Funding Guide

Arrangements and procedures for research grants and research fellowships

Polaris House

North Star Avenue

Swindon, SN2 1ET

T: 01793 444000

www.epsrc.ac.uk

© EPSRC

Updated July 2011

Page 2 of 65

Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................... 4

Standards of Service ............................................................ 4

Contacts .............................................................................. 4

Funding Opportunities ..................................................... 6

Introduction ........................................................................ 6

Research Grants .................................................................. 6

Training Grants .................................................................... 8

Eligibility ....................................................................... 10

Research Grants ................................................................ 10

How to Apply ................................................................. 14

Timing ............................................................................... 14 Application Forms .............................................................. 14

Help with the Je-S System ................................................. 14

Case for Support ................................................................ 15 Joint Proposals .................................................................. 15

Resources - Full Economic Costing ................................ 16

Introduction ...................................................................... 16 Support for Items Expected to be Found in a Department . 17

Directly Incurred Costs ...................................................... 17

Directly Allocated Costs ..................................................... 20 Exceptions ......................................................................... 21

Visiting Researchers .......................................................... 22

Animal Costs ...................................................................... 22 Facilities ............................................................................ 22

Public Communication Training ......................................... 23

Indexation ......................................................................... 23

Assessing Proposals ...................................................... 24

Introduction ...................................................................... 24

Progress Check .................................................................. 24 Reviewing .......................................................................... 24

Prioritisation Panels .......................................................... 24

Funding Decision ............................................................... 25 Resubmissions ................................................................... 25

Assessing Research Fellowships ........................................ 25

Managing Research Grants and Fellowships .................. 26

Research Grants ................................................................ 26 Research Fellowships ........................................................ 32

Research Outcomes ....................................................... 33

Page 3 of 65

Publication and Acknowledgement of Support ................... 33

Public Engagement with Research ..................................... 33 Exploitation of Results ....................................................... 34

Demonstrating Potential Impact ........................................ 34

Evaluation .......................................................................... 35

Terms and Conditions of Grants .................................... 36

Terms and Conditions of Research Council fEC Grants ....... 36

Terms and conditions of research council training grants .. 53 Additional information to accompany terms & conditions .. 65

Page 4 of 65

Introduction This guide covers all aspects of research grant and research fellowship funding. It gives details of the arrangements and procedures for research grants and research fellowships, together with a summary of application procedures.

The terms and conditions of research grants and research fellowships included in this guide are for information and completeness. Grant offer letters will include a set of current standard conditions, and it is these that will govern the management of individual grants.

EPSRC reserves the right to amend these regulations at any time and without prior notice. The regulations in effect at any time will be those contained in the most recent version of this guide, available at:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/apprev/basics/Pages/fundingguide.aspx.

The Funding Guide is only available as a PDF document to download.

Standards of Service EPSRC is committed to providing a high quality, responsive and accessible service to all the organisations and individuals with which we interact. Details of our research administration service standards are available at:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/standards/Pages/researchadmin.aspx

We operate a process for considering and responding to complaints which can be found at:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/standards/Pages/complaints.aspx

Contacts We are happy to provide advice on any aspect of our research funding arrangements. There is a directory of contacts on the EPSRC website. If you are not sure who to contact, the EPSRC Helpline will be able to advise you. The Research Councils UK Shared Services Centre Ltd (the SSC) manages the administrative process for peer review on behalf of EPSRC and is the point of contact for all queries regarding the processing of proposals.

Contacts Directory http://fd.epsrc.ac.uk/contacts/search.aspx

EPSRC Helpline infoline@epsrc.ac.uk (01793) 444100

Postal Address Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Polaris House North Star Avenue Swindon SN2 1ET

EPSRC Switchboard (01793) 444000

Page 5 of 65

Website www.epsrc.ac.uk

Email EPSRC staff can be contacted using email addresses in the form of: firstname.lastname@epsrc.ac.uk

SSC Grants Service Desk (01793) 867000

Email grantsepsrc@ssc.rcuk.ac.uk

Back to Contents

Page 6 of 65

Funding Opportunities

Introduction Research grants provide financial support to research organisations for specific research projects in the engineering and physical sciences. Research fellowships provide support for leading scientists and engineers to devote themselves full-time to research activities.

The majority of research funded by EPSRC is supported through standard grants, formerly responsive mode. Applicants need to consider their research in relation to our portfolio. In some research areas we provide support through managed programmes, particularly where joint funding is planned with third parties. These generally operate through calls for proposals in specific areas. Finally, there are a number of tailored funding schemes.

We manage our research portfolio through themes. We welcome research proposals that span different themes and will make sure that they are given full and careful evaluation. Projects that span the remits of other research councils are also welcome and can, if necessary, be funded by more than one council.

Our theme leads and managers are happy to discuss your ideas for proposals before their submission. We particularly encourage discussion for proposals with a complex management nature, those involving large consortia, or those consisting of more than one research theme.

Full details of funding opportunities:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/grants/Pages/default.aspx

Research Grants

Standard Grants Standard Grants are very flexible, with the scale of projects supported ranging from small value, short term grants to multi-million pound research programmes. A wide variety of activities are supported, including feasibility studies, instrument development, equipment to support a number of research projects, overseas travel grants and visiting researchers, and long-term proposals to develop or maintain critical mass. High risk/high return research proposals, embracing new concepts or techniques, are particularly encouraged.

The key features of standard grant funding are:

• No closing dates - applications may be submitted at any time.

• No limit on the value or length of the grant.

• No constraint on the field of research, providing the majority of it falls within our remit but the research must consider the EPSRC portfolio that we are shaping. Prominence is given to the Principal Investigator as the creative figure who determines the direction of the research.

Page 7 of 65

• International excellence and national importance, as defined by independent peer review, are the main criteria against which proposals are assessed.

We actively encourage the involvement of collaborators from industry, commerce or other organisations on research base funding research proposals. However, funding from a third-party is not mandatory.

Opportunities for New Researchers First Grant Scheme - to help new academics apply for research funding at the start of their careers. There is no submission deadline, and while proposals go to the same panel meetings as research base funding proposals, they are only assessed against other First Grant proposals.

Postdoctoral Mobility - EPSRC would like to encourage the transfer of outputs of research between different research disciplines as well as aiding the career development of Post-doctoral Research Assistants funded on EPSRC grants. It is possible to apply for follow-on support to allow a Research Assistant reaching the end of a research project in one discipline to transfer their knowledge and skills to another discipline.

Extended Support for Research Groups Platform Grants - providing leading research groups with flexible support for retaining key staff and carrying out feasibility studies, longer-term research and international networking.

Programme Grants - providing long-term funding to support a suite of related research activities focusing on one major theme. Proposals may be interdisciplinary and collaborative or may address key research challenges in a single discipline.

Networking and Collaboration UK-based Research Networks - linking research groups and industrial organisations, often across disciplines, to develop new or enhanced collaborations. Proposals may be submitted at any time.

Overseas Travel Grants - small value grants to enable visits to recognised research centres abroad to study new techniques or to develop collaborations. They may not be used solely to fund conference attendance or to support sabbatical absences.

Visiting researchers - support can be provided for scientists and engineers of acknowledged standing, either from within the UK or abroad, to visit the investigator's organisation as part of a research proposal.

Workshops and schools - to stimulate research, or to train postgraduate students. Requests for complete or partial funding of an event, like other proposals, are subject to peer review. Bilateral Research Workshops (N + N meetings) can be held to exchange ideas and expertise internationally, with the objective of exploring the possibility of more substantial future collaboration.

Page 8 of 65

EPSRC Fellowships

EPSRC has a framework for supporting outstanding researchers through fellowships and offers a small number of fellowships each year , in priority research areas, giving talented individuals at different stages of their careers the opportunity to pursue their research interest either on a full or part-time basis. EPSRC has defined three career stages in which fellowships may be offered: postdoctoral, early and established career. Full details (including eligibility) of fellowships available: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/fellows/Pages/default.aspx

Training Grants EPSRC funds a major part of its postgraduate training programme through grants to higher education institutions (HEIs). Doctoral Training Grants are targeted at the academic end of research training, and Collaborative Training Grants are targeted at supporting training that has strong connectivity to industry.

Doctoral Training Grants provide HEIs with maximum flexibility in managing their research studentship population. We allocate Doctoral Training Grants to HEIs, who are free to offer stipends above EPSRC's required minimum, or can offer support for up to four years if a project requires it. They are also free to switch funding to other areas of related expenditure, such as consumables, travel, conferences, external training courses and career guidance. Doctoral Training Grants are issued annually to universities, and are calculated by means of an algorithm based on the research grant income received from EPSRC. No application is required.

Centres for Doctoral Training Grants (CDT) are designed to provide a number of annual cohorts of four-year studentships with a formal programme of taught coursework to develop technical knowledge and broadening skills which will produce researchers able to address challenging research problems for the UK economy. Within this overarching framework, there are two categories of centre; Industrial Doctoral Centres (IDCs) and Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs). IDCs are user-oriented centres with students spending around 75% of their time working directly within their collaborating company. The level of industrial engagement is correspondingly high. DTCs operate in three main strands:

• Mission Programmes, which are strategically important areas such as Digital Economy, Nanosciences, and Energy.

• Life Science Interfaces, providing a multidisciplinary approach to PhD study in biology and EPSRC’s remit.

• Community generated areas whose aim is to secure the future supply of skilled people across a broad spectrum of EPSRC’s remit.

Page 9 of 65

The CDT mechanism operates through specific calls for proposals, and is not available through the standard grants route.

Back to Contents

Page 10 of 65

Eligibility

Research Grants

Eligibility of Organisations The Research Councils promote and support research, postgraduate training and associated activities in UK research organisations. These may be supported in any field or discipline at the instigation of the Investigator (Standard Grants) or at the instigation of the Research Council (Calls for Proposals or Managed Mode).

All UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are eligible to receive funds for research, postgraduate training and associated activities. The Higher Education Funding Councils determine whether an organisation meets the criteria as an HEI.

