Case Study: Supporting the Birmingham Brain Tumour Network  - From Project Launch to Seamless Delivery

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At The Remote Assistant, we specialise in providing flexible, skilled support to higher education teams and research projects that need to deliver results without the overhead of employed project support. Our collaboration with the Birmingham Brain Tumour Network is a perfect example of how we help Principal Investigators and research teams to operate more efficiently and effectively in delivering key activities.

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Challenge: A New Grant Awarded with No Dedicated Project Support

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In May 2025, the Birmingham Brain Tumour Network had just been awarded a year’s funding to help launch their network. With a major 90-person symposium, their first key deliverable, set to take place in June. With no project support in place, they needed someone who could step in quickly and take the lead on coordinating the project team, planning the symposium logistics, and launching the project across the various networks at the University of Birmingham.

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That’s where we came in.

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Our Approach: Immediate, Impactful Support

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From the outset, our virtual Project Officer, Thandi, became fully embedded in the project and took ownership of the conference delivery. With limited time and numerous moving parts, she coordinated the event end-to-end, from advertising and delegate communications to finances, venue logistics, speaker coordination, and on-site support.

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The result? A well-run, well-received symposium that earned positive feedback from both the internal team and attendees. But our support didn’t stop there.

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Ongoing Support Across the Project Lifecycle

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Following the success of the symposium, Thandi continued to provide project-wide support, helping the team keep up momentum and stay on track with delivery. Over the following months, she:

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• Planned a second major symposium while continuing to coordinate stakeholder meetings and workshops.

• Launched the project newsletter, keeping the network and collaborators up to date with progress.

• Oversaw operational finance – managing the project budget, onboarding and paying suppliers, liaising with the Finance department to ensure financial records were accurate and up-to-date.

• Handled venue bookings and logistics, allowing the PI and team to focus on delivery.

• Created a Microsoft Teams channel to support communication between key stakeholders and the project team, to build a stronger sense of collaboration across the Network.

• Began developing a new website for the Network to showcase their research findings and resources.

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