datasets and workflows do not yet exist and thus cannot be assessed. Therefore, potential architectural concepts proposed will be directly tested and optimized and these work-flow scenarios will be compared. This will allow identifying requirements for (1) connecting available EMBRC data resources, (2) integration of data held at the EMBRC sites and external data held at large bioinformatics service providers such as EMBL-EBI and (3) tools needed for data processing and access for EMBRC partners, end-users, stakeholders, including stakeholders outside the academic research community (industry, policy makers) and the wider public. Each scenario will be evaluated by the e-infrastructure panel and recommendations submitted to the GA (D3.2).

Task 3.3 Plan for the requirements of the EMBRC e-infrastructure.

In the final phase, the e-infrastructure work group (with significant input from WP2, WP4, WP9 and WP11) will propose a plan to meet the requirements of the EMBRC e-infrastructure and define a set of standard work-flows and hardware and software benchmarks (with minimum and optimal requirements for EMBRC users) for physical infrastructure, data integration and processing pipelines as well as data storage and user access. This proposal (D3.3) will be delivered to the MT for inclusion in the business plan (WP1).

WP 4

Construction plans

Lead beneficiary number 12 (UPMC)

Objectives

The overall objective of WP4 is to translate the strategic vision developed in WP2 into a practical infrastructure plan in preparation for the construction phase of EMBRC.

Specific objectives:

1. To document the existing physical infrastructures of partner institutes in order to identify the elements relevant to the EMBRC.
2. To construct a roadmap integrating relevant proposals for national and pan-European construction plans and to determine their likely contribution to and impact on the EMBRC.
3. To produce a prioritised plan with outline costs for new infrastructure required in the construction phase of EMBRC.

Description of work and role of partners

The EMBRC will build on existing resources (physical infrastructure including buildings, ships, and large scale equipment; human resources; scientific and management expertise, ecosystem access, guest scientist and training facilities, etc.) distributed among partner institutes. These provide the foundation on which to develop a state-of-the-art distributed infrastructure able to deliver the EMBRC vision defined in WP1 including the access needs of the European research and biotechnological communities to marine biology resources defined in WP10. Partners 12,& 3c will lead WP4 with support of partners 5 and 8. It will involve substantial input from all partners.

Task 4.1. Analysis of the existing infrastructure

The first step in producing the infrastructure plan is to evaluate the nature and quality of existing infrastructure components (buildings, research vessels, large equipment, etc.) and their potential to contribute to the overarching goals of EMBRC. The WP4 management team will formulate precise instructions for this review, which will be conducted in close liaison with WP2 (task 2.1: survey of existing resources and services) and WP8 (survey of existing human resources), with a standard format for information in order to facilitate synthesis. The Director (or a designated representative) of each EMBRC partner institute will be responsible for collating the information from his/her institute within 3 months of the start of ppEMBRC and the WP4 management team will subsequently synthesize this information into a report on the existing infrastructure of ppEMBRC partners (D4.1). During the course of the ppEMBRC, institute Directors will be required to define the level and modalities of commitment of relevant infrastructures to the future EMBRC in consultation with their respective governing bodies and with input from WP1 and WP5.

Task 4.2. Review future planned construction activities at national level.

Significant enhancement of existing infrastructures is already planned by each of the ppEMBRC partners. In several cases funding has already been secured and projects are in the detailed planning or construction phases with delivery dates within the next 5 years. In other cases plans have been formulated to enhance infrastructures, but funding has not yet (or only partially) been secured. The WP4 management team will solicit this information from institute Directors and synthesize it into an inventory of future national construction plans with assessment of their expected impact on EMBRC (D4.2). As for task 4.1, the level of commitment of these new infrastructures to the future EMBRC will be defined during ppEMBRC. D4.2 will inform the strategic planning of WP2 task 2 which will identify gaps in the current and planned infrastructure in the context of the expected requirements of EMBRC. At an early stage the WP4 team will connect and refer to the IAB and D 10.6 (intermediate RUG) WP 10 for input.