Research Institutes (RIs), for which Research Councils have established a long term involvement as major funder as part of the national research base are also eligible to receive research funding, from any Council and listed here:

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/noparentrcs.aspx

Other Independent Research Organisations (IROs) may also be eligible if they possess an existing in-house capacity to carry out research that materially extends and enhances the national research base and are able to demonstrate an independent capability to undertake and lead research programmes. The organisations must also satisfy all the following conditions:

• Organisations which are, or which are constituent parts of, a charity registered with the Charities Commission; or associations which are eligible for exemption from Corporation Tax under schedule 508 of the Income and Corporation Taxes 1988; or organisations which are wholly owned subsidiaries of an association approved under section 508 of the Income and Corporations Taxes Act whose articles of association require that all profits are returned (gift-aided) to the section 508 association.

• The organisation must be a legal entity which is not:

o owned;

o established; or

o primarily (i.e. 50% or more) funded for research purposes

o by any single part (or related parts) of the public sector (other than by a Research Council, HEI, NHS Trust, National museum/gallery/library/archive/botanical garden/observatory) or by a business.

• The organisation must possess an existing in-house capacity to carry out research, in the field or discipline in which it wishes to be funded, that materially extends and enhances the national research base; and be

Page 11 of 65

able to demonstrate an independent capability to undertake and lead research programmes, as demonstrated by:

o Sufficient high-quality current research capacity. This requires:

a minimum of ten researchers with a significant number of publications in top quality journals and/or monographs with key academic publishers, and/or other outputs that have been subject to the highest standards of peer review. Journal quality should take account of benchmark measures appropriate to the discipline.

a track record of staff, while employed at the organisation, leading or co-leading innovative research projects in the previous five years, including directing other postdoctoral researchers and/or research students. This should include evidence of the size and complexity of the projects and details of how they were managed and coordinated.

o Sufficient financial support for research at the organisational level to ensure the availability of essential infrastructure and the long-term sustainability of research activity, as evidenced by research income from independent sources averaging at least £0.5 million per annum over the previous three years.

o Importance and relevance of the research capability, as indicated in 1-2 above, to the Council(s) to which eligibility is sought.

o Evidence of the organisation having a strong track record of maximising the wider impact and value of its research to the benefit of the UK economy and society.

IROs are eligible to receive funding from a Research Council in its managed mode or in response to a specific Call for Proposals. Exceptionally an individual Council may specifically agree access to research base funding if an IRO can demonstrate that it can provide a high quality research capability that is not widely represented in the HEI or RI sectors and which is of clear benefit to the health of the research base of the relevant Council RIs.

Organisations currently recognised as IROs are listed on the Research Councils UK website at:

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/documents/eligibilityiros.pdf

Organisations that are eligible to apply for Research Council funding may work in partnership or collaboration with any other organisation, irrespective of its eligibility status, subject to the conditions of any grant awarded.

In exceptional cases, Research Councils may have requirements for the development of equipment or facilities, needed to pursue their research priorities, for which there is no capability in HEIs, RIs or IROs. In these specific

Page 12 of 65

circumstances, the Research Councils will issue a Call for Proposals and may fund organisations which do not otherwise satisfy the conditions for eligibility.

The Research Councils will jointly consider eligibility of IROs for research funding, normally on an annual basis, and eligibility may be restricted to certain Research Councils. This review will also need to determine that the IRO is able to meet the accountability and audit requirements. An IRO seeking eligibility for funding from any Council should contact the Je-S helpdesk which manages the application process. The Research Administration Convergence Network (RACN) makes the assessment of eligibility applications to ensure consistency of approach between Councils. The list of eligible organisations will be published on the RCUK website. A change in the status of an IRO would require re-consideration of an IRO’s eligibility. Otherwise, once eligibility has been granted, it will continue unless the IRO has received no funding during the previous five years.

Eligibility of Investigators Principal Investigators must be academic employees (lecturer or equivalent) of an eligible organisation and must be resident in the UK. EPSRC Fellows (except Postdoctoral Fellows) and Royal Society Fellows are also eligible to be Principal Investigators.

Principal Investigators should normally hold a permanent post but fixed-term employees may be eligible provided that the EPSRC can be satisfied that the host research organisation is prepared to give the individual all the support normal for a permanent employee and that there is no conflict of interest between the investigator’s obligations to the EPSRC and to any other organisation or employer. The term of employment of a fixed-term employee must extend beyond the duration of the proposed research project.

Recipients of Research Council Academic Fellowships who are initially supported as postdoctoral research assistants (PDRAs) on research grants are eligible to apply for new research grants in their own right. However, they cannot start any successful award until they have completed their PDRA duties on the original research grant.

Co-Investigators are expected to meet the eligibility criteria for Principal Investigators except for the requirement to hold a contract that extends beyond the end date of the proposal.

Research Assistants cannot be Principal Investigators or Co-Investigators. Research Assistants can be identified as Researcher Co-Investigators if they have made a substantial contribution to the development of an application and will be employed on the project for a significant proportion of their time (normally in excess of 50% FTE), if it is funded. The proposal must seek funds for the Researcher Co-Investigator’s salary for the duration of the project and clearly identify their contribution to the proposal. A Research Co-Investigator must be employed by the same organisation as either the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator. It is the expectation that the Research Co-Investigator will be employed on the grant for the duration of the award.

Page 13 of 65

Certain schemes impose specific eligibility criteria, and prospective applicants are advised to confirm their eligibility against an individual scheme before submitting an application.

Research proposals will not be considered from an applicant who was the Principal Investigator on a grant where there is an overdue Final Report.

Back to Contents

Page 14 of 65

How to Apply

Timing Standard Grant Funding Proposals may be submitted at any time.

Managed Funding Proposals should comply with the dates and timescales set out in the relevant call for proposals or announcement of opportunity.

Overseas Travel Grants Proposals must be submitted at least twelve weeks before the proposed visit.

Research Fellowships Proposals may be submitted at any time and will be assessed on a rolling basis.

Application Forms

Research Grants Proposals for research grants should be made electronically through the Research Councils’ Joint electronic Submission (Je-S) system:

https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk/

Principal Investigators, Co-Investigators and their organisations need to register to submit proposals through the Je-S system. If you have not applied through the Je-S system before, you need to check that you have a Je-S account that allows you to submit proposals. Please do this well in advance of when you plan to submit your proposal. If you are responding to a call for proposals, please leave enough time for your organisation’s submission process to take place before the closing date.

For each funding opportunity, guidance is given on the EPSRC website about which form to use and how to submit.

Research Fellowships Applications for EPSRC Fellowships should be submitted electronically through the Research Councils’ Joint electronic Submission (Je-S) system.

Outline Proposals In some calls for proposals, outlines or expressions of interest are requested in advance of full proposals. Applications using the EPSRC Outline Proposal Form should be submitted electronically through the Je-S System. Detailed guidance on how to complete the outline research proposal form can also be found on the EPSRC web site and through the Je-S System.

Help with the Je-S System If you have any queries about using the Je-S system, please contact the Je-S Helpdesk:

Email: JeSHelp@rcuk.ac.uk, Telephone: (01793) 444164.

Page 15 of 65

Case for Support All forms should be accompanied by a self-contained description of the proposed research. Details of the documentation required can be found in the guidance notes for completing the standard research proposal form and case for support on the EPSRC website and through the Je-S System.

Please see the preparing a proposal pages for details:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/apprev/preparing/Pages/default.aspx

Joint Proposals Where a project is to be managed by one research organisation, a single research proposal form and case for support should be submitted. Where funding is sought by more than one research organisation for the same project, a separate research proposal form may be submitted from each. Those sections and attachments currently duplicated on all parts of the proposals will only be required and permitted on the lead proposal. These are:

• Objectives

• Summary

• Beneficiaries

• Project Partners

• Reviewers

• Case for Support

• Workplan

• Justification of Resources

In any jointly submitted proposal, however, EPSRC will not accept more than one proposal from any one research organisation. An investigator on one proposal should not be named as an investigator on the other(s).

Please make sure that where a project comprises more than one proposal, this is made absolutely clear in the section marked ‘Related Proposals’.

Back to Contents

Page 16 of 65

Resources - Full Economic Costing

Introduction All research grant proposals and fellowship applications submitted will be costed on the basis of full economic costs (fEC). If a grant is awarded, Research Councils will provide funding at 80% of the fEC. The organisation must agree to find the balance of fEC for the project from other resources.

Universities and other higher education organisations will use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) methodology to calculate full economic costs. This methodology has been validated by a quality assurance programme and is subject to ongoing review through arrangements to be put in place by the Funding Councils and the Research Councils. Other research organisations can apply for full economic costs provided that the methodology they adopt has been validated by the Research Councils as appropriate and robust. A questionnaire has been designed to determine this. Research Council institutes that are eligible to apply to EPSRC for research grants and fellowships will use a fEC methodology validated by their parent Research Council.

All organisations can opt to use default rates for Estates and Indirect costs, as an alternative to applying a comprehensive fEC methodology. Universities and other HEIs need to obtain dispensation from full operation of TRAC to use this approach. Other research organisations must indicate, when they next seek to submit a research application, a wish to adopt default rates. The default rates are published periodically by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on its website, and are based on averages of actual rates in use in the university sector. Non-universities must decide for themselves whether these default rates are applicable to their circumstances.

All costs that contribute to the full economic costs of a project may be included in fEC. There are, however, some costs that do not form part of the fEC of a project or are required to be charged in a specific way. These include:

Redundancy costs for research staff: provision for redundancy costs should be made in the Cost of Capital Employed (COCE), which is a charge within Indirect Costs.

The costs of maternity, paternity and sick leave for Investigators, together with other employment-related costs, are not chargeable to Research Councils (except where the Investigator is also a Research Fellow or a Research Assistant funded from the grant).

Depreciation on Research Council-funded equipment may not be included in Estates costs. TRAC provides guidance on how to deal with this.

Academic time preparing research proposals together with time spent on dissemination or publication work after a grant has ended should be charged to Research Support – an item within Indirect Costs.

Proposals should be made at current (year 1) prices, inclusive of VAT and other taxes, where applicable, with no allowance for inflation. Grants may include a

Page 17 of 65

sum to make provision for some degree of inflation and future pay awards over the duration of the grant.

Support for Items Expected to be Found in a Department Any proposals requesting items that would ordinarily be found in a department, for example non-specialist computers, should include justification both for why they are required for the project and why they cannot be provided from the research organisation's own resources (including funding from indirect costs from grants).

