Taking the plunge. Repositories and Research pooling in Scotland

Abstract

Defining the Problem: The ERIS Project is working with stakeholders to understand what will motivate them to deposit their research outputs and integrate repository use into a standard part of their research life cycle. A specific focus of the project is on the needs of Research pools. Research Pooling is defined as the formation of strategic collaborations between universities in disciplinary or multi-disciplinary areas involving the international quality departments or individual researchers across Scotland (http://www.sfc.ac.uk/research/researchpools/researchpools.aspx). The emergence of research pooling since the 2001 RAE exercise (http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/Our_Priorities_Research/research_pooling_article_july08.pdf) has made a significant contribution to the development and success of Scottish research (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=404806&sectioncode=26), and as institutions digest the outcome of the 2008 RAE and plan for the Research Excellent Framework (REF), the pools are considering how they can best manage their strategic approaches and meet the growing return on investment and other reporting demands of their investing partners.