Task 4.3 Produce a roadmap with costs for a pipeline to produce new EMBRC infrastructure elements

Preparatory work for this task will involve assessing, in collaboration with ppEMBRC institute Directors, the potentiality of each site for implementation of new EMBRC infrastructure. This will include local technical assessment of the possibility of re-affecting, refurbishing and/or expanding existing infrastructure and identification of locations potentially suitable for installation of new infrastructure. As soon as the strategy report on requirements for new EMBRC infrastructure is published at month 18 (M2.1), the WP4 management team will initiate translation of this report into an outline global technical plan for a pipeline of new infrastructure for the EMBRC construction phase in collaboration with stakeholders (notably institute governing bodies) and with significant input from the management teams of WP5 (legal), WP6 (financial), and WP9 (embedding activities). This will also involve coordinated outsourcing to expert external consultants on aspects related to surveying and regulatory considerations including compliance with European standards in a number of domains, including for example environmental impact, energy efficiency, health & safety, and handicap access.. A draft infrastructure plan will be produced by ppEMBRC partners, stakeholders and potential future members of EMBRC at a workshop organised in month 24 of ppEMBRC. The infrastructure roadmap report will be finalized by month 24 and submitted to the SC (D4.3). It will serve as input for the business plan (D1.8) and constitute the basis for fund raising efforts during the later stages of ppEMBRC (WP6) and beyond.

WP 5

Legal work

Lead beneficiary number 3 (CNRS-SBR)

Objectives:

1. To assess options for the governance and decision-making structure of the future EMBRC.
2. To address specific legal issues related to actions of the future EMBRC.
3. To decide on a blueprint for a suitable legal framework for the EMBRC.
4. To provide the necessary documents (MoU or statutes if applicable) related to the legal framework of the future EMBRC.

Description of work and role of partners

A series of bottlenecks need to be addressed in order to create a common legal framework for integration, development and operation of the future EMBRC. The distributed nature of the infrastructure calls for specific strategic planning to define options for the governance and decision-making process of the EMBRC (task 5.1) to be undertaken in liaison with all other technical WPs and professional external advisors. Expert analysis of specific legal issues related to a variety of projected actions of the EMBRC (task 5.2) is critical for efficient functioning of the EMBRC. Once the ppEMBRC consortium has taken informed consensus decisions from sets of options on these issues and on the legal framework (task 5.3), the selected model will need to be translated into a signature-ready legally binding document before the end of the preparatory phase (task 5.4). Partner 3a will coordinate WP5 with dedicated assistance from the Legal Affairs Department of the CNRS (France). The CNRS is involved in 18 ESFRI preparatory phase projects for the construction of European research infrastructures and their legal department developed an expertise in the field of legal and governance issues to help the scientific coordinators. The WP5 management team will include partners 2, 5, 10 and 11 and representatives of their respective legal departments. All other partners will participate in WP5. In order to obtain expert independent insight concerning the options under consideration, the intention is to sub-contract legal counsel by competitive call to a firm specializing in pan-European law that has offices or associates in each ppEMBRC partner country. WP5 will consult with other ESFRI projects and participate in the dedicated EC forum on Research Infrastructures through the SINAPSE website and specific workshops.

Task 5.1: Options for the governance model for the future EMBRC:

The first part of this task will consist of a survey of ppEMBRC partners regarding the legal environment of theirrespective infrastructures (as defined in D4.1) and potential constraints to integration of these elements into the EMBRC. To this effect, the WP5 management team will formulate a detailed questionnaire to be addressed by each ppEMBRC partner via the institute Director (or his/her representative) in consultation with local in-house or appointed legal advisors. The WP5 management team will collate this information (D5.1) and conduct an analysis of compatibility issues related to the distributed nature of the infrastructure. Based on this, a series of conceptual models of governance and decision-making processes applicable to a pan-European infrastructure, ranging from a formal consortium to centralized integrated ownership and management, will be defined (D5.2).

Task 5.2: Specific legal issues:

The WP5 management team will draw up a list of pre-identified and potentially problematic legal issues relating to projected EMBRC activities. This could include (but will not be limited to) issues specific to biological infrastructures related to the handling, exploitation, and access to live marine resources (ethics, Material Transfer Agreements, etc.), or common to a range of infrastructures such as procurement, aspects of management of human resources, patenting, and knowledge-transfer and Intellectual Property Rights. This preliminary list will be submitted to ppEMBRC members via WP leaders and institute Directors (direct link to surveys to be conducted in WP2 task 2.1 and WP4 task 4.1) for comment and a refined list submitted to the SC, which will prioritize actions to be undertaken.

The WP5 coordinator will allocate human resources (in-house or sub-contracted) to priority issues. For each of these: (1) a strategic analysis will be undertaken of the scope and implications of the bottleneck (including liaison with other relevant ESFRI initiatives), (2) the relevant national and European legislative frameworks will be researched, and (3) a range of potential solutions will be proposed. This will result in reports (D5.3) that will feed into task 5.3 and into the policy document on the vision, scope and structure of the EMBRC (WP1 D1.7) and the scientific strategy report (WP2 D2.2) during their conception (month 18) and subsequent updating (month 34).

