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28-03-2018
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"No exceptions"

Submitter: Joeri van Leeuwen
Description: For astronomers trying to convince their peers and the public of new results, reproducibility is very important. How can someone check your work if you do not describe how it is was derived? If we want the public to think critically for themselves, we should outline how we find our results, not only the final outcomes. This same public is funding much of our work, and there a different kind of accountability is equally important - the knowledge that tax euros were spent responsibly.

One such euro-funded research project is ALERT, the search for FRBs and radio pulsars with Apertif. ALERT is currently at the 36-month mark, which meant a first independent audit of its finances was required. Remco Berg oversaw the preparation of this audit, with tasks ranging from the herding students and yours truly to fill out forms and declarations, but also - mandated by the ERC FP7 rule that VAT is not an allowed expense - going through every single receipt for a coffee here or a cable there and subtracting all the VAT (ugh).

But it paid off. After their standard two-day investigation, the auditors came to the best possible conclusion. The key phrase being "We were able to complete the procedures specified, no exceptions were noted" (see image). Kudos to Remco and the Finance team.

PS: No sweaters were charged against this grant.
Copyright: JvL
 
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