The old adage, ‘you’ve got to be in it to win it’ applies to awards in science just as much as it does in any other context.

If people cannot understand or find your project, the chances of it being highly successful are decreased.

Project management is a structured process to actively plan and implement strategies to manage risks to projects and identify and enhance opportunities.

There are several different types of resources when it comes to R&D projects, and it is important to know what they are, how you can access them, when you can access them and how to use them most efficiently without wasting them.

The first step in project risk planning and management is identifying what the potential positive and negative risks are for your project and capturing these in the risk register.

A pitch is a presentation, either formal or informal, that you give when you want or need something from someone. It could be money, expertise, support, time etc.

Regardless of whether your project was a success, ended badly, or fell somewhere in between, there should always be a proper wrap up of the project.

Once you’ve identified your risks you can then set about putting things in place to minimise or avoid negative risks, increase chances of an opportunity arising or its impact, and working out which risks should just be accepted.