Costs are divided into the following summary fund headings:

• Directly Incurred Costs - Costs that are explicitly identifiable as arising from the conduct of a project, are charged as the cash value actually spent and are supported by an auditable record.

o Staff

o Travel and subsistence

o Equipment

o Other costs

• Directly Allocated Costs - The costs of resources used by a project that are shared by other activities. They are charged to projects on the basis of estimates rather than actual costs and do not represent actual costs on a project-by-project basis.

o Investigators

o Estates

o Other directly allocated

• Indirect Costs - Non-specific costs charged across all projects, based on estimates, which are not otherwise included as Directly Allocated costs.

• Exceptions - Directly Incurred costs that are funded at 100% of fEC, subject to actual expenditure incurred, or items that are outside fEC.

Directly Incurred Costs

Staff The payroll costs of all staff, full or part-time, who work on the project, and whose time can be supported by a full audit trail may be included. When a person is contracted to work 100% of their time on a single project (whether they are working full-time or part-time) timesheets are not necessary. In all other cases, timesheets or project records are required. The need for such staff should be justified in the case for support.

Where an application includes provision for named fellow, research, technical and support staff, the EPSRC will normally expect to award funds at the level

Page 18 of 65

requested. Research assistants, whether named or unnamed, should be requested at a salary level commensurate with the skills, responsibilities, expertise and experience necessary to carry out the proposed research activity.

It will be for those submitting the proposal to determine the extent to which market conditions make it difficult to recruit staff of appropriate quality in areas of high market demand at the normal entry level for the research organisation. Provided the level requested has been fully justified within the case for support, the EPSRC will make the award at that level. The EPSRC reserves the right to provide support at a different level if it is considered appropriate.

Salary increments over the period of the project should be taken into account but not anticipated future pay awards.

The research organisation is responsible, as the employer, for the contracts of employment of the staff concerned and, consequently, for any redundancy or other compensatory payments that may be required. Work permits, if required, are a matter for direct negotiation between the research organisation and the relevant Government departments.

Travel and Subsistence A grant may provide travel and subsistence funds for investigators and staff assigned to the project where these are required by the nature of the work. Travel costs should be based on the most suitable and economical form of travel. Subsistence costs should reflect the normal rates applying in the host research organisation.

Relocation costs may be included for staff who are named in the proposal form. Relocation costs for un-named staff should be found from the Indirect Cost element of the grant.

Costs for attendance at conferences may be included, where such attendance will be of direct benefit to the research. Conferences should, as far as possible, be individually identified in the proposal and attendance justified. Costs associated with conferences etc that fall outside the period of the grant cannot be charged to the grant even if it is possible to pay attendance/registration fees or any other associated costs before the end date of the grant.

Equipment The heading provides for equipment dedicated to the project costing £10,000 or more (including VAT). This includes computers, laboratory/workshop equipment, major equipment spares and software, installation costs and costs of major essential modifications necessary to house equipment (for example, clean rooms or extension of air conditioning). Three quotations for the cost of any equipment costing more than £25,000 should accompany the proposal. For equipment in the range £25,000 to £99,999, quotations obtained verbally are acceptable and should be detailed in the proposal. Three written quotations are required for single items of equipment costing more than £100,000 and must accompany the proposal.

Page 19 of 65

VAT and import duty, where appropriate, should be identified separately. Universities may buy scientific or medical equipment free of VAT where it is to be solely for medical research, diagnosis or treatment. Some imported equipment is exempt from import duty. The applicant should clarify the position on tax and duty with the relevant authority before submitting the proposal.

For all equipment and services costing more than £25,000 (excluding VAT), professionally qualified procurement staff must be consulted at the beginning of the procurement process and must approve the order before it is placed with the supplier.

Other Costs Costs sought should be specified as far as possible in the proposal and justified in terms of requirement for the research proposed.

This heading may include:

• Consumables

• Publication costs

• Specialist publications (not expected in institutional libraries)

• Consultancy fees

• Fieldwork fees/subjects/informants

• Computing - including recurrent costs of computing dedicated to each project only, e.g. software licences

• Equipment - items costing less than £10,000 (including VAT)

• Equipment-related items (if not included as part of the Research Organisation’s estates costs). For example:

o Maintenance (external contracts/agreements)

o Relocation

o Rental/access charges (specify equipment or service being used and basis of charging)

• Glass house consumables

• Recruitment and advertising costs for staff directly employed on the project

• Purchase/hire/running costs of vehicles if necessary for the project

Page 20 of 65

Directly Allocated Costs

Investigators This heading provides for the costs of all Principal and Co-investigators working directly on a project, if their time charged to the grant will be based on estimates rather than actual costs. Where costs are actual, auditable and verifiable, they should be included under the Directly Incurred heading. Investigator time, not cost, must be justified in the Case for Support.

It is a requirement of the fEC costing methodology that, for any one investigator, the maximum amount of time that Research Councils will fund across all the projects they support is 1650 hours a year (equivalent to 37.5 hours a week, 44 weeks a year). It is the responsibility of the RO to have a process in place to monitor the time claimed by any Investigator to ensure that no more than 100% of FTE is claimed as salary for any individual across all proposals funded by the Research Councils.

Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators whose time is not fully funded on other Research Council grants, but who are not paid a salary by the Research Organisation (e.g. Emeritus or honorary staff) should show their hours attributed to the project, but with a zero salary cost request.

Salary increments over the period of the project should be taken into account, but possible future pay awards should not be anticipated.

If a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator is retired, the expectation is that their involvement in a project would be covered by a contract with the Research Organisation. If there are costs associated with such time then these should be regarded as a Directly Incurred cost.

Estates Costs These costs may include building and premises costs, basic services and utilities, and any clerical staff and equipment maintenance or operational costs that have not been included under other cost headings. They will be calculated by a research organisation and a single figure will be required at time of application.

Where an individual will be working away from the Research Organisation on long-term secondment for a period in excess of six months during the project, estates costs should not be charged for the period of secondment. No reduction should be made for shorter term absence.

Where the level of staff effort to be awarded is different to that requested, an organisation will be required to re-calculate within 10 working days the estates and indirect costs, using the same costing basis applied to the original application. If an organisation is unable to recalculate the costs on this timescale, they will be adjusted by EPSRC in proportion to the change in staff costs.

It is the responsibility of the RO to have a process in place to monitor the time claimed by any Investigator to ensure that no more than 100% of FTE is

Page 21 of 65

claimed as Estate Costs for any individual across all proposals funded by the Research Councils.

Other Directly Allocated Costs These comprise all other direct costs calculated on the basis of estimates. Items that can be included within this heading are:

• Research and technical staff whose time is shared across several projects (such as pooled technicians) and is not supported by an audit record.

• Charge out costs for major facilities.

• Charge out costs for use of existing equipment.

• Animal costs.

• Charge out costs for departmental technical and administrative services.

The need for the resources (but not the costing basis), should be explained in the Justification of Resources attached to the Case for Support.

Indirect Costs These should include the costs of administration, such as personnel, finance, library and some departmental services.

Like estates costs, indirect costs will be calculated by research organisations and a single figure will be required at time of application. Information about the derivation or justification of indirect costs and estates costs will not be required.

It is the responsibility of the RO to have a process in place to monitor the time claimed by any Investigator to ensure that no more than 100% of FTE is claimed as Indirect Costs for any individual across all proposals funded by the Research Councils.

Exceptions There are no costs allowed by the EPSRC for new proposals under the Exceptions lines.

Existing proposals may have equipment over the £50,000 threshold and Project Students. Project students are outside fEC, and therefore 100% of stipend and fees will be funded, but they must not be counted as research full-time equivalent for the purposes of calculating estates and indirect costs.

The funds requested for the student’s stipend should be for the total period of each project studentship calculated by using the annual rates given below.

A project studentship is intended to last for a minimum of three years.

Basic Stipend – Research Organisation Outside London

Basic Stipend – Research Organisation Inside London

£13,590 (effective 01 October 2010) £15,590 (effective 01 October 2010)

Page 22 of 65

Tuition fees for project students are provided at UK student rate and will not be supplemented or increased for overseas candidates. The provision sought should be calculated using the annual rate shown below for the period of the studentship.

Visiting Researchers Support may be requested for visits by scientists and engineers of acknowledged standing from within the UK or abroad to the investigator’s organisation. Funding is limited to 12 months per individual. The research organisation should include Estates Costs and Indirect Costs for any Visiting Researcher regardless of whether the support being requested includes a salary contribution or is only Travel and Subsistence.

Animal Costs These costs can be shown either as Directly Incurred Costs or Directly Allocated depending on how an organisation chooses them to be attributed.

Wherever possible, researchers must adopt procedures and techniques that avoid the use of animals. Where this is not possible, the research should be designed so that:

• The least sentient species with the appropriate physiology is used.

• The number of animals used is the minimum sufficient to provide adequate statistical power to answer the question posed.

• The severity of procedures performed on animals is kept to a minimum. Experiments should be kept as short as possible. Appropriate anaesthesia, analgesia and humane end points should be used to minimise any pain and suffering.

The provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and any amendments, must be observed and all necessary licences must have been received before any work requiring approval takes place.

Facilities Investigators seeking access to major national and international facilities should apply to the relevant provider. It is the responsibility of the investigator to obtain any access needed for the research project. Planned usage should be identified on the relevant section of the proposal form.

The EPSRC may provide support for access to other facilities at universities and elsewhere. Investigators seeking the use of such services are advised to contact the appropriate provider to confirm eligibility requirements and costs prior to submitting a proposal to the EPSRC.

Standard Fees

£3,466 (effective 01 October 2010)

Page 23 of 65

Public Communication Training The EPSRC encourages the development of skills in public communication and will provide funding to support the training of members of the research team. Provision for training in public communication should be included in Directly Incurred - Other Costs.

Indexation Research grants and fellowships may have an amount added at the time of announcement to take some account of expected pay awards and inflation over their lifetime. The value awarded is the total financial commitment entered into by the EPSRC. Indexation may be applied to all headings with the exception of Equipment and is compounded over the duration of the grant. The EPSRC reserves the right to vary the rate of indexation payable during the lifetime of a grant or fellowship.

Back to Contents

Page 24 of 65

Assessing Proposals

Introduction EPSRC relies on peer review to evaluate research proposals and fellowship applications, and to prioritise proposals when in competition. There are generally two stages in the process: reviewing and prioritisation panels. We select most reviewers and members of prioritisation panels from a college of peer reviewers that is nominated by the research community. The college is made up of around 4,000 people.