Task 5.3: Blueprint for the most suitable legal framework for the future EMBRC:

Based on the options defined for the governance structure of the EMBRC in task 5.1 and on input from other WPs, a set of outline models for the overall legal framework of the EMBRC will be prepared. The feasibility of each of these models in relation to existing national and European legislative frameworks will be assessed during a workshop session (end of year 1 meeting, to be held in conjunction with WP6 financial planning session) attended by at least one legal representative from each ppEMBRC partner and external advisors. The output of this workshop will be a report to the SC setting out the different options for a legal framework for the future EMBRC with detail of the global legal implications, the identified bottlenecks and potential solutions to these (including legislative changes that would be required) for each model (D5.3). Each ppEMBRC partner institute will then be required to produce a report formally validated by their relevant governing bodies with an assessment of the local and national political implications and acceptability of each model. The WP5 management team will collect these reports and present them to the ppEMBRC governing bodies during the mid-term GA (month 18) where they will be debated in order to come to a consensus decision on the blueprint for the legal structure of the future EMBRC. This blueprint will form a core component of the policy document on the vision, scope and structure of the EMBRC (WP1 D1.7).

Task 5.4: Drafting of a signature-ready legal commitment:

The final task of WP5 will consist of drafting the legal document needed to implement the EMBRC. According to the form chosen within the course of the project, the document will be either a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with rights and obligations of the parties, or statutes for a legal entity. A dedicated workshop will be organized in month 25 (to be held in conjunction with WP6 financial planning workshop) to initiate drafting of this document, attended by at least one legal representative from each ppEMBRC partner and external advisors. The document will be verified by a contracted external legal advisor and submitted to the GA by the end of month 35 of ppEMBRC (D5.5).

WP 6

Financial work

Lead beneficiary number 3 (CNRS-SBR)

Objectives

1. To set up a process to involve stakeholders in all aspects of strategic financial planning.
2. To evaluate potential sustainable financial models that will deliver the construction and operational needs of the future EMBRC.
3. To identify potential income streams that will allow EMBRC to continuously renew its facilities as well as support its operations.
4. To prepare detailed financial plans for inclusion in the EMBRC business plan.

Description of work and role of partners

Definition of the structure of the future EMBRC will require concerted actions from a number of ppEMBRC work packages that will initially coalesce at the mid-point of the project (see overall work plan). Therefore, the first three tasks in this work package will deal with generic financial issues including the establishment of a process to conduct financial negotiations with stakeholders and comparative analysis of potential funding models and income streams. Costed plans for the construction phase of EMBRC will become available in month 30 triggering the final task which will be to sollicit formal statements of intent regarding funding so that detailed financial plans can be included in the EMBRC business plan. WP6 will be led by partner 3a and will heavily involve partners 1, 2, 4 and 10.

Task 6.1: To set up a process to involve stakeholders in all aspects of strategic financial planning.

The potential stakeholders already identified in the preparation of ppEMBRC (see section B2.3) will be invited to the kick-off meeting of the GA where the outline and philosophy of EMBRC will be presented in detail. National level working groups including ppEMBRC members identified by the WP6 management team and regional and national funding agencies will be set up from the outset of ppEMBRC to interact on future funding requirements. Additional stakeholders including private sector organizations identified by WP9 (embedding EMBRC) through the course of ppEMBRC will be invited to participate in this process. As plans for services and construction develop, information will be exchanged in both directions laying the foundation for two workshops (months 12 and 25, to be held in conjunction with WP5 legal workshops and a WP9 embedding activities workshop) where integrated strategies for funding EMBRC will be discussed in a European context. Representatives of relevant EC agencies will be invited to participate in these workshops that will also receive input from contracted external advisors. The WP6 management team will prepare reports to be delivered to the GA summarizing the key findings, options and recommendations of these workshops.

Task 6.2: Identify potential EMBRC cost models.

EMBRC could contain nationally owned and managed facilities operated under EMBRC protocols and agreements as well as centrally owned and managed services and facilities. The latter constitute the irreducible core of EMBRC and defining the size of this component is a key issue for the preparatory phase. The WP6 management team will coordinate costing of the minimum size of the core compatible with the broader EMBRC vision, namely an organization that provides a single point of entry to a distributed infrastructure (interaction with WP1). The financial implications of incorporating additional elements into the EMBRC need to be quantified and modeled including sensitivity analyses that make various assumptions about, for example, future inflation and exchange rate movements. The WP6 management team will identify local ppEMBRC representatives to advise and participate in this process including the contracting of external professional accountants experienced in financial planning of pan-European structures. The results of this exercise including identification of bottlenecksand recommendations will be reported to the GA and will inform activities within WP2, WP4 and WP8 in particular. The reports from this task (D6.2) will flag any identified material risks in financial planning to WP7.

