NC3Rs Funding¶
Overview¶
The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is SyRF's primary and longest-standing funder. The relationship spans two contracts running from November 2020 to the present, funding platform development, training materials, and researcher workshops.
Under Contract 1 (Nov 2020 – Oct 2021), NC3Rs funded SyRF feature development through four quarterly payment periods. Under Contract 2 (2022–2025), NC3Rs contributes 40% of eligible costs across three feature sets, with the remaining 60% covered by other sources.
Contract 1 (Nov 2020 – Oct 2021)¶
Total contract value: £63,392 (4 periods × £15,848)
Infrastructure costs of £8,640 + VAT (MongoDB, AWS, Elasticsearch, Azure) are distributed across the per-period amounts.
Payment Schedule¶
| Period | Dates | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | Nov 2020 – Jan 2021 | £15,848 | Paid |
| Period 2 | Feb 2021 – Apr 2021 | £15,848 | Paid |
| Period 3 | May 2021 – Jul 2021 | £15,848 | Paid |
| Period 4 | Aug 2021 – Oct 2021 | £15,848 | Not Paid |
| Total | £63,392 | £47,544 received |
Sources: Systematic review tool payment plan (004).docx; SyRF Feature Delivery Consolidation.xlsx ("Features" sheet)
Deliverables by Period¶
| Feature | Original Period | Current Status |
|---|---|---|
| Reference imports | Period 1 | Delivered |
| Screener configuration | Period 1 | Delivered |
| Annotation of individual studies | Period 1 | Delivered |
| Admin console | Period 1 | Delivered |
| Disease model reporting | Period 1 | Delivered |
| PDF corrections | Period 2 | Delivered |
| Annotation question editing | Period 2 | Moved (sunset Mar 2021 → Contract 2) |
| Screening question filtering | Period 2 | Delivered |
| Uploading/linking PDFs | Period 2 | Delivered |
| Advanced project settings | Period 3 | Delivered |
| Data export (per-study reports) | Period 3 | Delivered |
| Customisable project groups | Period 3 | Delivered |
| Question editing (annotation questions design interface) | Period 4 | Outstanding |
| Screening types and study filtering | Period 4 | Outstanding |
| In-app reconciliation (qualitative) | Period 4 | Outstanding |
| Customisable project groups (enhanced) | Period 4 | Outstanding |
| Bulk upload of PDFs | Period 4 | Outstanding |
Manual Task Sunset Dates (Contract 1)¶
Certain features were supported as manual/admin tasks with agreed sunset dates, after which they became self-service:
| Task | Sunset Date |
|---|---|
| Annotation question editing | March 2021 |
| PDF corrections | April 2021 |
| Uploading/linking PDFs | May 2021 |
| Advanced project settings | May 2021 |
Contract 2 (2022–2025)¶
NC3Rs total contribution: £52,158 (40% of eligible costs across all feature sets)
NC3Rs funds 40% of the cost of each feature set. The remaining 60% is covered by other sources.
Original Feature Sets¶
| Feature Set | Total Cost | NC3Rs Share (40%) | Deliverables |
|---|---|---|---|
| FS1 | £40,206 | £16,082 | Training videos, PG workshop, eLearning modules 1–3, Zotero compatibility |
| FS2 | £43,570 | £17,428 | Common question templates, eLearning modules 4–6, workshop |
| FS3 | £46,620 | £18,648 | De-duplication, eLearning modules 7–8, PG workshop |
| Total | £130,396 | £52,158 |
All three original feature sets are PAID.
Contract 2 — Revised Feature Sets¶
During delivery, the original feature set groupings were reshuffled to better align with researcher availability, workshop scheduling, and development priorities. The deliverables themselves did not change; only their assignment to payment milestones was reorganised.
Revised FS1 — Workshops and eLearning 1–3¶
Delivered workshops:
- Berlin 2022
- Edinburgh 2022
- eLearning modules 1, 2, and 3
Revised FS2 — Training Videos and eLearning 4–8¶
Target completion: 1 March 2023
- Training videos
- eLearning modules 4, 5, and 6
- eLearning modules 7 and 8
Revised FS3 — Templates, Workshops, and eLearning 9–10¶
Target completion: July/August 2023
- Common question templates
- PG workshop
- Workshop for all researchers
- eLearning modules 9 and 10
February 2025 Revision¶
In February 2025, the contract scope was revised to reflect updated priorities and the migration to a new Moodle-based eLearning platform.
New Moodle Platform¶
SyRF's eLearning content was migrated to a new Moodle platform hosted by CAMARADES. This superseded the previous eLearning delivery mechanism and affected scheduling for modules 9 and 10.
Feature 2024.1 — Contact Us Form¶
A contact form was added to the SyRF application to improve researcher support and reduce ad hoc email volume to the team.
Feature 2024.2 — Project Statistics¶
Project-level statistics dashboards were delivered, giving project owners visibility into screening and annotation progress.
Feature 2024.3 — PDF Update to Searches¶
Functionality allowing researchers to update PDF attachments linked to systematic searches was delivered as part of this revision.
Remaining After February 2025 Revision¶
The following items remained outstanding as of the February 2025 revision:
- Workshop for all researchers
- eLearning module 9
- eLearning module 10
Revision History¶
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 26 Apr 2021 | Contract 1 Period 2 payment confirmed; annotation question editing reclassified as manual task with Mar 2021 sunset |
| 21 Jun 2021 | Period 3 sign-off; advanced project settings sunset confirmed May 2021; Period 4 deliverables scoped |
| 19 Dec 2022 | Contract 2 feature sets reshuffled; Revised FS1 delivered (Berlin, Edinburgh workshops; eLearning 1–3) |
| 30 Jan 2023 | Revised FS2 target set to 1 Mar 2023; eLearning 7–8 moved into FS2 from FS3 |
| 13 Feb 2025 | Contract scope revised: Moodle platform migration confirmed; Features 2024.1–2024.3 incorporated; eLearning 9–10 and researcher workshop remain outstanding |
Outstanding Deliverables¶
Contract 1 — Period 4 Items¶
The following five deliverables from Contract 1 Period 4 remain outstanding and have not been paid for:
- Question editing (annotation questions design interface)
- Screening types and study filtering
- In-app reconciliation (qualitative)
- Customisable project groups (enhanced)
- Bulk upload of PDFs
Proposed Feature Set 4 — Target End March 2026¶
A proposed fourth feature set is under discussion to address the most critical outstanding Contract 1 items:
| Deliverable | Notes |
|---|---|
| Question Editing | Full annotation questions design interface; originally Contract 1 Period 4 |
| Train the Trainer for Project Supervisors | New deliverable; supports researcher capacity-building |
Items Moved to Future Development¶
The following items were moved out of active contract scope and into the general future development backlog:
- De-duplication
- PDF retrieval automation
- Keyword highlighting
- Machine-assisted data extraction
- Multi-database retrieval
- PDF correction
- Living search
- Zotero compatibility
- Common question templates
Progress Metrics¶
The following user and project counts were reported at NC3Rs progress meetings:
| Date | Registered Users | Projects |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 2020 | 1,483 | 721 |
| Jun 2021 | 2,254 | 1,028 |
| Jan 2022 | 2,621 | 1,175 |
| Jun 2022 | 2,889 | 1,288 |
| Mar 2023 | 3,269 | 1,458 |
| Nov 2024 | 4,128 | 1,869 |