Full details of peer review process and college:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/apprev/Pages/process.aspx

Progress Check You can monitor the progress of proposals through the different stages of peer review at:

http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk

Reviewing When a research proposal is received, a copy is sent to at least four reviewers, including at least one nominated by the investigator. The reviewers also receive a covering letter, guidance and a form that they will complete with their comments and return to EPSRC.

Proposals that receive highly supportive comments from at least two reviewers are submitted to funding prioritisation panels. The reviewers' reports (made anonymous) will be passed back to the investigator to comment on any factual inaccuracies or questions raised. All reviewers' comments received in time will be seen by the peer review panels with the reviewers' names included. The investigator's response is given to the panel for consideration, along with all other documents.

Proposals that do not receive sufficiently strong support from reviewers will be rejected without being put to a panel. The investigator will be notified and the reviewers' reports (made anonymous) will be included for information.

Prioritisation Panels EPSRC relies on prioritisation panels to judge the relative quality and importance of research proposals competing for funding. The membership of these panels is drawn from across EPSRC's scientific remit, to ensure the necessary mix of expertise. Most members are likely to come from the academic community, but some will be from industry and other organisations.

The panels are responsible for producing a rank ordered list of all the research proposals under consideration. Proposals put to the panel have already been independently reviewed. The panel is asked not to re-review proposals, but instead to arrive at a prioritisation between proposals based on a relative assessment of quality and importance as well as the impact, the ability of the applicant and resources and management. The ranking is based primarily on

Page 25 of 65

the comments of the expert reviewers and applicants' responses to the reviewers' comments. Panel members are appointed to represent the collective views of the expert reviewers and to bring the benefits of their general experience in science and engineering research. They are asked to take a broad view, which covers the breadth of research included within the panel's remit.

Funding Decision Theme Leaders decide which proposals will be funded based upon the rank ordered list produced by the panel, the fit of the research area proposed to the portfolio, existing capacity of the research area and the funding available. All Principal Investigators are notified of the outcome of the panel electronically. If the proposal is successful, this notification will be in the form of a grant offer document, which is sent to the research organisation’s administrative authority via JES.

As the role of the panel is to rank proposals on the basis of the reviewers’ comments, which have already been seen by the investigator, no further feedback is provided unless there are specific points that the panel wishes to be passed to the investigator.

Resubmissions Unsuccessful EPSRC proposals must not be resubmitted. All proposals are checked to identify any uninvited resubmissions which will be rejected. Resubmissions will be considered only where they have been explicitly invited by EPSRC, or if the proposal is substantially different.

Unless specifically invited, or if prior approval from EPSRC has been obtained, proposals that have already been considered by another research council or funding body must not be submitted.

Assessing Research Fellowships There are no deadlines for the submission of fellowship applications; applicants should apply when they are ready to submit. Applications can be submitted at any time and will be processed on a rolling basis. Applications will be sent to reviewers for comments (expert peer review) and, if there is sufficient support be put forward to the earliest possible prioritisation panel meeting .Fellowship applications will be prioritised twice a year in approximately January/February and July, at our standard-grant panel meetings. If the reviews are not supportive, the proposal will be rejected at this point. Following prioritisation panel, successful applicants will be invited to the interview stage. Back to Contents

Page 26 of 65

Managing Research Grants and Fellowships

Research Grants

Grant Offer Document If a proposal is successful, an electronic offer document will be sent to the research organisation’s administrative authority who is expected to provide copies to all investigators and any other interested parties. The offer document sets out the funding awarded, the dates on which the project should start and end and the terms and conditions on which the grant is made.

The administrative authority will also be sent an electronic Offer Acceptance form which must be completed and returned within 10 working days. Once the Offer Acceptance has been received, a Start Confirmation form (formerly a Starting Certificate) and a payment schedule will be sent out electronically. Once the project has started, the administrative authority will submit the Start Confirmation via JES as notification that the research has started. Receipt of a valid start confirmation activates profiled payments.

Start Date The start date of a research grant will normally be the day on which work commences on the project. The start date for payment will be:

• Research grants with staff: the date on which the first Directly Incurred staff supported by the grant start work;

• Research grants with staff, where it is intended that staff should not be in post at the start of the grant: the date on which expenditure on any other Directly Incurred heading first occurs;

• Research grants without staff: the date on which Directly Incurred expenditure first occurs;

• Research grants will only be allowed to be activated with Directly Allocated costs in exceptional circumstances and with the prior written approval of the EPSRC.

Delaying Start Date The start of a research grant may be delayed by up to six months after the date given in the offer document. The duration of the grant will remain unchanged. The end date and the due date for the Final Report and Final Expenditure Statement will be revised automatically.

Payments A payment profile is created for each grant based upon an expected pattern of expenditure over the lifetime of the grant. This is set out in the payment schedule issued with the grant offer letter.

Payments will be made quarterly to the research organisation through the Banks Automated Clearing System (BACS).

Page 27 of 65

Managing the Funds A grant holder is generally allowed to deploy grant funds in accordance with the needs of the research; specific exceptions are given below. There may be other occasions where there may be some doubt as to whether the transfer can be justified, or whether costs would be permitted as a charge to the grant. The EPSRC recommends that in such instances a grant holder seeks advice, in the first instance from their central administration group and if necessary from EPSRC on the appropriateness of such expenditure.

The research organisation must not over commit expenditure against the research grant. However, funds may be transferred between any of the headings at the discretion of the investigator without reference to the EPSRC with the following exceptions:

Pre Full Economic Costing

• Funds may not be transferred from the Large Capital heading without prior written approval.

• Funds provided for equipment costing more than £25,000 may not be used to buy other equipment, nor transferred to another heading, without prior written approval.

• No transfer from the Public Communication and Training Funds heading is permitted.

• No transfer from Indirect Costs is permitted.

• The Fellowship Support Fund must not be used to meet any research organisation overheads or indirect or unspecified costs. An account of the use of the fund is required at the end of the Fellowship.

If the staff heading is increased by transferring funds from another heading, sufficient funds must also be available within the grant to cover the associated indirect costs (46% of staff costs).

Full Economic Costing

• Transfers of funds between fund headings are permitted only within and between Directly Incurred costs and Exceptions, excluding Equipment. Equipment funding is ring-fenced and transfers into or out of the equipment headings, whether under Directly Incurred or Exceptions, is not permitted. Transfers on other fund headings will be at the rate applicable for the heading, as set out in the offer letter.

• Funds provided for equipment costing more than £25,000 may not be used to buy other equipment without prior written approval of the EPSRC.

An explanation should be given in the Final Report for instances where expenditure under a particular heading differs from the sum awarded under that heading by more than 20%.

Page 28 of 65

Funding Assurance Programme The Research Councils have a joint programme of funding assurance of research organisations by means of visits and form-based enquiries. This programme is designed to give the Councils assurance that the funding given is used for the purpose for which it was awarded and in accordance with the grant terms and conditions of the sponsoring Council.

The EPSRC also reserves the right to request supporting documentation on any grant prior to the grant reconciliation being undertaken.

Expenditure Statements Expenditure Statements are used to reconcile the actual expenditure with the payments made. The Final Expenditure Statement (FES) is sent via the Je-S system to the Finance Office at the end of the grant.

The FES must be completed and returned electronically via the Je-S system within three months of the end date of the grant. A request can be made to extend the due date for receipt of the FES but must be made via the Grant Maintenance facility on the Je-S system before the due date has passed.

The FES is required to enable the EPSRC to meet its responsibilities in accounting for the use of public funds. If the FES is not received by its due date, the EPSRC will recover 20% of the expenditure incurred on the grant. If the FES is not received within six months of the end of the research grant, the EPSRC is unable to reconcile payments made against expenditure incurred and will recover the value of all payments made against the grant.

For some grants, an Interim Expenditure Statement (IES) may also be required. These are generated prior to the review date. All grants of more than 42 months duration will automatically have a review date, at which point payments will be suspended and the research organisation will be required to complete an IES.

A Transfer Expenditure Statement (TES) will be generated if a grant is subject to an organisation transfer.

For fEC grants, expenditure shown in the Directly Incurred and Exceptions headings must show the actual expenditure incurred by the project. Settlement by the Research Council will reflect the proportion of fEC stated in the award letter applied to actual expenditure, within the cash limit.

Expenditure may be incurred prior to the start of research and subsequently charged to the grant, provided that it does not precede the date of the award letter – see GC 4 Starting Procedures for details

For the Directly Allocated and Indirect Costs headings, the Research Council will pay the amount shown as spent, within the cash limit, provided that the grant ran its full course. Where a grant is terminated more than 6 months before the planned end date, a pro rata share will be paid. Where a grant terminates within 6 months of the planned end date, estates and Indirect Costs will be paid in full, but Investigators’ costs and Other Directly Allocated Costs will be paid pro rata.

Page 29 of 65

Status Reporting The status reporting interface is an informational service that is provided through the Research Councils’ Joint electronic Submission (Je-S) system:

https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk/

This allows organisations to view details of EPSRC grants once an Offer Document has been accepted by the organisation and will remain until all actions, for both the organisation and EPSRC, are complete.

Annual Statement The EPSRC will send an electronic Annual Statement via the Je-S system each year showing payments made for the previous financial year. The Finance Office is required to certify, by returning the statement via the Je-S system, that expenditure has been incurred in accordance with grant conditions, and those grants shown as current are continuing. No further payments will be made until the signed Annual Statement has been returned.

Annual statements will normally be required only for research grants and fellowships.

Extensions The expectation is that, once started, projects will be taken to completion in one continuous period. However, there are circumstances where interruptions or delays are unavoidable, and grants can be extended by a total of up to 6 months to compensate for these effects. Requests for extensions should be made via the Grant Maintenance facility on the Je-S system before the end date of the grant.

The most common reason for extension applications is for breaks in service or delays in the appointment of staff. Extensions can be agreed to compensate for time lost in recruiting replacement staff once the date of appointment of the staff concerned is known. Extensions may also be granted where research staff take maternity leave or have a continuous period of sick leave, in excess of 3 months.

The EPSRC expects the Research Organisation to manage the resources on a grant in such a way that it is completed within an agreed timescale and budget. Extensions will not be given if the staff employed on a grant change from full-time to part-time employment or if staff are moved from one project to another. It will be the responsibility of the investigator to recruit additional staff resource as necessary to meet the requirements of the EPSRC.

