Project Support

What we can do for you:

Specific funder searches related to your area of research.
Provide information about upcoming funding opportunities.
Provide advice and support to develop academic-industry collaboration.
Co-ordinate interdisciplinary bids across Schools and Research Groups.
Provide regular training and workshops to help you find funding and develop your bids.

 What you can do:

Keep your research profile up to date.
Share your area of research with us by sending a short description and details of what you want to do.
Arrange a meeting with us to discuss your research area and requirements.
Register with Pivot RP (formerly Research Professional), the research funding database.
Look at other Universities' web pages to see where other researchers in your field have found funding.
Talk to colleagues that have been successful at finding funding.

Award Set-Up

Congratulations on being awarded your funding! So what happens next?

Each RIKE project that is awarded external funding must have its own cost centre on the University’s financial system, Unit4.

The Research Services Team are responsible for setting up this cost centre and allocating a budget for the project, but before this can take place we will need to be in possession of the original documentation confirming the funding. This could be a grant offer letter, a contract with an industry company, a partnership agreement with another institute or simply a purchase order for consultancy services.

Please note: Principal Investigators are not authorised to sign off their own contracts.

When you receive your contract or award letter, it must be reviewed by our Contracts Managers and signed by the University. Please contact Research Services Team who will facilitate the process, working closely with the University’s Legal team to ensure that all contracts entered into are favourable for all parties involved.

Grant Management

Once a budget is allocated to the project cost centre, orders and expenses can be processed within the School/Service itself. Expenditure must be in-line with the eligible spend outlined in the contract and in compliance with the University’s financial regulations. All expenditure will need to be pre-authorised by the main budget holder (ordinarily the Principal Investigator).

The Research Services Team will monitor the expenditure and analyse any variances, processing recharges to the School where required. Quarterly budget reviews are undertaken, with reports provided to the Principal Investigator or relevant School/Service contact to track progress.

If claims or expenditure statements are required by the funder, the Post Award team will work with the School to collate the necessary evidencing documentation to ensure that the claim is submitted accurately and within the required timescale. The team also liaise with funders and audit firms with regards to claims and audits.

Compliance and Risk Management

Each funder has a different set of contractual regulations surrounding the funding they award, so it is important that the Principal Investigator understands the regulations before embarking on a research or enterprise project. This page gives some detail about how to manage project risks and ensure compliance.

Irrespective of the funder, key things to remember include:

Funding can only be spent on the items included in the proposal unless the funder has given explicit written permission to deviate from this.
All members of staff on projects must adhere to the University’s Financial Regulations at all times. These regulations incorporate the Procurement regulations, and also the Expenses and Benefits policy.
Some funders, such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), have additional procurement rules that we must follow – these are over and above our own procurement regulations.
If the funder’s procurement regulations are not followed, such expenditure will be ineligible, unable to be claimed and charged directly to the School.

If the funder sets a deadline for a report or a claim to be submitted by, we must abide by this as it will be a contractual obligation. None compliance may lead to financial sanctions, and damage to our reputation.
Not all funders support redundancy costs, so if a fixed term post is included in the project, these costs will need to be paid by the School/Service.
When working with industrial organisations, it is important to remember that they can experience financial difficulties during a project which could jeopardise contractual arrangements with the University. Financial Services chase outstanding invoices on behalf of Schools/Services.
Expenditure incurred after the end date of a project may not be eligible to be claimed from the funder unless this is explicitly included in the contract/award letter. Any expenditure which has been incurred but is ineligible for the funder will not be claimed and will be charged directly to the School.
External funding must be acknowledged wherever possible, for example, on staff advertisements, publicity brochures, journal and conference papers.

For major projects, the Research Services Team will issue Principal Investigators with guidance specific to their project, and also to the funder.

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Bid Development

Grant Management

Our Team