SLA Programme Evaluation Study

BIS Research & Evaluation Framework - Lot 3

STFC's vision is to maximise the impact of our knowledge, skills, facilities and resources for the benefit of the United Kingdom and its people. In 2010, STFC set out a ten-year strategy to deliver this vision, through our three strategic goals of world-class research, world-class innovation, and world-class skills. Capturing and reporting the impact of STFC's work to Government and other key stakeholders is a key part of our remit and charter. As part of this remit, we are required by Government to produce evidence of the impact from our programmes, projects and facilities, as set out in the BEIS Evaluation Plan published in January 2016.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) wishes to commission an evaluation study on the Core Computational Science Support Programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with STFC. (Referred to hereafter as the "SLA Programme".) The SLA Programme consists of a number of work packages (WP), each supporting a community of (mainly) Academic researchers. The SLA Programme is delivered and managed within the Scientific Computing Department at the STFC Rutherford Appleton and Daresbury Laboratories.

The objectives of the study are to deliver two reports which provide evidence on how far the intended aims and objectives of the SLA Programme are being met, and therefore the added value of supporting the computer science community in this way. A two level assessment is required, a process evaluation on the overall activities and an output evaluation on the support for individual communities or subject themes.