Research Infrastructure Policy

The Research Infrastructure (RI) at Dublin City University, hereinafter referred to as the ‘University’, is essential to enable staff to produce cutting edge research and to deliver on the University’s Research and Innovation Strategy. The continuous support and maintenance of RI requires the development of a sustainable funding model to ensure that it will remain operative and effective over its planned lifetime. The University therefore must have in place a funding support mechanism that ensures this will happen once the initial period of external recurrent funding has expired.

The purpose of this policy is to provide clarity around ownership and direction in relation to the management of RI within the University so as to enable its short, medium and long term sustainability. 

This is a University wide policy and applies to all DCU RI with the following exceptions:

1. RI owned by a third party which is located at the University;

2. DCU RI physically located elsewhere and managed according to the rules of a host institution; and 

3. Instrumentation or facilities exclusively used for teaching. 

Ownership

The University owns the title to all research infrastructure that:

1. has been purchased with exchequer or non-exchequer funds awarded to the University via central funds or individual staff research awards; or

2. has been donated to the University by an external stakeholder (e.g. an in-kind donation by industry).

University ownership applies regardless of the responsibility for its management, access arrangements or the source of funding. 

Funding source and means of acquisition

The investment that enabled the acquisition of the DCU RI can be:

• Exchequer or non-exchequer funding;

• Funds allocated by the University;

• cash or in-kind;

• awarded to a single individual or a group of staff members or to the University as an institution; or

• donated to the University by an external stakeholder. 

Location

The RI maybe located in, or on, any of the University’s campuses. Occasionally, University RI maybe located outside the University for a finite period of time to allow for the completion of a specific project, task, or indefinitely for other reasons, and managed according to the rules of the host institution. In such cases an appropriate agreement with the hosting institution must be put in place.

Scale

DCU RI ranges from items of relatively low value to equipment and facilities that require sizeable investment. 

Access

DCU RI can be accessed by academic and research staff (internal and external to the University) as well as by other stakeholders (e.g. industry) when appropriate, provided that, if required, the users have obtained appropriate ethical approval for their activities in accordance with the most recent revision of the Helsinki Declaration of 1975; and that all data gathered, processed and/or stored is done in compliance with the latest data protection legislation in Ireland and the EU data protection directive (see Related Documentation section below).

Management of RI

All DCU RI with a purchase value of €10,000 (including Vat) or above must be managed in such a way as to ensure its sustainability in the medium to long term. This can be achieved through implementing appropriate management and financial models that ensure the successful operation of the RI beyond its initial funding phase, and the models should include the costs of maintenance contracts, repair and technical support as required. 

Management Models

DCU RI is generally managed according to one of the following arrangements: 

• Infrastructure managed by a single Principal Investigator (PI) and catering for the needs of a distinct research group(s) (hereinafter referred to as “Local RI”);

• Infrastructure managed at local unit level (i.e. a Centre or School) and accessed by a variety of groups and individuals (hereinafter referred to as “Departmental RI”); or

• Infrastructure managed at University level or centrally managed infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as “Central RI”).

Access Charges

Regardless of the management arrangements, the calculation and implementation of access charges must be done in consultation with the Research and Innovation Support Office (RIS) to ensure the rates are in line with institutional guidelines and that the charging processes are transparent,  auditable and, in the case of access by companies, compliant with EU State Aid Rules.

Financing of Access Charges

Access charges must be included in all proposals for external funding where these charges are an eligible direct cost by the funding body. These funds will subsequently contribute to the financial sustainability of the RI and can be managed at a Local, Departmental or Central level depending on the management model used.

Acquisition Procedures and Disposal

The purchase, acquisition and disposal of RI must adhere to the University’s Procurement Policy, Signing Authority Policy and Fixed Assets Policy.

Any member of staff intending to purchase any piece of equipment which may have space implications that may require technical support or may already exist on campus must first obtain DCU approval from the relevant unit manager (Head of School, Centre Director, Manager of Centrally Managed Infrastructure etc.) to ensure:

1. the availability of appropriate space to host the RI;

2. to avoid duplication of instrumentation across campus; and

3. to discuss the optimal management arrangements for the RI. 

Transfer of University RI to another Host Institution

The general rule is that property of the University may not accompany a faculty or staff member leaving the University or moving to another institution. Exceptions are granted on a case-by-case basis as follows:

1. At no time will title to equipment vested in the University be transferred directly to the terminating faculty member.