Task 6.3: Explore sustainable income streams available to EMBRC.

This task will involve preparatory consultative work carried out by the WP6 management team in order to identify how each component part of the EMBRC, including the national elements, the shared services and the central unit of the infrastructure, might be supported. The participants in this task will seek to establish through direct bilateral and multilateral negotiations the level of commitment by regional, national, European and international governments, agencies and organizations to funding particular elements of EMBRC, including the core. Additional types of income, e.g. commercial activities, contracts and access fees, will be identified and appraised. This will inevitably be an iterative process that will require input from, and provide feedback to, other ppEMBRC work packages, particularly WP2 and WP4. It will report to WP1 on the level and adequacy of commitment of different stakeholders. Following sensitivity analysis, any risks identified will be communicated to WP7.

Task 6.4 Prepare the financial plans.

This task, starting in month 30, will be the responsibility of the ppEMBRC GA under the coordination of the WP5 management team. It will translate the infrastructure roadmap report (D4.3), in the context of the preparatory work of tasks 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3, into formal statements of intent and where possible concrete financial commitments from stakeholders. A synthesis of this activity (D6.4) will be included in the business plan for the construction and operation phases of the EMBRC.

WP 7

Risk management and quality assurance

Lead beneficiary number 5 (USTAN)

Objectives

1. To implement a coherent programme of risk management and quality assurance (RM & QA) / internal audit (IA) for ppEMRBC;
2. To plan the risk management and quality assurance/internal audit system for the construction and operation phases of EMBRC.

Description of work and role of partners

Partner 5 will coordinate WP7 and partner 10 will monitor the actions undertaken. WP7 will primarily deliver to WP1, and will operate in close coordination with WP5 and WP6.

Task 7.1: Developing risk management and QA/IA system for ppEMBRC

Risk management and quality assurance and internal audit procedures will be developed in conjunction with external consultants identified by competitive tender. The consultants would also provide training e.g. in PRINCE II an internationally recognised standard for project management including accreditation of key individuals in ppEMBRC. PRINCE II training includes: Project Governance, Product Based Planning & Levels of Plans, Project Controls & Tolerance, Management of Risk, and Quality Management (cost external sub-contractor €50,000). ppEMBRC risk management and quality assurance manual will be produced, including a comprehensive risk register. The processes used for decision-making will be reviewed and the flow of control in the organisation, including where responsibility lies, established. Quality control procedures will be specified for each individual WP and criteria against which it will be possible to audit performance will be defined. Methods for the establishment of mitigation measures will also be incorporated. A series of Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) documents will be produced that establish policies covering aspects including health and safety, operational line management, standards and data management. Procedures for performance reporting to ppEMBRC management and governance will be defined. The WP7 management team will synthesize this information into a coherent risk management and QA/IA system for ppEMBRC (D7.1) to be submitted to the SC for adoption. Assessment of any deviation from the risk protocols will be undertaken and reported back to the SC at 6 monthly intervals to facilitate early identification of potential threats to delivery of the WP and ppEMBRC objectives.

Task 7.2: Plan risk assessment and QA/IA system for the construction and operational phases of EMBRC.

In the latter stages of ppEMBRC, the WP7 management team and external consultants will analyze the performance of risk management and QA protocols in light of experience gained in order to provide recommendations for a risk assessment and QA/IA system that will be implemented during the construction and operational phases of EMBRC. This report (D7.2) will be delivered at M7.2 to the MT for inclusion in the business plan (WP1).

Risk Management

WP 8

Logistical planning of human resources / personnel

Lead beneficiary number 7 (CCMAR)

Objectives

1. To review the composition and distribution of existing human resources (HR) relevant to EMBRC functioning.
2. To determine recruitment and training requirements in light of overall EMBRC strategy.
3. To formulate equal opportunities policy for the future EMBRC.
4. To design an information system for HR management.
5. To analyse the socio-economic impact of the EMBRC.
6. To produce an integrated human resources plan (HRP) to be included in the EMBRC business plan.

Description of work and role of partners

WP8 will be led by partner 7 and will receive significant input from partners 3b and 4 and all partners.

Task 8.1: Evaluation of current human resources composition and distribution.

