​Uptake of central research services has been most successful where there has been strong "local" support for researchers in using these services. This has often been delivered by School IT support staff, but where that has not been possible then "champion users" have often had great success. In order to reach out to researchers across all areas of the University, I propose we use the "Employ.ed for PhD" programme to provide a Research IT Ambassador in each academic area to act as a liaison with Information Services' Research service providers, and work as an ambassador within their unit. They would be shown, and trained to use, the Research IT services provided by Information Services. Coupling this with their subject area expertise and local contacts, they would reach out to researchers in their school to highlight the opportunities presented by the services available, and assist them in getting up and running on these services. In addition, they would distribute information leaflets/posters, coordinate and advertise "roadshow" sessions provided by Information Services staff, and act as a local point of contact for raising issues or queries about the services provided. There are 22 Schools in the University, 11 in CHSS, 6 in CSCE and 3 in CMVM. I propose that 6 Research IT Ambassadors are appointed to each College, spread over the Schools in order to optimise geographic and subject area coverage. Research IT Ambassadors would work for 6 hours per week in this role, with the pay set by the Employ.ed for PhDs programme at the entry point of grade 5 (£11.72/hr or approximately £75 per week). I propose that the programme starts with one ambassador in each main research campus from the beginning of 2016 to the end of July 2016 (28 weeks). The first two months would be used to develop and trial the work specification and supporting infrastructure, and there would be an opportunity to scale up scaling up to the full 18 posts in position from the 29th February until the 31st of July (22 weeks).

This would require a budget of:  - One ambassador per campus: £10,500 - Expansion to full team: additional £21,500 Total: £32,000 The funding for this could be split between Tony and Gavin