Procedures for Marketing, Funding and Reporting on SIRE-related activities

1. Marketing

Events will be added to the diary of activities on the SIRE Website at regular intervals, with major events highlighted on the news and events page.

A regular (approx. monthly) e-mailshot will be coordinated by the SIRE Administrator and sent to the SIRE distribution list. To reduce e-mail overload, we will not normally send out blanket emails to promote individual events. News about forthcoming events will be consolidated into the regular monthly e-mailshot. Event organisers may consult the SIRE Administrator for further information about the coverage of the SIRE distribution list.

For inclusion in the e-mailshot and diary of activities, event details should be sent to the SIRE Administrator as early as possible. For standard department seminar and workshop series, a copy of the programme will suffice. For other events, the details should include:

• Date of the event.

• Venue/location.

• Title.

• Short description (where relevant to help raise the profile of an event and attract a wider audience).

• Organiser name and contact details.

We would like to encourage a degree of co-ordination to avoid event-congestion and encourage more widespread participation. If you are planning a major event, we would encourage you to consult with the SIRE Administrator as early as possible.

2. Funding

Requests for financial support for an event should be submitted to the relevant Programme Director or, if not specifically linked to a particular programme, the Executive Director.

• SIRE Research Programme events: A maximum threshold of 2K can be spent at the discretion of the Programme Director, without Committee approval.

• SIRE Centre events: A maximum threshold of 1K can be spent at the discretion of the Director and/or Executive Director, without Committee approval.

The following criteria will be considered by the relevant Director when allocating SIRE funding:

a) An event should offer Added Value to the Economics Research community. An existing series of activities (e.g. department seminars) for which funding in the past was available, would need to outline how additional SIRE funding would be used to enhance quality in line with the SIRE mission.

b) Academics and PhD students from anywhere in Scotland will normally be offered travel support to attend SIRE events, or engage in collaborative research activities within Scotland. SIRE funding of other attendees will normally be restricted to invited speakers.

c) Some funding is available to subsidise junior researchers attending conferences. Since funding is limited, alternative funding sources should be explored before applying to SIRE.

Invoicing:

Travel expenses to attend SIRE events (i.e. b above) would normally be made to the claimants own department. The department would collate these expenses and submit an invoice to the SIRE Administrator quarterly (or more frequently, if cumulative expenses within the quarter exceeded 500). The invoice should contain a summary list of claims, giving:

• The name of the claimant.

• The purpose and date of the travel (and, where possible, identify the relevant SIRE programme).

• The amount.

Organisers of SIRE funded events should send one invoice only to the relevant Programme Director or, for SIRE Centre events only, to the SIRE Administrator. The invoice should be accompanied by a brief summary account, identifying:

• Travel/Accommodation costs for key speakers.

• Costs for SIRE delegate participation including, where relevant, registration fee and travel expenses (if claimed from event organisers rather than claimants own department).

• other costs e.g. venue hire, catering.

3. Reporting

At the time of submitting the invoice, a summary report should be sent to the SIRE Administrator containing the following details:

(i) Summary of the workshops - e.g. abstracts of papers presented.

(ii) Summaries of discussions.

(iii) Some photographic materials (for the SIRE website and use for SIRE reports/newsletters).

(iv) Full participant list with institutional affiliation.

(v) A brief accounting of the use of SIRE funds (see above).

Suitably edited reports would be put on the SIRE website and included in SIRE newsletters and formal reports to the SFC.