Research Funding Manual - SOAS University of London · qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm Qwertyuiopasdfg ... Research Funding Manual Research and Enterprise . Page | 2 Contents page Introduction

Page | 1

qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf

Qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqweyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm Qwertyuiopasdfg hjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjkl

Research Funding Manual

Research and Enterprise

Page | 2

Contents

page Introduction 3 Part One: Pre-Award Identifying funding opportunities 3 Support and advice 4 Writing your proposal 5 Peer Review 6 Costing your proposal 7 Ethical review 9 Institutional approval 10 Collaborations 10 Online submission 11 Notification of success 11 Accepting your grant 12 Kick off meetings 12 Part Two: Post-Award Setting up your grant 13 Collaboration agreements 13 Research services agreements 13 Employing project staff and engaging consultants 13 Expenditure 14 Internal reporting 14 External reporting 14

Page | 3

Introduction

This research funding manual has been prepared by the Research Office (RO) for research active members of academic staff at SOAS. The RO is part of the Research & Enterprise Directorate (REO). Staff contact details for the REO are available at: http://www.soas.ac.uk/researchoffice/staff/ Part one of the manual (pre-award) covers the process of preparing and submitting applications for external research funding to research councils, charities, foundations, government, the EU and other funders. Part two (post-award) summarises our procedures for managing your grant. A brief guide to the RO functions and staff is available online here, listed under ‗Downloads‘ as ‗Gatefold …‘: http://www.soas.ac.uk/researchoffice/applying-for-external-research-funding/proposal-tips-and-budgeting/

Part One: Pre-Award 1. Identifying funding opportunities

Funding bodies often change their schemes, guidance and deadlines so it is not useful or practical to include that information here. Your Faculty‘s Research Funding Officer (RFO) can advise you.

A list of the major funders relevant to SOAS and their web addresses is available on the RO website here:

http://www.soas.ac.uk/researchoffice/applying-for-external-research-funding/how-do-i-find-funding-for-my-research-ideas/

We email a weekly bulletin of funding opportunities to all staff. The bulletin lists forthcoming deadlines with a brief description of each opportunity and a link to the funder‘s website.

The RO also manages the School‘s subscription to Research Professional and membership of the UK Research Office (UKRO):

Research Professional (http://www.researchprofessional.com) is an online funding opportunities database. Your RFO can set up a personal account for you. You can then search the database and subscribe to email alerts and funding calls.

Page | 4

Alternatively you can now log on using your SOAS user ID and password.

UKRO (http://www.ukro.ac.uk) is an information and advice service on European Union funding for research and higher education. As a member institution, we receive news and information on EU funding opportunities and policy developments. We can also exchange information and share experiences of EU funding with other subscribers.

2. Support and advice

The RO will help you with the development of your proposal which can include proof-reading (when given sufficient notice), arranging internal peer review and support with all financial and administrative elements of your application. From 1 August 2015, a new procedure for making externally funded research grant applications has been introduced. Details of the new procedure can be found at: http://www.soas.ac.uk/researchoffice/applying-for-external-research-funding/ive-found-an-opportunity/ and also below. From 1 August 2015, you must notify the RO of your intention to apply by downloading the Project workbook from: http://www.soas.ac.uk/researchoffice/applying-for-external-research-funding/ive-found-an-opportunity/ Once you have downloaded the Project workbook and opened the file you will see a screen which looks like this:

Page | 5

Click on the tab at the foot entitled ―Project Summary‖. This will take you to an Excel spreadsheet to complete. This is key information required for us to set up your project and requests information for items which you will almost certainly already be thinking about (title, deadlines, internal approvals etc). The green shaded cells are the ones which are mandatory (however, if you do not know the exact details, estimates are fine and can be updated later); the other cells are optional but if completed will help with gathering very useful information on research activity at SOAS. Once completed, please email the Project workbook to the RO on [email protected]. The RO will then contact you and arrange a meeting or call to help in the development of your proposal. As a useful aide in this process, we have developed a ―Development Checklist‖, which forms part of the Project workbook and asks a series of questions, addressing commonly occurring issues. These fields are not mandatory but will minimise email communication and ensure that all questions have been covered prior to Institutional approval being requested. Furthermore, if all of these points have been considered then not only will the proposal be strengthened but, if awarded, then the most likely scenarios have been considered and addressed thus leading to a well-managed project.