There may be other exceptional circumstances, not involving staff, where unavoidable delays warrant an extension and these will be considered on their merits.

Absence Maternity, paternity, adoption, parental and sick pay is not payable by EPSRC for staff acting as Principal and Co-Investigators (unless they are also EPSRC-funded Research Fellows). It is only payable for directly incurred staff or

Page 30 of 65

project students who are funded for 100% of their contracted time on the grant.

Maternity, Paternity, Parenting or Adoption Pay and Leave

Funds may be used to pay for maternity or paternity or parenting or adoption leave if the staff member fulfils the qualifying conditions of the organisation. Funding may be sought by the organisation at the end of a grant to cover the additional costs of either a substitute appointment or an extension of the grant. The salary of any substitute appointment must not exceed that of the individual on leave.

Grant funds may be used to provide paid maternity, paternity, parenting or adoption leave only to the extent that such leave is taken during the original period of the grant. The organisation will be responsible for any liability for maternity and paternity pay for staff supported by the grant outside the original period of the grant. If, for example, a grant ends while a member of research staff is part-way through maternity leave, the organisation will be responsible for that part of the maternity leave which is taken after the research grant has ended.

Sick Leave

Grant funds may be used for paid sick leave for staff that fulfil the qualifying conditions of the Research Organisation. Where there is a continuous period of sick leave in excess of 3 months, the Research Organisation may apply to EPSRC to discuss the possibility of a substitute appointment to safeguard progress on the project, or an extension to the duration of the project, if the period of leave can be predicted. The research organisation will be compensated at the end of the grant for any additional costs or time resulting from maternity leave, paternity leave or sick leave, falling within the original period of the grant. The amount to be claimed from EPSRC should be net of any funds recovered from statutory pay entitlements.

The duration of a grant will be extended only if the period can be accommodated within the maximum period allowed for extensions. In the case of fEC grants Directly Allocated and Indirect funds will not be increased as a result of such extensions.

Change of Investigator If an investigator resigns or retires during the period of the research grant, a replacement may be nominated by the relevant Head of Department and a request made to continue the research. If, however, the investigator has moved to another organisation, the arrangements for transfers apply.

Transfer between Research Organisations The EPSRC must be notified by the research organisation via the Grant Maintenance functionality in the Je-S system where a principal investigator plans to transfer to another research organisation. If this research organisation is eligible to hold EPSRC research grants, the EPSRC expects the grant to transfer with the investigator to the new research organisation. Agreement via Je-S is required to this from both the transferring and receiving research

Page 31 of 65

organisations. Where there is a basis for continued involvement by the relinquishing research organisation, agreement should be reached between old and new research organisations on the apportionment of work and related funding.

The EPSRC will wish to be assured that satisfactory arrangements have been agreed that will enable the project to be undertaken, or to continue, in accordance with its original objectives. If suitable arrangements cannot be agreed, the EPSRC will consider withdrawing its offer of support or terminating the grant.

Pre-fEC grants will not be re-costed and will remain as pre-fEC grants if transferred to a different organisation.

Grants funded under fEC will not be re-costed following transfer. The unspent balance of Directly Incurred and Exceptions, together with a pro rata share of Directly Allocated and Indirect costs, will be transferred to the new Research Organisation. The receiving organisation will be required to confirm, by return of an Offer Acceptance via JES, that it will provide any balance of resources needed to complete the project.

Transfer of academic staff within the EU/EEA Research grants, but not currently fellowships, may be transferred to universities in countries that are in the EU/EEA that are signatories to the EuroHORCs agreement. Not all EU/EAA countries are signatories to this agreement.

Not all costs will be transferable. We would normally expect to transfer only the remaining balance of Directly Incurred costs to the EU/EEA university. Directly allocated and Indirect Costs will not be transferred nor will large equipment costs funded on the original grant.

As with a transfer in the UK, agreement, via the JES system, of both original and new universities as well as the EPSRC is required. In order to effect the transfer, the new university will have to be JeS-registered prior to the start of the transfer process.

Project Management and Monitoring In making a grant, the EPSRC intends that the investigator shall have reasonable freedom and flexibility to manage the available resources according to the needs of the project. In turn, the investigator is responsible for ensuring the best use of resources in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research. The extent of the investigator’s responsibility and freedom to manage the research is contained within the framework of the terms and conditions under which the grant is awarded.

The EPSRC may require investigators to submit periodic reports and to attend evaluation meetings or theme days in order to assess progress of the grant and its contribution to a programme. Some grants may also be subject to monitoring by a coordinator, consultant or programme staff.

Page 32 of 65

Collaboration Collaboration is an important aspect of the research supported by the EPSRC. Collaborative activities most often take the form of the joint pursuit of research with industry, but may also exist between similar research organisations, both in the UK and abroad. The EPSRC expects that participants in a collaborative project will develop a collaborative agreement to clarify the contributions and rights of each partner. The EPSRC will not get involved in negotiating an agreement for collaborative research but will need to be assured that an arrangement acceptable to all parties exists. Such agreements must not conflict with the terms and conditions under which EPSRC research grants are awarded. The requirement is for a collaboration agreement to be put in place before a research project begins.

Final Report Grant holders are required to fill in a final report form for each grant. The form is sent to the Je-S account of the Principal Investigator at the end of the grant. The investigator is required to complete and return the final report form within three months of completion of a grant.

Details of forms and requirements are on the EPSRC website:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/managing/Pages/default.aspx

Any request to extend the due date for receipt of the Final Report must be made via the Grant Maintenance functionality in the Je-S system before the due date has passed and be agreed by EPSRC. If the Final Report is not received by its due date, the EPSRC will recover 20% of the expenditure incurred on the grant. In addition, it will not consider research proposals from an individual where they have an overdue or unacceptable Final Report.

Research Fellowships As Research Fellowships are funded through grants, much of the above information applies by analogy. Specific differences for Fellowships are as follows:

Managing the Funds No transfer of funds provided for the salary of Fellows will be permitted.

Abeyance Leadership and Career Acceleration Fellows (and Advanced Fellows prior to 2007) may be allowed to interrupt their award not more than twice during the period of their fellowship to spend time on activities unsupported by the EPSRC but directly related to their fellowship. Such periods of abeyance must not exceed 2 years in total. The agreement of the EPSRC must be sought in advance. Agreement will not be given for a break during the first or final year of the award. Where periods of abeyance are agreed the award will be extended by a period of time equal to the length of the break.

Postdoctoral Research Fellows may be allowed to interrupt their award once during the period of their fellowship to spend time on activities unsupported by the EPSRC but directly related to their fellowship. Such a

Page 33 of 65

period of abeyance must not exceed 12 months. The agreement of the EPSRC must be sought in advance. Agreement will not be given for a break during the first or final year of the award. Where a period of abeyance is agreed the award will be extended by a period of time equal to the length of the break.

For all Fellows, no additional funding will be given to compensate for possible incremental progression during any period of abeyance.

Extensions - Further Support Applications for an extension of an Advanced Research Fellowship will be considered only if there are exceptional circumstances, which have disrupted the scientific programme.

Transfer between Research Organisations A proposal to transfer the fellowship to a different research organisation (only within the UK) should be discussed with the existing and proposed research organisations. The EPSRC will require agreement from both the transferring and receiving organisations, via the JES system, before agreeing to the transfer.

Research Outcomes

Publication and Acknowledgement of Support EPSRC attaches great importance to the dissemination of research results. We expect results to be published. Financial support from EPSRC must be acknowledged in all publications and other forms of media communication, including media appearances, press releases and conferences. This is essential in helping to publicise EPSRC’s work and providing an indicator of the success of its investment. Acknowledgements should identify the type of EPSRC support and quote the grant reference number where possible.

Public Engagement with Research Investigators are expected to participate in activities that seek to engage the public with engineering and science. Results from individual research projects may provide opportunities to engage the public through various forms of media communication. Funding for public engagement activities connected with a project can be sought in a grant application and explained under Pathways to Impact.

Back to Contents

Page 34 of 65

Exploitation of Results EPSRC strongly encourages the exploitation of the results of research. Where results of industrial or commercial value emerge from projects, investigators are required to make suitable arrangements for exploitation and take up by industry.

EPSRC makes no claim to the intellectual property rights arising from research that it supports.

Demonstrating Potential Impact The excellent research funded by the UK Research Councils has a huge impact on the wellbeing and economy of the UK. Working together with our wider communities and other partners, we want to ensure that these impacts are effectively demonstrated and supported throughout the research lifecycle and beyond. This will add value, stimulate interest from wider stakeholders - including the general public - and, where needed, actively highlight the need for continued investment in the research base.

The onus rests with applicants to demonstrate how they will achieve this excellence with impact, bearing in mind that impacts can take many forms and be promoted in different ways.

The Research Councils describe impact as the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy. Impact embraces all the extremely diverse ways in which research-related knowledge and skills benefit individuals, organisations and nations by:

• Fostering global economic performance, and specifically the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom.

• Increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy.

• Enhancing quality of life, health and creative output.

This accords with the Royal Charters of the Councils and with HM Treasury guidance on the appraisal of economic impact.

EPSRC is committed to the principles below, as articulated in the Research Councils UK Expectations for Societal and Economic Impact:

The Research Councils give their funding recipients considerable flexibility and autonomy in the delivery of their research, postgraduate training and knowledge transfer activities. This flexibility and autonomy encompasses project definition, management, collaboration, participation, promotion and the dissemination of research outputs; this approach enables excellence with impact.

In return, the EPSRC expects, wherever appropriate, those who receive funding to:

• Demonstrate an awareness of the wider environment and context in which their research takes place.

Page 35 of 65

• Demonstrate an awareness of the social and ethical implications of their research, beyond usual research conduct considerations, and take account of public attitudes towards those issues.

• Engage actively with the public at both the local and national levels about their research and its broader implications.

• Identify potential benefits and beneficiaries from the outset, and through the full life cycle of the project(s).

• Maintain professional networks that extend beyond their own discipline and research community.

• Publish results widely – considering the academics, user and public audiences for research outcomes.

• Exploit results where appropriate, in order to secure social and economic return to the UK.

• Manage collaborations professionally, in order to secure maximum impact without restricting the future progression of research.

