Project Management

Collaborative R&D-projects need not only technical and/or scientific expertise, but also well organized processes. Moreover, international collaborative R&D projects face not only technical challenges, but also (often conflicting) non-technical ones such as those shown in the diagram below.

The edacentrum‘s customized project management services address these challenges, spanning the project lifecycle from preparation, through implementation, to exploitation, as shown in the diagram below.

The edacentrum helps project teams to conduct R&D-projects from conception to successful completion!

The edacentrum's Services in the Preparation Phase

In the preparation phase, the edacentrum provides services which support project teams to the point of writing and submitting the proposal to the funding authorities.

• Feasibility Analysis
  The edacentrum examines the relevance, substance and focus of project ideas with regard to the topics defined in current German and EU funding programs.
• Funding Strategy
  Based on the results of the feasibility analysis, the edacentrum helps to identify the funding program appropriate for the project.
• Project Definition
  The edacentrum helps the project team to define and specify the project, and to establish a project structure which conforms to the chosen funding program.
• Consortium Building
  The edacentrum fosters a large expert network in the EDA community — both industry and academia — in Europe. Using this network, the edacentrum helps to find appropriate project partners.
• Consortium Support
  The edacentrum‘s IT and administrative services provide structure and processes which enable the project to proceed with greater efficiency.
• Proposal Writing and Submission
  The edacentrum ensures that the proposal meets the formal requirements and evaluation criteria, as required by the funding authorities.

The edacentrum's Services in the Implementation Phase

In the implementation phase, the edacentrum supports the project with a wide range of project management services to enable the project team to concentrate on its core task of innovation.

• Project Coordination
  The edacentrum manages the administration, monitoring and reporting (project office) of the project. The edacentrum applies its standard management methods to organisational issues, developed and perfected over numerous client projects.
• Management, Consulting and Coaching
  The edacentrum provides budget management as well as contract management, conflict resolution and risk management.
• Cooperation Activities
  The edacentrum organizes and moderates workshops to bring together experts from different R&D projects, as well as cooperation workshops where research facilities and start-up companies can demonstrate their expertise to representatives from industry.
• Dissemination Support
  The edacentrum supports projects in organizing workshops and press conferences, as well as publishing brochures, posters and articles in the technical press.
• Collaboration Platform "Electronic Projekt Office"
  The edacentrum provides hosting, administration and animation of a secure collaborative project website, enabling remote team work, secure data exchange, forums for both internal and external discussion, a project data repository and project management.

The edacentrum's Services in the Exploitation Phase

In the exploitation phase, the edacentrum helps project teams to reach the target groups for dissemination of the project results, via:

• Cooperation Workshops
  The edacentrum initiates and organizes cooperation workshops where project teams and their partners can demonstrate project results and expertise to representatives from industry and academia.
• Expert Workshops
  The edacentrum initiates, organizes and moderates workshops focused on specific technical subjects, in which experts can conduct in-depth discussions of their ideas and results.
• Electronic Market Place
  The edacentrum develops a secure internet platform where project teams can publish and share research results and expertise.