We keep a record and copy of all applications submitted through the RO. Your RFO may be able to show you examples of colleagues‘ successful applications to most of the major funding schemes. You may find it helpful to let your Dean or HoD have a note on your proposal by way of an expression of interest before it is peer reviewed to check that it is a good ‗fit‘ with your department‘s strategy. This need only be a copy of the pro forma sent to the RO.

3. Writing your proposal

Please note that funding is highly competitive. It is therefore vital that your application should impress from the outset. It is likely that assessors will travel to meetings of the relevant funder‘s review committee with a large bundle of applications and may be looking for an excuse to weed out the sub-standard ones as quickly as possible. Your proposal should therefore:

set challenging but realistic and achievable aims, objectives, timescales and milestones

directly address the criteria by which the funder will assess your application

Page | 6

be clearly written and understandable to the non-expert reader

show originality and quality

follow the guidance regarding specific headings, attachments and documentation

be accurate in terms of spelling, grammar, punctuation, word limits and font size requirements

ensure that all supporting documentation is provided. The RO can help you with this point.

Please remember that showing ‗Impact‘ is a vital part of the success of any bid. The latest report on Impact from Research Councils UK (RCUK) can be found here:

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/publications/reports/rcuk-impact-report-2014/

It is important that you keep all key evidence of any Impact arising from your project. An REO Impact Officer has now been appointed — Felix Rehnberg ([email protected]). Felix will be happy to speak to you about Impact.

A useful set of principles when framing research grant applications as articulated by George Heilmeier, a US researcher, is as follows:

What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.

How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?

What's new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?

Who cares?

If you're successful, what difference will it make?

What are the risks and the payoffs?

How much will it cost?

How long will it take?

What are the midterm and final "exams" to check for success?

4. Peer Review

We strongly advocate peer review. Share your draft proposal with academic colleagues who have experience of winning research funding. Ask for their feedback and observations. You may wish to have your application peer reviewed by an outsider with suitable expertise but please note that we will only arrange internal peer reviews.

Page | 7

Some of the points to consider if you are thinking of preparing a proposal are as follows:

Choose an appropriate funding body and scheme. Does your project match their strategic priorities?

Are you eligible to apply? Eligibility conditions vary between funders and schemes. There can be restrictions on applicants based on residency, age, contract of employment and the funding period.

Will additional staff be required? Do you have specific people in mind and, if so, are they eligible to work in the UK?

Will additional accommodation, equipment or any other resources be required?

Be realistic about the timescale. It takes time to write a strong proposal. Rushed or hastily written applications are less likely to succeed.

Working back from the submission date produces a timeline of key activities, dates and people that need to be involved in writing your proposal.

Bear important issues in mind such as Intellectual Property rights, Impact, data analysis (for which you will probably need a Data Management Plan), Open Access and risks attached to the proposal. Your RFO can help with these matters.

5. Costing your proposal

fEC grants (full Economic Costing)

Costings for grant applications must be calculated using full economic costing (fEC). Please note that all fEC costs should come under one of the following categories:

Directly incurred (DI). Costs incurred or items purchased specifically for the project. They must be supported by an audit record.

Staff: the payroll cost of staff employed to work on the project. This includes the School‘s ‗on costs‘ which are the employer‘s contribution to National Insurance (NI) and pension. The ‗on costs‘ may well be higher than you think — please ask your RFO for advice.

Travel and subsistence: funds for travel and subsistence necessary to complete the project.