The first step in producing the HRP will be to evaluate existing human resources and their potential to contribute to the overarching goals of EMBRC. The WP8 management team will formulate precise instructions for this review (including descriptions of work being performed and workload assessment), which will be conducted in close liaison with WP2 (task 2.1: survey of existing resources and services) and WP4 (task 4.1: survey of existing physical infrastructure). The Director (or a designated representative) of each EMBRC partner institute will be responsible for collating the information from his/her institute within 3 months of the start of ppEMBRC and the WP8 management team will subsequently synthesize this information into a report on the existing human resources of ppEMBRC partners (D8.1, M8.1). During the course of the ppEMBRC, institute Directors will be required to define the level and modalities of commitment of relevant human resources to the future EMBRC in consultation with their respective governing bodies and with input from WP1 and WP5.

Task 8.2: Forecast of key HR competences required.

The information collected in D8.1 will represent the basis for this strategic planning. A workshop session will be organized in the latter stages of the mid-term GA meeting with involvement of representatives of technical WPs 5, 6 and 8, institute Directors, potential new members (identified in WP9) and stakeholders (liaison with WP9) to identify gaps in existing or planned human resource provision and to decide priorities for training and recruitment relative to D2.2 (the scientific strategy report) and D1.7 (EMBRC vision). The output of this task will be a report on HR requirements (D8.2) drafted by the WP8 management team. The report will feed into the HRP (task 8.6) and will inform financial planning (WP6).

Task 8.3: Equal Opportunities Plan (EOP)

The EOP will provide the framework for achieving equal opportunities and balanced gender representation and progression at all levels of employment in the EMBRC. During ppEMBRC a review of equal opportunity and gender issues and local EOPs in partner institutions will be carried out. This will serve as the baseline for the EMBRC EOP. Since the status of equal opportunities and gender balance in the labour force is an issue that has nuances in different institutions, different countries, and different sectors of activity, recommendations for harmonisation will be made and pan-EMBRC best practice guidelines drawn up. Particular attention will be given to factors such as graduate level training, recruitment policy, and intra-network mobility that could be used as tools for addressing equal opportunities issues. Specific measures to conciliate work with private life will also be assessed. The finalized EOP (D8.3) will be submitted to the GA for validation by month 24.

Task 8.4: Human resources management system.

Options will be formulated for the design of an integrated human resource management system for the EMBRC. This will include consideration of operational structure (centralized or distributed, or elements of both) and technical tools (information management system). The latter will be required for the recording and analysis of all relevant HR data and linkage of this to ongoing strategic and financial planning. This will permit future HR planning to be based on easily accessible information. Formulation of conceptual models will be informed by reviewing comparable HR management systems in other ESFRI projects and distributed multinational infrastructures. A report on options for the HR management system for the EMBRC (D8.4) will be submitted to the GA, which will decide on the most appropriate model for the future EMBRC. This will feed into the business plan (WP1) via the HRP (task 8.6).

Task 8.5: Socio-economic impact of the EMBRC.

Many of the ppEMBRC infrastructures are located in economically underdeveloped regions with above average unemployment levels. Both the construction and operation of new or improved infrastructures will provide employment and financial stimuli to the economies of these regions. There are many examples of added socio-economic value emanating from new infrastructure developments (e.g. National Aquaria, green tourism, bio-fuels). This task will consist of a review and analysis of potential socio-economic impacts and benefits of the EMBRC on local communities and economies (D8.5). The study will be coordinated by partner 7 and will receive input from all partner institutes who will consult with their respective regional development agencies.

Task 8.6: EMBRC Human Resources Plan (HRP).

In order to achieve the strategic goals of the EMBRC as defined during ppEMBRC, it will be necessary to create a trans-national strategic framework for the development, recruitment and management of staff that encompasses the best standards of all partners. This will be achieved by producing a HRP that will be based on the policy document on the scope, structure and missions of the EMBRC (WP1) and the scientific strategy document (WP2) and informed by the outcomes of tasks 8.1-8.5. The HRP will provide a detailed strategic overview of requirements in terms of HR development, integration and management. This will facilitate the achievement of operational goals with the overall view of creating a world-class facility in which excellence is encouraged and both individual and collective resources are maximised. During the production of this plan, a workshop will be convened by the WP8 coordinator with representatives of each ppEMBRC partner institute and WPs 5, 6 and 7, as well as external legal and human resource specialists. The finalized HRP (D8.6) will be submitted to the GA for inclusion in the business plan (WP1). With the establishment of an appropriate management system (D8.3) in the operational phase, the HRP will be dynamically updated under the stewardship of a human resources manager.