• Ensure that research staff and students develop research, vocational and entrepreneurial skills that are matched to the demands of their future career paths.

• Take responsibility for the curation, management and exploitation of data for future use.

• Work in partnership with the Research Councils for the benefit of the UK.

The expectations clarify the position of the Research Councils with respect to impact, rather than introducing a new approach. Many of these expectations are already incorporated into Research Council processes and guidance, for example exploitation is addressed within grant terms and conditions, and continuing professional development through the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers.

Evaluation EPSRC has established mechanisms through which the portfolio of work it supports can be analysed and evaluated.

Programme evaluations provide a better understanding of subject balance and the quality of work within the programmes. These evaluations provide an objective and retrospective view to sit alongside other key drivers in shaping EPSRC’s policy and strategy during the business planning process.

Back to Contents

Page 36 of 65

Terms and Conditions of Grants

Terms and Conditions of Research Council fEC Grants These terms and conditions relate to grants, comprising Research Grants and Fellowships, costed and funded on the basis of full economic costs (fEC), calculated in accordance with the TRAC methodology (universities and other higher education bodies) or by an equivalent methodology by other Research Organisations.

Grants awarded by the Research Councils are made to Research Organisations on the basis of this single set of core terms and conditions. The Research Councils are:

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Medical Research Council (MRC) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

Individual Councils may add additional conditions to the grant to reflect the particular circumstances and requirements of their organisation, or the nature of a particular grant. Acceptance of a grant constitutes acceptance of both the core conditions and any additional conditions.

The Research Councils reserve the right to vary these terms and conditions

Definitions Research Council: any of the bodies listed above.

Grant: support for a proportion of the full economic costs of a project. A Grant may be either a Research Grant or a Fellowship.

• Research Grant: a contribution to the costs of a stated research project which has been assessed as suitable for funding through the procedures established by the relevant Research Council.

• Fellowship Grant: an award made through a fellowship competition providing a contribution to the support of a named individual. It covers the cost of the time dedicated by the fellow to their personal research programme, and may or may not include research support costs.

Grant Holder: the person to whom the grant is assigned and who has responsibility for the intellectual leadership of the project and for the overall management of the research. The Grant Holder is either the Principal

Page 37 of 65

Investigator (in the case of a Research Grant) or a Research Fellow (in the case of a Fellowship Grant)

Co-Investigator: a person who assists the Grant Holder in the management and leadership of a project.

Research Organisation: the organisation to which the grant is awarded and which takes responsibility for the management of the research project and the accountability of funds provided.

Full Economic Costs (fEC): a cost which, if recovered across an organisation’s full programme, would recover the total cost (direct, indirect and total overhead) including an adequate recurring investment in the organisation’s infrastructure.

Directly Incurred Costs: costs that are explicitly identifiable as arising from the conduct of a project, are charged as the cash value actually spent and are supported by an audit record.

Directly Allocated Costs: the costs of resources used by a project that are shared by other activities. They are charged to projects on the basis of estimates rather than actual costs and do not represent actual costs on a project-by-project basis.

Indirect Costs: non-specific costs charged across all projects based on estimates that are not otherwise included as Directly Allocated Costs. They include the costs of the Research Organisation’s administration such as personnel, finance, library and some departmental services.

Exceptions: Directly Incurred Costs that Research Councils fund at 100% of fEC, subject to actual expenditure incurred, or items that are outside fEC.

Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC): an agreed methodology used by universities and other higher education bodies for calculating full economic costs.

Funding Assurance Programme: a programme of visits and office-based tests to seek assurance that grant funds are used for the purpose for which they are given and that grants are managed in accordance with the terms and conditions under which they are awarded.

Data Protection Regulations The Research Councils will use information provided on the grant proposal for processing the proposal, the award of any consequential grant, and for the payment, maintenance and review of the grant. This may include:

• Registration of proposals. • Operation of grants processing and management information systems. • Preparation of material for use by referees and peer review panels. • Administration, investigation and review of grant proposals.

Page 38 of 65

• Sharing proposal information on a strictly confidential basis with other funding organisations to seek contributions to the funding of proposals.

• Statistical analysis in relation to the evaluation of research and the study of trends.

• Policy and strategy studies. To meet the Research Councils’ obligations for public accountability and the dissemination of information, details of grants may also be made available on the Research Councils’ web sites and other publicly available databases, and in reports, documents and mailing lists.

After completion of the grant, the Research Council may contact the Grant Holder concerning funding opportunities or events, or for the purposes of evaluation. In some instances, the Research Council may wish to authorise an affiliate organisation to contact the Grant Holder on its behalf. It is assumed that, by agreeing to these terms and conditions, the Research Organisation consents to this on behalf of the Grant Holder, but if the Grant Holder prefers not to be contacted in this way, he or she should state this to the Research Council. Grant Holders may choose to opt out at any point, provided they comply with all other terms and conditions associated with the grant.

Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations Attention is drawn to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs). Research Councils have issued Publication Schemes which set out the types of information publicly available on their websites or published as documents. In addition, Research Councils have an obligation to respond to specific requests and may be required to disclose information about or provided by Research Organisations. In some cases the Research Council may consult the Research Organisation before disclosure, but it is under no obligation to do so. If a Research Organisation considers that any information it provides to a Research Council would be subject to an exemption under FOIA or the EIRs it should clearly mark the information as such and provide an explanation of why it considers the exemption applies and for how long. The Research Council will consider this explanation before disclosure, but it is not obliged to accept it as binding.

Where a Research Council determines that a Research Organisation is holding information on its behalf that it requires in order to comply with its obligations under FOIA or EIRs, the Research Organisation undertakes to provide access to such information as soon as reasonably practicable on request of the Research Council and in any event within 5 working days.

In some cases Research Organisations may be directly responsible for complying with FOIA and the EIRs; in such cases the Research Councils accept no responsibility for any failure to comply by the Research Organisations.

Page 39 of 65

Grant Conditions GC1 – GC25

GC 1 Responsibilities of the Research Organisation

• The Research Organisation must ensure that any part of the Full

Economic Cost of the project not funded by the Research Council grant is committed to the project before it starts.

• The Research Organisation must ensure that the Grant Holder and Co-Investigators are made aware of their responsibilities and that they observe the terms and conditions of grants.

• The Research Organisation must ensure that the research supported by the grant complies with all relevant legislation and Government regulation, including that introduced while work is in progress. This requirement includes approval or licence from any regulatory body that may be required before the research can commence.

• The Research Organisation is expected to adopt the principles, standards and good practice for the management of research staff set out in the 2008 Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, and subsequent amendments. The Research Organisation must create an environment in which research staff are selected and treated on the basis of their merits, abilities and potential. It must ensure that reliable systems and processes are in place so that the principles of the Concordat are embedded into practice within the Research Organisation. It must ensure compliance with all relevant legislation and Government regulation, including any subsequent amendments introduced while work is in progress.

• The Research Organisation is expected to adopt the principles, standards and good practice for public engagement with research set out in the 2010 Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/per/Pages/Concordat.aspx. The Research Organisation must create an environment in which public engagement is valued, recognised and supported. It must ensure that reliable systems and processes are in place so that the principles of the Concordat are embedded into practice within the Research Organisation.

• The Research Organisation must appoint a Research Fellow as an employee for the full duration of the award.

• The Research Organisation must integrate the Research Fellow within the research activities of the host department, whilst ensuring that he or she is able to maintain independence and focus on their personal research programme.

• The Research Organisation must notify the Research Council of any change in its status, or that of the Grant Holder, that might affect the eligibility to hold a grant.

• The Research Organisation must ensure that the requirements of the Employing Organisation under the Department of Health’s Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care (or equivalent) are met for research involving NHS patients, their organs, tissues or data, and that the necessary arrangements are in place with partner organisations. Where it also accepts the responsibilities of a Sponsor (as defined in the Governance Framework), it must also ensure that the requirements for Sponsors are met.

Page 40 of 65

• The Research Organisation must ensure proper financial management of grants and accountability for the use of public funds.

GC 2 Research Governance

It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation to ensure that the research is organised and undertaken within a framework of best practice that recognises the various factors that may influence or impact on a research project. Particular requirements are to ensure that all necessary permissions are obtained before the research begins, and that there is clarity of role and responsibility among the research team and with any collaborators. The Research Councils expect research to be conducted in accordance with the highest standards of research integrity and research methodology.

Research Ethics

The Research Organisation is responsible for ensuring that ethical issues relating to the research project are identified and brought to the attention of the relevant approval or regulatory body. Approval to undertake the research must be granted before any work requiring approval begins. Ethical issues should be interpreted broadly and may encompass, among other things, relevant codes of practice, the involvement of human participants, tissue or data in research, the use of animals, research that may result in damage to the environment and the use of sensitive economic, social or personal data.

Use of Animals in Research

Wherever possible, researchers must adopt procedures and techniques that avoid the use of animals. Where this is not possible, the research should be designed so that:

• The least sentient species with the appropriate physiology is used. • The number of animals used is the minimum sufficient to provide

adequate statistical power to answer the question posed. • The severity of procedures performed on animals is kept to a minimum.

Experiments should be kept as short as possible. Appropriate anaesthesia, analgesia and humane end points should be used to minimise any pain and suffering.

The provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and any amendments, must be observed and all necessary licences must have been received before any work requiring approval takes place.

Page 41 of 65

Medical and Health Research

The Research Organisation is responsible for managing and monitoring the conduct of medical and health research in a manner consistent with the Department of Health’s Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care (or equivalent). There must be effective and verifiable systems in place for managing research quality, progress and the safety and well-being of patients and other research participants. These systems must promote and maintain the relevant codes of practice and all relevant statutory review, authorisation and reporting requirements.

Research involving human participants or data within the social sciences that falls outside the Department of Health’s Research Governance Framework must meet the provisions and guidelines of the ESRC’s Research Ethics Framework. While this research may involve patients, NHS staff or organisations, it is defined as research that poses no clinical risk or harm to those who are the subjects of research. Research Organisations must ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place for independent ethics review of social science research that meets local research ethics committee standards.

Significant developments must be assessed as the research proceeds, especially those that affect safety and well-being, which should be reported to the appropriate authorities and to the Research Council. The Research Organisation must take appropriate and timely action when significant problems are identified. This may include temporarily suspending or terminating the research.