Page | 8

Equipment: individual items of equipment that cost more than £10,000 (including VAT) are categorised by RCUK as ‗Capital Expenditure‘ and fall under the ―Equipment‖ fund heading. However, the RCs cannot support the funding of individual items of equipment costing more than £10,000. Therefore, if your project requires the use of equipment at this value, this will need to be provided from other sources. Individual items of equipment up to £10,000 (including VAT) can be included in the full economic cost (fEC) of the proposal and should be included in the ‗Directly Incurred – Other‘ fund heading.

Other costs: the costs of other items dedicated to the project, including consumables, books, survey fees, purchase/hire of vehicles, publication costs or recruitment and advertising costs for staff directly employed on the project. As stated in the previous paragraph, any items of equipment costing less than £10,000 should also be included under this heading. (See also in the Post-Award section.)

Exceptions: directly incurred costs that the Research Councils will fund in full (at 100%), subject to actual expenditure incurred, or items outside fEC, like studentships, for example.

Please note that the rules above on equipment and other costs are likely to have different definitions for these categories.

Directly allocated (DA). The cost of the resources used by a project but which are shared by other activities and projects. They are charged on the basis of an allocation of time rather than actual costs.

Investigators: proposals must show the cost of the Principal Investigator (PI) and any Co-Investigator (Co-I). The estimated costs of the time spent on the project by each of the academic staff members involved are calculated pro rata according to their salary (including on costs). For the purposes of fEC, one full-time academic year is based on a maximum of 44 weeks, 37.5 hours per week (so, 1,650 hours per year).

Estates: the cost of the infrastructure of an office including premises costs, utilities, insurance, cleaning, security, staff facilities and maintenance. These costs (which are reviewed annually) are calculated on the basis of a specific amount for each full-time equivalent (FTE) academic staff member on the project.

Other directly allocated: these costs may include, for example, the costs of shared pool staff or, in the case of a postdoctoral fellowship, the cost of a mentor‘s time.

Indirect costs are not related to any one project or activity, but are a necessary part of the costs of undertaking a project. They include

Page | 9

the cost of maintaining the REO, Human Resources, the Finance Department, Library and Faculty services such as photocopying, postage and telephones. As with estates costs, these costs are also reviewed annually and are calculated on the basis of a specific amount for each full-time equivalent (FTE) academic staff member on the project.

Charities rarely award grants on a fEC basis and may not fund the cost of the PI‘s time, equipment, estates and indirect costs (or ‗overheads‘). Other funders may award an administrative overhead based on a percentage of the total of directly incurred costs.

It is crucial that you contact the RO in accordance with the timeline which you will find here, listed on the right hand panel (under ‗Downloads‘):

http://www.soas.ac.uk/researchoffice/applying-for-external-research-funding/proposal-tips-and-budgeting/

This will give us time to ensure that your proposal is properly and fully costed and in accordance with the funder‘s regulations. We also need to check that all potential costs have been taken into consideration to avoid under-funded projects. Most awards, once made, are fixed amounts and will not allow recourse to the funder for additional funds.

For any projects not covered by fEC, guidance on the purchase of equipment and services can be found here:

www.soas.ac.uk/purchasing/procedures/general

Please note that different funders will have different rules on procurement. Your RFO will be able to help you with this.

Your budget should be:

realistic

planned within a specified timescale

clearly itemised

provide good value for money and

fully justified.

6. Ethical review Ethical review is necessary to ensure that SOAS research projects comply with the requirements of the School‘s Research Ethics Policy. The approval process is mandatory for all research proposals which involve an application for external funding.

Page | 10

Ethical approval must be obtained from your Associate Dean of Research (ADR) before the research project commences. The latest versions of the ethical review procedure and application form are available at:

http://www.soas.ac.uk/researchoffice/ethics/

This also now forms part of the project workbook; there is a question on the project summary sheet about this. See this screenshot taken from the database:

7. Institutional approval

All applications for external research funding must be submitted through the Research Office. Before any application is submitted to a funder, you must first ensure that the institutional approval form has been agreed and signed by your HoD (or your Dean where it is above £500,000) and the Research Manager. The institutional approval form is now part of the Project workbook. The School may be unable to accept grants that are awarded as a result of applications submitted without institutional approval. If you are considering making an application, please start working with the RO at least six weeks before the submission deadline and preferably as soon as you start working on the application. This gives us time to make sure that your proposal is properly costed and to agree the institutional approval. A timeline for grant applications will be uploaded to the RO pages and the link circulated.