2. Transfer of equipment may be considered when:

a) It is or was the specific intent of the donor that the equipment is or was to support the work of the terminating faculty member rather than a program of the University and the equipment ownership should be transferred to the institution to which the faculty member is moving.

b) The equipment was purchased from funds supporting an on-going programme that the donor or granting agency will continue at the new employing institution.

In all cases due consideration to the remaining users’ needs must be exercised and due diligence to determine such need must be exercised. 

The transfer of RI to another institution will always be subject to the terms and conditions of the funding body that provided the funds for its initial purchase. In all cases, transfer must be done in full compliance with the University Fixed Assets Policy, and an appropriate agreement for the Transfer of Equipment must be executed in advance of the transfer. 

The person/s responsible for determining whether a piece of equipment should be transferred or not is as follows:

• For centrally managed equipment; the Core Facility Management Board or equivalent.

• For Locally managed equipment; the Head of Unit (i.e. Head of School or Centre Director as appropriate)

• For individually managed equipment; the Head of School or Faculty Dean if individual does not belong to a school.

Transfer of RI to the University from another Host Institution

From time to time the University maybe requested to host RI on its premises either with or without an associated transfer of ownership. In these cases the Head of the receiving Unit in the University  is responsible for ensuring an appropriate written agreement with the donor institution is put in place, stipulating the terms and conditions of the transfer. The Head of Unit must refer to the University’s Signing Authority Policy when seeking approval for the subsequent agreement with the host institution. 

The term “Research Infrastructure” refers to the facilities, resources and related services used by the University’s community to conduct research in their respective fields. RI may be physically located on any of the University’s campuses, distributed across the University’s campuses or it may also be virtual (i.e. the service is provided digitally). 

Examples of RI include, but not limited to: 

• singular large scale research installations (i.e. NICB, NRF);

• collections (i.e. historic collections);

• digital archives (i.e. library digital archives);

• research databases;

• biological archives (i.e. cell culture collections); 

• clean rooms;

• integrated arrays of small research installations;

• enabling ICT – based infrastructures (i.e. high-capacity / high speed communication networks; highly distributed capacity and capability computing facilities; data infrastructure, networks of computing facilities, etc.);

• core facilities which provide a service for the wider research community based on an assembly of techniques and know-how (i.e. service provision by technical team).

The term “DCU Research Infrastructure” (DCU RI) refers to Research Infrastructure that is owned by the University as per the “Ownership” clause in the Policy Statement section below.

“Sustainability” refers to the capacity for infrastructure to remain operational and effective over its planned life time. 

“Access Charges” refers to the fee charged to users for access to RI which contributes to the financial sustainability of the RI.

“Access Charge Plan” refers to the factors to be taken into consideration when calculating the access charge and they include the maintenance and operational costs of the equipment and the necessary human technical resources. The objective of the Access Charge Plan is not to generate a profit, but to provide a contribution towards the operational and running costs of the RI. 

RI Responsible Person

The responsibility for the management of RI depends upon the management model selected:

• Local RI: The Principal Investigator (PI), who is often responsible for the acquisition of the RI, is the person responsible for the management of such. 

• Departmental RI: The Head of Unit (School, Centre, Faculty) is responsible for the management of such.

• Central RI: Managed according to the management and operational principles for centrally managed infrastructure.

In all three models above, the authority for the management of RI may be delegated to an appropriate member of staff.

Management Responsibilities

The RI Responsible Person must ensure that:

1. any restrictions on the range of users who can access the RI are clearly defined. In all cases a collegial approach is expected and the provision of open access to the RI by staff of the University is preferable when possible; 

2. appropriate operational training is provided to the users of the infrastructure and that training records are maintained where appropriate;

3. the RI has an associated sustainability plan, including relevant access charges where applicable and appropriate;

4. the RI is in good working order to generate results of high verifiable standards;

5. the purchase and disposal procedures for the RI comply with existing University policies (see the ‘Related Documentation’ section below);

6. usage records are maintained;

7. the RI is managed in compliance with this policy; and 

8. that appropriate insurance is in place to cover visiting researchers and to protect the University from any liability resulting from the usage of the equipment. 

In such cases when individually managed infrastructure ceases to be of use to the responsible person (e.g. the PI moves to a different position within the University, the original project ends, etc.), the responsible person must liaise with their Head of School, Head of Centre or the Manager of DCU Centrally Managed infrastructure in a timely manner, to ensure that the RI is either disposed of as per University policy or that the responsibility for the management of the RI is appropriately transferred for individual, local or central use. 

Any queries on the application of this policy should be referred to the Research and Innovation Support Office. 

This policy will be reviewed at 5 year intervals.