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School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences

Breadcrumb

  1. School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
  2. Internal Resources
  3. Resources for staff
  4. Workload Allocation Model

Workload Allocation Model

A Workload Allocation Model (WAM) was first introduced in the School in 2011. The data was incorporated in a spreadsheet kept by the Head of School and was not generally available to view. 

The School has now moved to a College wide Simple Workload Allocation & Resource Management system (SWARM) which is web based and more accessible. This system helps the HoS to allocate duties on an equitable basis to ensure, where possible, that no individual staff member is unfairly loaded. Obviously some of the parameters are somewhat arbitrary (such as global admin tasks) and so it is important to note that it is intended only to use this model as a general guide, and not in a mechanical way. 

Contributions are counted in hours with a nominal year corresponding to 1650 hours. Staff can confirm that their allocations are correct (or not) by pressing the Yes or No button on the home page.

Accessing SWARM

  1. You can access Swarm at: swarm.qmul.ac.uk
  2. Click the button marked "Login Securely" and then use your normal QMUL login credentials. 
  3. Do not use the section marked "Login to Swarm" unless you have been explicitly told to.

To view an introduction to the elements of workload, descriptions and exemptions log into SWARM and click on 'Workload Allocation', click on the 'Workload' drop down and select 'Workload Overview'.

Workload categories

Research

  • Research time consists of fEC funded research and Fellowships (Grants) plus School funded research time. For technical reasons the latter appears under Support & Scholarship below. 
  • Time allocated for Grants should be the total time awarded and not the 80% funded by the Research Council for instance.

To access your workload:

  1. Log into SWARM and click on 'Workload Allocation'
  2. Click on the 'Workload' drop down and select 'Grants'
  3. You may need to select SBCS to view your allocated workload

PhD supervision

  • Supervisors are allocated 52 hours per PhD student, divided up amongst 1st and 2nd supervisors as agreed by them. 
  • If the student has English as a second language the time is 78 hours.

To access your workload:

  1. Log into SWARM click on 'Workload Allocation' 
  2. Click on the 'Workload' drop down and select 'PhD Supervision and Monitoring'
  3. You may need to select SBCS to view your allocated workload

Mentoring & RA supervision

  • Supervisors are allocated 52 hours for supervising RAs as this is considered part of research. 
  • This section also records any line management responsibilities that people may have.

To access your workload:

  1. Log into SWARM click on 'Workload Allocation'
  2. Click on the 'Workload' drop down and select 'Mentoring/RA supervision'
  3. You may need to select SBCS to view your allocated workload

Support & Scholarship

Time for Support & Scholarship (S&S) is allocated in a number of categories:

  • Clearing
    - 30 hours is allocated to everyone who participated in clearing in the previous August.
  • Committees of funders
    - A variable amount of time agreed with the HoS is given for time spent in committee work for funding organisations.
  • Grants benefitting the school
    - A variable amount of time agreed with the HoS is given to people for preparing and submitting grants that benefit the school or a large part of the school and not them individually.
  • Journal editorships
    - A variable amount of time agreed with the HoS is given for time spent on the editorial boards of learned journals.
  • Large grant applications
    - 100 hours is given to allow the preparation of large grants such as ERC fellowship or ITN applications.
  • Learned societies
    - A variable amount of time agreed with the HoS is given for time spent in committee work for learned societies.
  • Outreach & Public Engagement
    - 100 hours is given to allow outreach activities to be conducted.
  • PGCAP
    - 50 hours is given for all those engaged in PGCAP.
  • School Funded Research
    - All academics working to T&R JDs are allocated 20% (normally 330 hours) time for non-grant funded research.
  • Membership of PhD student panels
    - Four years per year per PhD student panel is given to staff to allow for the time that is spent attending, and preparing for panel meetings.

To access your workload:

  1. Log into SWARM click on 'Workload Allocation'
  2. Click on the 'Workload' drop down and select 'Support and Scholarship'
  3. You may need to select SBCS to view your allocated workload.

Admin and other duties

Each role has an agreed time associated with it which may be shared by one or more individuals. 

To access your workload:

  1. Log into SWARM
  2. Click on 'Workload Allocation'
  3. Click on the 'Workload' drop down and select 'Admin and other roles'
  4. You may need to select SBCS to view your allocated workload.

Teaching

  • Time allocated for teaching varies from module to module and is somewhat complicated. It appears under a number of headings. 
  • For new modules the preparation time is multiplied by a factor of 3, while for existing courses with a new lecturer, the preparation time is multiplied by a factor of 2.5.

Student projects

Time for supervision of student projects is allocated as follows:

  • Chemistry research project (30 credits) - 24 hours/student
  • Chemistry investigative project (30 credits) - 11 hours/student
  • Literature project in chemistry (5 credits) - 10 hours/student
  • Chemistry MSci project (60 credits) - 62 hours/student
  • Chemistry MSc project (150 credits) - 120 hours/student
  • Biomedical Sciences/Aquatic Biology/Biological Sciences Investigative Project (15 credits) - 6 hours/student
  • Biomedical Sciences/Biological Sciences/Aquatic Biology/Psychology Research Project (30 credits) - 20 hours/student
  • Project skills (30 credits) - 6 hours/student
  • Aquatic Ecology by Research MRes (135 credits) - 90 hours/student

Who to contact about SWARM

If you have SWARM queries please contact the appropriate administrator listed below:

  • Administrative roles – Sarah Heskett (allocation done by Head of School/School Manager) 
  • Grants – Joyce Jones
  • Nanchang – Susanne Steck
  • New academic staff – Sunita Devi-Paul
  • New post-docs –  Sunita Devi-Paul
  • PhD student supervision – Frances Healy
  • Support and Scholarship – (allocation done by Head of School)
  • Teaching allocation – Michelle Restarick (allocation agreed by Department Teaching Lead, Director of Teaching and Head of School)
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