8. Collaborations

If you are the lead applicant of a project that involves collaboration with a colleague at another institution, please make sure, before the application is submitted, that their participation is authorised. Your RFO will also need to contact the collaborating institution‘s Research

Page | 11

Office or equivalent to obtain their costing details. The budget split between institutions must be formally agreed before the application is submitted to avoid any misunderstanding in the event that the grant is awarded. If you are planning to collaborate on a project led by a colleague at another institution, you must contact us and agree both institutional approval and your budget in exactly the same way as if you were the lead applicant.

9. Online submission

Most funders now accept applications only if submitted electronically through their online systems. For example — this list is not exhaustive:

The UK Research Councils, including the AHRC and ESRC, use the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system: https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk/

The British Academy and the Royal Society use the electronic Grant Administration Processing (e-GAP2) system: https://egap.britac.ac.uk/

The EU has a ‗Participant Portal‘ — for details, please go here: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

The Leverhulme Trust has its own grant application system: https://grants.leverhulme.ac.uk/

The Wellcome Trust also has its own grant application system: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/wtp058668.htm

These systems may well let you share your draft proposal with colleagues electronically. They also include in-built approval stages which mean that your application cannot be submitted to the funder until institutional authorisation has been confirmed by the RO. Please keep this in mind when planning your application and allow time for the online approval process to take place. Your RFO can advise and help you to navigate the various systems.

10. Notification of success

Funders usually notify the lead applicant directly, in writing or by email, of the outcome of an application. Please let the RO know as soon as you hear whether or not your application has been successful. It is also important for us to know about unsuccessful applications and to see the funder‘s feedback and reviewers‘ comments. Initially

Page | 12

unsuccessful proposals can often be revised or re-designed and submitted to an alternative funder. You should discuss the possibilities of resubmitting unsuccessful applications with your RFO.

11. Accepting your grant

Grants are paid by funders to the host institution, not directly to the applicant, so you will need to confirm institutional acceptance of your award. Please bring your award letter (which should have attached to it the terms and conditions under which the grant has been awarded) to the RO so that we can check the budget and terms and conditions. The Research Manager will sign the acceptance form or starting certificate. It is extremely important that you familiarise yourself with the terms and conditions of your grant. As the grant-holder, you are responsible for the intellectual leadership of the project and for the overall management of the research and the grant. Once we have accepted the award, a kick off meeting will be arranged involving the Principal Investigator, Faculty Administrator, RFO, REO Finance Officer (Post-award) and any other colleagues who will be instrumental in the operation of the award eg, Centre Managers. It is the Principal Investigator‘s responsibility to ensure their team members are aware of the items discussed at the kick off meeting.

12. Kick off meetings Running a research grant can consist of several complex features: for

example, collaborating with external partners, managing a budget, considering HR policy and legislation, complex contractual requirements regarding Intellectual Property and rights to publish. The RO is keen to support you in this process and to ease the transition from the Pre-Award team to the Post-Award team, the RO has established kick off meetings. A kick off meeting will be arranged when the award has been accepted involving the Principal Investigator and other relevant SOAS staff working on the project, together with members of the Pre-Award and Post-Award teams. In advance of the meeting, a kick off form will be prepared and circulated. The aim of these meetings is to have an opportunity for the grant to be discussed, highlighting any complex contractual features, HR requirements and confirming how the budget is to be set up.

For further information regarding Post-Award management of your grant, please see Part Two below.