WP 9

Consolidation, embedding with stakeholders and wider community

Lead beneficiary number 2 (UGOT)

Objectives

1. Identification of, and engagement with the stakeholder community.
2. Harmonious integration of the EMBRC into the European fabric of related facilities, including other ESFRI projects, in accordance with the EC objectives of balanced territorial development and creating added value for the ERA.

Description of work and role of partners

WP9 will be coordinated by partner 2 with support from partners 1 and 10. This work package will be closely linked to WP2 and WP6 and will inform WP10.
WP9 will be coordinated by partner 2 with support from partners 1 and 10 with inputs from partners 2,6). This work package will be closely linked to WP2 and WP6 and will inform WP10.

Task 9.1. Identifying the stakeholder community.

First it will be necessary to identify and make contact with the stakeholder community and ascertain their potential involvement in, or interactions with, the EMBRC. In the context of the preparatory phase the following categories of stakeholder are recognised :

(1) Users and customers at regional, national, European and international levels (link to WP10) (academic, government, NGOs and industry);

(2) Potential funders (national and regional governments, research councils, industry) (link to WP10);

(3) Potential new members of the infrastructure;

(4) Other relevant ESFRI initiatives;

(5) European and global marine biological organizations (MARS, ESF Marine Board, Seas-Era, UNESCO-IOC).

This task will be achieved in the first instance by a wide-ranging campaign of questionnaires and e-communication directed at potential stakeholders in order to establish their level of interest and potential involvement in the future infrastructure. Priority areas of interest and requirements will be identified for each category of stakeholder. This information, together with contact details for key individuals, will be stored in a database delivered to the SC in month 6 (D9.1) and continually updated as new stakeholders are subsequently identified.

Task 9.2. Stakeholder engagement

This task will involve organisation of a large workshop of interested stakeholders designed to promote the EMBRC vision (from WP1) and scientific strategy (from WP2), explain the relevant WPs of the ppEMBRC (legal issues, construction issues, business plans, etc.), and prepare the community for the implementation phase of the EMBRC programme (milestone 4.1). This will be held at the end of the first year of ppEMBRC in conjunction with a WP6 (financial planning) workshop. The WP9 management team will submit a report (D9.2) summarizing workshop outcomes to the GA.

Task 9.3 Integration with cognate infrastructures.

This task will involve contacting representatives of relevant ESFRI projects and other related infrastructure initiatives in order to identify best practice and seek agreement on common approaches and shared collaborative strategies across the range of proposed activities. This is needed for seamless integration of EMBRC into other cognate infrastructures and for enhancing the efficiency and impact across the landscape of Europeanlarge-scale infrastructure provision. This activity will likely involve interaction between the WP9 management team and coordinators of other ppEMBRC work packages, notably WP10. D9.3 will be a report to the GA on the status of formal and informal agreements reached and recommendations for an ongoing process for future development of these alliances.

Task 9.4 Identification of potential new members of EMBRC and definition of criteria and procedures for the acceptance of new full partners.

This task will involve holding a series of bilateral consultative meetings to follow-up the stakeholder workshop and subsequent contacts in order to draw-up a shortlist of potential new partner infrastructures interested in joining EMBRC (D9.4). In drawing up this shortlist, conformity with the EC objectives of balanced territorial development will be sought, for example to promote coverage of regional seas such as the Baltic, Black Sea, and Arctic.

Based on the policy document on scope and vision of the EMBRC defined in WP1, the WP9 management team will define a set of measurable criteria against which eligibility of potential new partners can be assessed and a process for selection and subsequent integration of new partners (D9.5, M9.1). These will be submitted to the GA for ratification and implemented as and when new partners apply for integration into the EMBRC.

WP 10

Uniform user access to EMBRC infrastructures

Lead beneficiary number 8 (AWI)

Objectives

The overall objective of this work package is to enhance and facilitate national, EU trans-national and international access to EMBRC through the definition of suitable user-friendly access mechanisms.

Specific objectives are:

1. To coordinate and optimise information, application systems and access mechanisms for an integrated access to EMBRC.
2. To liaise with outside communities such as other ESFRI projects and different user groups for cooperation and feedback.
3. To establish a Reference User Group (RUG) to ensure user based steering of all developments and to support dissemination.

Description of work and role of partners

WP10 will be led by partner 8 with assistance from partner 2 and 11 with input from all other partners.

Task 10.1: Harmonization of pathways providing information on access to the EMBRC.

