Improving quality of decision making in project approvals at the Medical Research Council

The Medical Research Council has experienced a consistent decrease of capital funding over the recent decade. But capital is essential for the purchase of scientific equipment and the upkeep, updating and expansion of the research facilities. Hence the development of accurate project estimates and the selection of the proposals most beneficial to the scientific advancement is an increasingly critical aspect of delivering Value for Money to the taxpayer. Action Research, using interviews and questionnaires has been undertaken to understand the processes and dynamics within the MRC, motivation of bidders and reasoning of approvers. A database has been developed to test the effectiveness of Reference Class Forecasting, heavily promoted by the UK Government, around science facilities. It was found that a distinct lack of communication between the involved parties led to a failure of understanding of both the bidding process and evaluation criteria as well as project drivers, priorities and assumptions made in the development of the estimates. Furthermore, the charge of strategic misrepresentation should be reviewed considering the way in which government departments distribute funds and/or award specific projects. Arbitrary budget awards force project teams to engineer the requirements to fit in those envelopes. The environment of projects in the public sector was found to be very complex and have a significant influence on project strategies. More research needs to be done to understand these complexities better and consider appropriate actions to mitigate detrimental effects. A programme of continuous improvement within the MRC concluded the first two research cycles and has resulted in a specific strategy to target improvements of project performance. Data from the research is being used to bid for an increase of capital funding to ensure the MRC can deliver the cutting edge, world leading science, which the government expects