Page | 13

Part Two: Post-Award 1. Setting up your grant

The RO will create a project budget code and file for your grant. The file will include the following sections:

a copy of the original proposal

the award letter and terms and conditions of the award

the budget

collaboration agreements (if applicable)

human resources forms (if applicable)

financial documentation and

internal and external reporting (narrative and financial). 2. Collaboration agreements

If the project involves a Co-Investigator at another institution, a collaboration agreement will need to be put in place, between the School and the collaborating institution, agreed and authorised by the Research Manager, before the project begins.

3. Research services agreements

In cases where research services are procured as part of a project, a research services agreement must be put in place between the researcher or research institution and the School, agreed and authorised by the Research Manager, before any payments can be made. Please note that regulations on reverse charge VAT now affect all sub-contracted research (although there are exemptions for genuine collaboration agreements). VAT can be a difficult and unclear matter — you should seek advice from your RFO on this.

4. Employing project staff and engaging consultants

If your grant includes funds to employ additional members of staff, you must organise this through the RO in liaison with your Faculty and the Human Resources Department (HR). All staff appointments on externally funded research grants must be authorised by the REO Finance Manager. You must not arrange for anyone to undertake any work on your project without first discussing it with the RO. Documentary evidence of an individual's eligibility to work in the UK must be supplied and checked prior to the individual carrying out any work on the project. Similarly, if you need to engage the services of a consultant on your project, this must be arranged by the RO. A consultancy agreement must be put in place between the consultant and the School, agreed

Page | 14

and authorised by the Research Manager, before any payments can be made. Please note that regulations on reverse charge VAT affect all payments to foreign consultants. As mentioned in clause 5 on research agreements, VAT can be a difficult matter.

5. Expenditure

All expenditure from your project budget code must (i) be authorised by the RO and (ii) be in accordance with both the funder‘s terms and conditions and the School‘s financial regulations and procedures: http://www.soas.ac.uk/finance/financedocs/ With the possible exception of recruitment costs, expenditure should only be incurred between the start and end dates of a project. Expenditure incurred outside the grant period will probably be disallowed by the funder.

Travel and subsistence Expenses claims must be submitted to the RO for approval. All claims must be for items agreed in the awarded budget and for actual expenditure incurred, supported by receipts.

Equipment All equipment for externally funded research projects should be purchased directly by the School. The IT Department can give you advice about ordering the necessary items.

6. Internal reporting

As PI, you will be emailed two monthly financial reports by the REO Finance Manager. The first is a monthly summary statement of expenditure against each budget heading. The second is a detailed report showing every transaction that has occurred during the period.

7. External reporting

Funders‘ reporting requirements vary, but most will expect you to submit interim or final narrative and financial reports. Failure to respond to funders‘ conditions can mean that the School will suffer a significant financial penalty and damage to its reputation. It will also jeopardise your future chance of success with the funder. It is your responsibility as grant-holder to ensure that the funding conditions are met. Any loss to the School resulting from a failure to meet the conditions of funding will be charged against faculty accounts. As with applications, funders are increasingly moving towards online submission of reports. The Research Office can assist you with online submission and by preparing the financial section of your report.

Page | 15

Glossary of acronyms

ADR Associate Dean of Research AHRC Arts & Humanities Research Council: www.ahrc.ac.uk Co-I Co-Investigator e-GAP2 Electronic Grant Administration Processing (British Academy

and the Royal Society) EC CORDIS (for EU funding information):

http://cordis.europa.eu/home_en.html EPSS Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EU, for both FP7 and

H2020 proposals) ERC European Research Council: http://erc.europa.eu/ ESRC Economic & Social Research Council: www.esrc.ac.uk EU European Union fEC Full Economic Costing HEFCE Higher Education Funding Council for England HESA Higher Education Statistics Agency HoD Head of Department HR Human Resources Je-S Joint Electronic Submission (UK Research Councils) PI Principal Investigator PIC Participation Identification Code (for EU funding applications) RCUK Research Councils UK REO Research & Enterprise Office RFO Research Funding Officer RO Research Office UKRO United Kingdom Research Office