The Research Organisation is responsible for managing and monitoring statutory requirements for which it accepts responsibility, for example, in relation to legislation on clinical trials, use of human organs, tissues and data.

Guidance by the MRC on the conduct of medical research, and by ESRC on the conduct of social science research, provided on behalf of all Research Councils, must be observed.

Health and Safety

The Research Organisation is responsible for ensuring that a safe working environment is provided for all individuals associated with a research project. Its approach and policy on health and safety matters must meet all regulatory and legislative requirements and be consistent with best practice recommended by the Health & Safety Executive.

Appropriate care must be taken where researchers are working off-site. The Research Organisation must satisfy itself that all reasonable health and safety factors are addressed.

The Research Councils reserve the right to require the Research Organisation to undertake a safety risk assessment in individual cases where health and safety is an issue, and to monitor and audit the actual arrangements made.

Page 42 of 65

Misconduct and Conflicts of Interest

The Research Organisation is required to have in place procedures for governing good research practice, and for investigating and reporting unacceptable research conduct that meet the requirements set out in the Research Councils’ Code of Conduct and Policy on the Governance of Good Research Conduct (2009) and any subsequent amendments.

The Research Organisation must ensure that potential conflicts of interest in research are declared and subsequently managed.

GC 3 Use of Funds

Subject to the following conditions, grant funds may be used, without reference to the Research Council, in such a manner as to best carry out the research.

Grant funds include a provision for inflation based on the GDP Deflators published by HM Government. The value of the grant may be varied by the Research Council during the lifetime of the grant in accordance with the deflators or to take into account any other Government decisions affecting the funding available to the Research Councils. Grant funds are provided for a specific research project. Under no circumstances may Directly Incurred and Exceptions funds be used to meet costs on any other grant or activity.

Directly Incurred and Exceptions funds cannot be used to meet the costs of an activity that will fall beyond the actual end date of the grant, e.g. when travel falls after the end of the grant, the costs cannot be charged to the grant even if the tickets, etc. can be purchased in advance.

Any proposal to purchase an item of equipment in the last 6 months of the grant is subject to prior written approval by the Research Council. The Research Council will wish to be assured that the item of equipment is essential to the research.

GC 4 Starting Procedures

The process for activating a grant consists of two separate stages. The Research Organisation must formally accept the grant by completing and returning the Offer Acceptance within 10 working days of the offer letter being issued. Returning the Offer Acceptance will result in the Start Confirmation and the Payment Schedule being issued. The Start Confirmation must be submitted within 42 (calendar) days of the research/training starting and the start date shown on the start confirmation will be regarded as the start date of the grant. The start of research may be delayed by up to 6 months (ESRC 3 months) from the start date shown in the offer letter, the duration of the grant remaining unchanged. The grant may lapse if it is not started within this period.

Where there are staff funded by the grant who were intended to be appointed from the start date, payments will take effect from the date when the first such staff start work. Otherwise, payments will take effect from the start date given on the start confirmation.

Page 43 of 65

Expenditure may be incurred prior to the start of research and subsequently charged to the grant, provided that it does not precede the date of the offer letter.

GC 5 Changes in Research Project

The Research Council must be consulted in the event of any major change in the proposed research, including failure to gain access to research facilities and services, or to gain ethical committee approval for the research, particularly those which make it unlikely that the objectives of the research can be achieved. If appropriate, revised proposals may be required. The Research Council reserves the right to make a new grant in place of the existing grant, or to revise, retain or terminate the existing grant.

It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation to manage the resources on the grant, including the staff, and the Research Council need not be consulted if staffing levels on the grant are changed. However, a proportionate reduction should be made in the value of Estates, Indirect Costs and Infrastructure Technicians claimed by the Research Organisation in the following circumstances:

1. a post that attracts these costs is not filled. 2. a staff member who attracts these costs leaves more than six months before the end of the period for which the post was funded and is either not replaced, or is replaced by a category of staff that does not attract the costs e.g. project student or technician.

GC 6 Transfers of Funds between Fund Headings

Transfers of funds between fund headings are permitted only within and between Directly Incurred costs and Exceptions, excluding equipment. Equipment funding is ring-fenced and transfers into or out of the equipment headings, whether under Directly Incurred or Exceptions, is not permitted. Transfers will be at the rate applicable for the heading, as set out in the award letter. Funds can only be transferred and used to meet the cost of activity or activities that meet the agreed aims and objectives of the project. While approval does not need to be sought from the Research Council for transfer of funds, the Research Councils reserve the right to query any expenditure outlined in the Final Expenditure Statement, which has not been incurred in line with the Grant Terms and Conditions.

GC 7 Extensions

Research Grants: After a research grant has started, the duration may be extended by a total of up to 6 months, subject to prior written approval. Extensions may cover breaks or delays in the appointment of staff, periods of maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave, extended jury service or paid sick leave exceeding 3 months (or possibly shorter periods of sick leave if the member of staff is disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 or other exceptional circumstances with the agreement of the Research Council).

Page 44 of 65

Fellowship Grants: After a fellowship grant has started, the duration may be extended to cover maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave, extended jury service or paid sick leave for a Research Fellow in line with the terms and conditions of the fellow’s employment. For staff other than the fellow extensions may cover breaks or delays in the appointment of staff, periods of maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave, extended jury service or paid sick leave exceeding 3 months (or possibly shorter periods of sick leave if the member of staff is disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act, or other exceptional circumstances with the agreement of the Research Council).

Any request for an extension should be made via the Grant Maintenance facility in JeS as soon as the requirement is identified. All requests for extensions must be made before the grant ends.

GC 8 Staff

The Research Organisation must assume full responsibility for staff funded from the grant and, in consequence, accept all duties owed to and responsibilities for these staff, including, without limitation, their terms and conditions of employment and their training and supervision, arising from the employer/employee relationship.

The Research Organisation must provide research staff with a statement, at the outset of their employment, setting out the provisions for career management and development, including personal skills training, and ensure that they have access to appropriate training opportunities.

Provided it is related to the research project on which they are currently working, Research staff and Research Fellows may, during normal working hours, undertake teaching and demonstrating work, including associated training, preparatory, marking and examination duties, for up to an average of 6 hours a week (pro rata for part-time staff) calculated over the period that they are supported on the grant.

GC 9 Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Parental Leave

The research organisation will be compensated at the end of the grant to cover any additional net costs, that cannot be met within the cash limit, of paid maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave for staff within the Directly Incurred and Exceptions fund headings (excluding the principal and co-investigators, unless they are also research fellows or research assistants funded by the grant) if they fulfil the relevant qualifying conditions of the employing Research Organisation. The net cost is the amount paid to the individual less the amount the Research Organisation can recover for Statutory Maternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay from HMRC. Maternity, paternity, adoption and parental pay is payable by the Research Council only for directly incurred staff that are funded for 100% of their contracted time on the grant (apart from staff acting as principal or co-investigators unless they are also research fellows or research assistants funded by the grant).

Page 45 of 65

Grant funds, within the announced cash limit, may be used to meet the costs of making a substitute appointment and/or extending the grant to cover a period of maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave for staff within the directly incurred and exceptions fund headings (excluding the principal and co-investigators, unless they are also research fellows or research assistants funded by the grant). The duration of a grant will be extended only if the period can be accommodated within the maximum period allowed for extensions. Directly Allocated and Indirect funds will not be increased as a result of such extensions. Research Grants: Research Grant funds may be used to meet the costs of paid maternity, paternity, parental and adoption leave only to the extent that it is taken during the original period of the grant. The Research Organisation will be responsible for any liability for maternity, paternity, parental and adoption leave pay for staff supported by the grant outside the original period of the grant. If, for example, a grant ends while a member of research staff is part-way through her maternity leave, the Research Organisation will be responsible for that part of the maternity leave which is taken after the research grant has ended.

Fellowship Grants: Fellows are entitled to take maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave in accordance with the terms and conditions of the fellow's employment. If requested, consideration will be given to allowing a fellowship grant to be placed in abeyance during the absence of the Research Fellow for maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave, and the period of the fellowship extended by the period of leave. Consideration will be given to requests to continue the fellowship on a flexible or part-time basis to allow the Research Fellow to meet caring responsibilities.

GC 10 Sick Leave

The Research Organisation will be compensated at the end of the grant to cover any additional net costs, that cannot be met within the cash limit, of paid sick leave for staff within the Directly Incurred and Exceptions fund headings (excluding the Principal and Co-Investigators, unless they are also Research Fellows or Research Assistants funded by the grant) who fulfil the qualifying conditions of the Research Organisation. The net cost is the amount paid to the individual less the amount the Research Organisation can recover from HMRC.

Sick pay is payable by the Research Council only for directly incurred staff that are funded for 100% of their contracted time on the grant (apart from staff acting as principal or co-investigators unless they are also research fellows or research assistants funded by the grant).

Grant funds, within the announced cash limit, may be used to meet the approved costs of making a substitute appointment and/or extending the grant to cover a period of sick leave for staff within the directly incurred and exceptions fund headings (excluding the principal and co-investigators, unless they are also research fellows or research assistants funded by the grant). The duration of a grant will be extended only if the period can be accommodated

Page 46 of 65

within the maximum period allowed for extensions. Directly Allocated and Indirect funds will not be increased as a result of such extensions.

Research Grants: Where there is a continuous period of sick leave in excess of 3 months, the Research Organisation may apply to the Research Council to discuss the possibility of a substitute appointment to safeguard progress on the project. Where a Research Assistant has been on sick leave in excess of 3 months the Research Organisation must comply with all their obligations to consider reasonable adjustments before making a substitute appointment. Where a Research Assistant has been on sick leave for an aggregate (not necessarily continuous) period in excess of 3 months, where this is due to a single condition or a series of related conditions, the Research Organisation may request an extension to the duration of the project

Fellowship Grants: Fellows are entitled to take sick leave in accordance with the research organisation's terms and conditions. If requested, consideration will be given to allowing a fellowship grant to be placed in abeyance during the absence of the Research Fellow due to sick leave, and the period of the fellowship extended by the period of sick leave. The additional salary costs for the fellow (pro rata to their percentage FTE on the fellowship) should be claimed, as necessary, at the end of the extended period.