Integration of access to EMBRC infrastructures depends on structuring information in a simplified and standardized, user-friendly way with operational flexibility to facilitate long-term sustainability and evolution (integration of new infrastructures and partners, for example). Local databases and information gateways (e.g. web pages) require development to a common level and structure across EMBRC. A survey of such resources relevant to EMBRC activities hosted by ppEMBRC partners will be conducted by the WP10 management team and recommendations for harmonisation of these formulated (D10.1). D10.1 will take into account external user surveys generated in WP9 at each stage.

Task 10.2: Definition of mechanisms of access.

It is essential to explore and reach agreement on mechanisms of user access through EMBRC to various infrastructure types and platforms available at partner institutes (laboratories, research vessels, field sites, field stations, etc.). This includes, for example, scientific evaluation and proposal handling and practical aspects of on-site and remote access provision. Opportunities for facilitating access for users from countries that have small marine programme activities and who wish to participate in multinational teams (new member states and EU neighbouring countries) will be evaluated. The task will also consider access mechanisms for user groups in Third countries (e.g. from the Middle East, from the Americas, Australia and the Far East). This task will involve wide-ranging consultation with access providers within and external to ppEMBRC and a synthesis of findings and best practise guidelines (D10.2) will be reported to the SC.

Task 10.3: Outline for the preparation and submission of user proposals.

This task will involve development of e-forms and procedures for access proposal preparation, submission and evaluation building upon the ASSEMBLE format (D10.3) and will also define options for conditions for access, including assessment of fees for various groups of potential users that will directly feed into the work packages on legal (WP5) and financial (WP6) frameworks.

Task 10.4: Access to special sites.

This task is dedicated to establishing protocols for access to research infrastructures other than the core EMBRC partner institutes themselves, to which access could be provided under the EMBRC umbrella (e.g. polar research vessels and stations, associated infrastructures in overseas territories or third countries, etc.). Protocols will be established for consultation with governmental agencies for issuing of permits for activities through the EMBRC in, for example, polar areas, and also considering legislatory and political issues related to operation in specific geographical sectors (e.g. Russian Federation Exclusive Economic Zones, EEZs and third country waters). The task will examine the feasibility of such operations through the EMBRC and should result in protocols for enabling easier access. The outcome will be a report (D10.4) that will provide input to the main EMBRC policy document (WP1).

Task 10.5: Mutualising access with other ESFRI infrastructures.

This task will be conducted in close collaboration with WP9 (task 9.3) and will focus specifically on issues related to potential mutualisation of access to infrastructures with ESFRI projects such as Lifewatch, SIAEOS, BBMRI and Euro-Bioimaging. The main aspect of this work will be to identify opportunities and define formal mechanisms for mutualising access. Investigation will also be undertaken of the financial and strategic resources that could be made available by the EC or national bodies to enable mutualisation of facilities. This task will interface closely with WP5 (legal work) and provide a strategic review (D10.5) that will input to the main EMBRC policy document and the business plan (WP1).

Task 10.6: Establishment of a Reference User Group of stakeholders (RUG) (1-36)

The methods of information flow from EMBRC management to the user community and vice versa are critical to the success of the EMBRC concept. Unidirectional information flow may lead to a change in quality of access through generalisation, loss of context and misinterpretation of user needs. The ppEMBRC will design a communication structure that optimizes infrastructure access and development according to stakeholder requirements, through the formation of a Reference User Group (RUG) of stakeholders (representatives of government, industry, science organisations and societies). The specific Terms of Reference for the RUG will be formally defined at the kick-off GA, but could include provision of advice on: (1) the types of services and products that will be most useful to stakeholders, (2) procedures to ensure that the goals and results of the EMBRC are disseminated to all potential end-users of the information, and (3) mechanisms to ensure feedback of key developments into their own sector/parent organisation during the life time of the project. Involvement of the RUG in decision-making processes (e.g. user selection) would also enhance the relevance and user-friendliness of the infrastructure. An intermediate- RUG will be appointed at the first kick - off meeting (month 1) withthe objecxtive of providing user input at the earliest stage of ppEMBRC it is expected that it will be oerative at th 6 month time point (D10.6) Later, to carry out these roles effectively, members of the RUG and ppEMBRC PIs will meet annually and maintain regular correspondence. In the mid- term phase of ppEMBRC, the WP10 management team will assess the performance of this exercise and formulate a proposal to the GA for procedures for implementing a RUG during the operation phase of EMBRC (D10.7).

WP 11

Communication and education (of users)

Lead beneficiary number 12 (UPMC-OOB)

Objectives

• Carry out ppEMBRC dissemination and outreach activities;
• Provide plans for EMBRC web-portal, public relations and outreach;
• Provide plans for EMBRC education and training of users;
• Provide plans for library resources.

