We are today excited to launch our brand-new UK DRI Portal to facilitate the sharing of information, news and events across the institute. The Portal, an intranet for all UK DRI staff, will sit at the centre of the recently rolled-out Research Collaboration Service - a suite of cloud-based software platforms designed to digitally unite researchers and support staff across the seven research centres.
The Portal is clean in its aesthetic, providing user-friendly and intuitive menus, areas and search tools to help staff rapidly locate the information they require. Highlights of the Portal include a secure archive of past event recordings and a fully searchable equipment database. Information on the latest internal and external funding calls, communities and themes within the institute, and branded templates, guides and policies are also available. n addition to the most current news and events, there are also sections providing news and information on the key areas of ‘Translation & Innovation’ and ‘Animal Models’.
Since the inception of the UK DRI, we have always aimed to take an innovative ‘digital-first’ approach to our work.Dr Adrian IvinsonUK DRI Director (Operations)
Together with the new Portal, the Research Collaboration Service is composed of complementary software platforms including Slack (message platform), Dropbox (file storage), Zoom (video conferencing) and Labstep (digital lab book) that provide UK DRI researchers and support staff with the means to easily store and share data, and communicate with colleagues across the institute. The Research Collaboration Service is managed by UK DRI HQ and the IT team at The Francis Crick Institute, who have a wealth of experience in providing digital services to their own researchers.
Faisel Farooq, UK DRI Digital Transformation Manager, said:
“Over the past year, we have worked with our UK DRI colleagues and the Crick team to understand the needs of our researchers and staff and have now brought together a suite of software resources that will transform the way we share information and ideas. The Research Collaboration Service complement the digital resources provided by our host universities, but crucially they promote stronger collaboration across the seven geographically dispersed centres.
It can be daunting to adopt new digital applications, but we hope that researchers will quickly see the advantages of these services. We will of course be on hand to help people with the set-up and any issues they encounter.”
Dr Adrian Ivinson, UK DRI Director (Operations), added:
“Since the inception of the UK DRI, we have always aimed to take an innovative ‘digital-first’ approach to our work. I’m delighted that we are now able to support our researchers with the latest digital resources to aid their ground-breaking science, and I encourage all to make the most of the opportunities these present. Our Research Collaboration Service and the new Portal are an essential component of our vision of a coherent national institute distributed across multiple sites.