To achieve these objectives, the WP11 has been divided in 4 tasks and 10 deliverables.

Description of work and role of partners

WP11 will be led by partner 12 with support from partners 2, 6, and 7.

Task 11.1: ppEMBRC dissemination tools, public relations and outreach.

A ppEMBRC web site will be designed and implemented (D11.1) in which an external (open-access) part will make ppEMBRC activities visible to the research community as well as to other stakeholders (primary and secondary education, biotechnology companies, policy makers, and the general public and society at large) incollaboration with the Management team in WP1. A restricted-access part of the website will contain sections dedicated to each of the ppEMBRC work packages (for internal communication and circulation of information, reports, etc.) as well as sections for archiving of general ppEMBRC material such as minutes and reports, project presentations and PR products produced in other work packages. The outreach development officer will lead a wide consultation of consortium members in the first months of the project in order to refine and improve the plan for the common website. Construction will be contracted to professional web developers who will work in close coordination with the outreach development officer to ensure technical specifications are met. The website will be constantly updated and developed throughout ppEMBRC. As part of this task 11.1, the WP11 management team will coordinate implementation of public relations and outreach activities during ppEMBRC. The target audience for these activities includes schools, companies, policy makers, and the general public. This task will involve development of promotional tools, and of an EMBRC e-newsletter (D11.2) that will be produced in close cooperation with the other WP coordinators and distributed every six months throughout ppEMBRC presenting main highlights and the progress of the project. This task will also include coordinating press releases and ensuring the project is visible in relevant European media, as well as definition of the EMBRC corporate identity, including a logo and a graphical profile.

Task 11.2: Plans for dissemination tools, public relations and outreach in the future EMBRC.

Based on the experience gained in task 11.1 and contracted external advice, the WP11 management team will formulate a proposal in the latter stages of the project concerning EMBRC dissemination tools, public relations and outreach. This will include definition of the structure of a multifunctional web portal for the EMBRC in direct collaboration with the WP3 e-infrastructure panel. To prepare the public relations and outreach plan for the implementation phase of EMBRC, an inventory of existing outreach activities at each of the ppEMBRC partners will be conducted and innovative and attractive instruments for communication and outreach potentially suitable for EMBRC needs will also be reviewed. The WP11 coordinator will subsequently convene a workshop aimed at assessing options for actions to be implemented in the future EMBRC. Other elements to be analysed may include the new generation of aquariums in open outreach, the use of computer technology to engage and to explore scientific activities and popular science publications. Recommendations from this workshop will feed into a report (D11.3) produced by the WP11 management team proposing an integrated plan for dissemination, public relations and outreach during EMBRC, as well as mechanisms to measure performance and regularly review / update strategy in this domain.

Task 11.3: Plans for education and training of users in the future EMBRC.

The starting point of this task will be to conduct a survey and analysis of existing onsite and remote training of users of the existing infrastructure. A strategy will be developed that will allow the harmonization of user training in existing marine biology education and training programmes within the ppEMBRC consortium, including the programmes of the NoEs Marine Genomics Europe, MarBef and ASSEMBLE. In parallel, the target groups for future EMBRC training activities will be identified and representatives approached for feedback on training needs. These surveys will be conducted in close collaboration with WP8 (human resources). Secondly, we will aim to improve links between regional / national education systems and those funded by the EC through the international Ph.D. program in Marine Systems Biology and Biodiversity under development by three of the ppEMBRC partners; 3 and 12. This will be extended to all partners with the aim of submitting an ITN proposal within the time frame of ppEMBRC. Building on this inventory, on experience from these activities, and on exploration of new types of e-learning tools, an EMBRC education plan will be drafted by the WP11 management team. Consultation on the content of this plan will be held with senior teaching, administrative (health and safety) staff from each partner institute during a workshop organized concurrently with that held in task 11.3 and the education plan will subsequently be finalized (D11.9) for submission to the GA.

Task 11.4: Library resources and data rescue.

This task will aim to plan the construction of a comprehensive and original marine biological virtual library. The WP11 management team will establish a report on existing library resources (on-site and remote) at ppEMBRC partner institutes and then assess options for integration and expansion of these, specifically through creation of accessible online resources. One important objective will be to plan for digitalization of information in old books and monographs, which are rare and/or no longer easily accessible to the wider community. This may require interaction with relevant organizations such as Europeana and/or companies such as Google. This task links to development of the e-infrastructure in WP3 Task 3.3.