GC 11 Procurement of Equipment

The procurement of equipment, consumables and services, including maintenance, must comply with all relevant national and EU legislation and the Research Organisation’s own financial policy and procedures. Accepted procurement best practice in the higher education sector must be observed. For all equipment and services where the contract value is more than £25,000, excluding VAT, professionally qualified procurement staff must be consulted before the procurement process begins, and, where appropriate, at the market research stage, and must approve the order/contract before it is placed with a supplier.

GC 12 Ownership and Use of Equipment

Equipment purchased from grant funds is primarily for use on the research project for which the research grant was awarded, and belongs to the Research Organisation. In certain circumstances the Research Council may wish to retain ownership throughout the period of the grant and possibly beyond. In such cases, the grant will be subject to an additional condition.

The Research Council must be informed if, during the life of the research grant, the need for the equipment diminishes substantially or it is not used for the purpose for which it was funded. The Research Council reserves the right to determine the disposal of such equipment and to claim the proceeds of any sale.

Any proposal to transfer ownership of the equipment during the period of the grant is subject to prior approval by the Research Council. After the research project has ended, the Research Organisation is free to use the equipment

Page 47 of 65

without reference to the Research Council, but it is nevertheless expected to maintain it for research purposes as long as is practicable.

Where there is spare capacity in the use of the equipment, the Research Council expects this to be made available to other users. Priority should be given to research supported by any of the Research Councils and to Research Council-funded students.

GC 13 Transfer of a Grant to another Research Organisation

The Research Organisation must notify the Shared Services Centre via the Grant Maintenance facility in if the Grant Holder intends to transfer to another organisation. If this organisation is eligible to hold grants, and is able to provide a suitable environment to enable the project to be successfully completed, the expectation is that the grant would be transferred with the Grant Holder. Written agreement to this is required from both the relinquishing and receiving organisations; this will normally be triggered automatically by the initial request to JeS.

The Research Council will wish to be assured that satisfactory arrangements have been agreed that will enable the project to be undertaken, or to continue, in accordance with its research objectives. If suitable arrangements cannot be agreed, the Research Council will consider withdrawing its support or terminating the grant.

Where there is a basis for continuing involvement by the relinquishing organisation, agreement should be reached between both organisations on the apportionment of work and the distribution of related funding.

Grants will not be re-costed following transfer. The unspent balance of Directly Incurred and Exceptions, together with a pro rata share of Directly Allocated and Indirect costs, will be transferred to the new Research Organisation. The receiving organisation will be required to confirm, by return of an offer acceptance, that it will provide any balance of resources needed to complete the project.

GC 14 Change of Grant Holder

Research Grants: The Research Organisation must consult the Research Council via the Grant Maintenance facility in JeS if it is proposed to change the Grant Holder, for example, following retirement or resignation. Where the Grant Holder is transferring to another organisation eligible to hold a grant, the provisions of GC 13 will apply. In other circumstances, the Research Organisation may nominate a replacement Grant Holder. The Research Council will wish to be assured that the replacement meets the eligibility criteria and has the expertise and experience to lead the project to a successful conclusion, in accordance with its research objectives.

Fellowship Grants: A fellowship grant is awarded on the basis of a named individual’s suitability to undertake and benefit from the period of research: therefore changes to the Grant Holder are not permitted. The resignation of the Research Fellow, or the termination of their employment, constitutes the

Page 48 of 65

end of the grant for the purpose of submitting a final report and the Council’s financial liabilities.

GC 15 Annual Statement

The Research Organisation may be sent a statement to return each year showing payments made by the Research Council during the previous financial year for all the grants it holds. Where a statement is required, the Research Organisation must certify, by returning the statement, that:

• expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the grant conditions, and

• those grants shown as current are continuing. No further payments will be made until the annual statement has been received and accepted by the Research Council.

GC 16 Expenditure Statements

The Research Organisation must complete and return an expenditure statement within 3 months of the end date of a grant. Once an expenditure statement has been received and the expenditure incurred has been reconciled against payments made, it will be considered as final.

Expenditure shown in the Directly Incurred and Exceptions headings must show the actual expenditure incurred by the project. Settlement by the Research Council will reflect the proportion of fEC stated in the award letter applied to actual expenditure, within the cash limit.

For the Directly Allocated and Indirect Costs headings, the Research Council will pay the amount shown as spent, within the cash limit, provided that the grant ran its full course. Where a grant is terminated more than 6 months before the planned end date, a pro rata share will be paid. Where a grant terminates within 6 months of the planned end date, estates and Indirect Costs will be paid in full, but Investigators’ costs and Other Directly Allocated Costs will be paid pro rata.

Costs arising from maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave should be identified in the Absence heading of the statement.

The Research Council reserves the right to require the Research Organisation to complete and submit a statement of expenditure at any time during the course of a grant, or to provide supplementary information in support of an interim or final expenditure statement.

If there are exceptional reasons that will prevent submission of the expenditure statement within the period allowed, a written request may be made via the Grant Maintenance facility in JeS, before the due date passes, for the submission period to be extended.

Page 49 of 65

GC 17 Inspection

The Research Council reserves the right to have reasonable access to inspect the records and financial procedures associated with grants or to appoint any other body or individual for the purpose of such inspection.

The Research Organisation must, if required by the Research Council, provide a statement of account for the grant, independently examined by an auditor who is a member of a recognised professional body, certifying that the expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the research grant terms and conditions.

Research Councils will undertake periodic reviews of Research Organisations within the Funding Assurance Programme to seek assurance that grants are managed in accordance with the terms and conditions under which they are awarded.

GC 18 Final Report

A report on the conduct and outcome of the project must be submitted by the Research Organisation within three months of the end of the grant, on the form provided. No further application from a Grant Holder will be considered while a final report is overdue.

If there are exceptional reasons that will prevent submission of the final report within the period allowed, a written request may be made via the Grant Maintenance facility in JeS, before the due date passes, for the submission period to be extended.

GC 19 Sanctions

The Research Councils reserve the right to impose financial sanctions where they identify areas of non compliance in relation to the terms and conditions of grants. Further details on the assurance requirements of the Research Councils can be found at: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/about/aboutRCUK/Efficiency/Pages/fap.aspx If the final report or the financial expenditure statement is not received within the period allowed, the research council may recover 20% of expenditure incurred on the grant. All payments may be recovered if the report or statement is not received within 6 months of the end of the grant. In relation to the current Quality Assurance and validation project for TRAC implementation in universities, the Research Councils reserve the right to apply sanctions of 75% of the non-compliant rate where an institution is found to be using rates which are materially inaccurate (>10% variance on any single rate). These sanctions would only apply to future applications although Councils may exercise a higher sanction where there has been evidence of significant overpayments to research organisation based on inaccurate rates.

Page 50 of 65

GC 20 Public Engagement

It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation and the Grant Holder and Co-Investigators to communicate the research to the public at both local and national level, and to raise awareness of the role of science and research in any related issues of public interest. Special schemes exist in some Research Councils providing additional support for these activities.

GC 21 Exploitation and Impact

It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation, and all engaged in the research, to make every reasonable effort to ensure that the intellectual assets obtained in the course of the research, whether protected by intellectual property rights or not, are used to the benefit of society and the economy. Research outcomes should be disseminated to both research and more widespread audiences - for example to inform potential users and beneficiaries of the research.

Unless stated otherwise, the ownership of all intellectual assets, including intellectual property, and responsibility for their application, rests with the organisation that generates them.

Where the grant is associated with more than one research organisation and/or other project partners, the basis of collaboration between the organisations, including ownership of intellectual property and rights to exploitation, is expected to be set out in a formal collaboration agreement. It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation to put such an agreement in place before the research begins. The terms of collaboration agreements must not conflict with the Research Councils’ terms and conditions.

Arrangements for collaboration and/or exploitation must not prevent the future progression of research and the dissemination of research results in accordance with academic custom and practice. A temporary delay in publication is acceptable in order to allow commercial and collaborative arrangements to be established.

The Research Council may, in individual cases, reserve the right to retain ownership of intellectual assets, including intellectual property (or assign it to a third party under an exploitation agreement) and to arrange for it to be exploited for the national benefit and that of the Research Organisation involved. This right, if exercised, will be set out in an additional grant condition.

There should be suitable recognition and reward to researchers who undertake activities that deliver benefit through the application of research outcomes. The Research Organisation must ensure that all those associated with the research are aware of, and accept, these arrangements.

GC 22 Research Monitoring and Evaluation

While it is the responsibility of the Research Organisation to manage the research, the Research Council reserves the right to call for periodic

Page 51 of 65

information on progress or to visit the project team. The Grant Holder may also be asked to attend meetings to exchange information and ideas with others undertaking research in the same or similar fields.

The Grant Holder must make all reasonable efforts, if so invited, to respond to requests for information or to attend events or activities organised by the Research Council concerning the research undertaken. Such events may be held after a grant has finished.

GC 23 Publication and Acknowledgement of Support

The Grant Holder should, subject to the procedures laid down by the Research Organisation, publish the results of the research in accordance with normal academic practice. Publications and other forms of media communication, including media appearances, press releases and conferences, must acknowledge the support received from the Research Council, quoting the grant reference number if appropriate.

Journal publications should acknowledge the funding source using the standard format agreed by funders and publishers and detailed in the additional information accompanying this grant.

GC 24 Disclaimer

The Research Councils accept no liability, financial or otherwise, for expenditure or liability arising from the research funded by the grant, except as set out in these terms and conditions, or otherwise agreed in writing.

Where studies are carried out in an NHS Trust, the Trust has a duty of care to its patients. The Research Council does not accept liability for any failure in the Trust’s duty of care, or any negligence on the part of its employees.

The Research Councils reserve the right to terminate the grant at any time, subject to reasonable notice and to any payment that may be necessary to cover outstanding and unavoidable commitments.

Further to GC3, the Research Councils reserve the right to amend the payment profile at their discretion. The Research Organisation will be advised, in advance, of any such a change. Changes to payment profiles may affect the overall value of the grant.

If a grant is terminated or reduced in value, no liability for payment or redundancy or any other compensatory payment for the dismissal of staff funded by the grant will be accepted, but, subject to the provisions of GC16, negotiations will be held with regard to other contractual commitments and concerning the disposal of assets acquired under the research grant.

GC 25 Status

These terms and conditions will be governed by the laws of England and Wales; all matters relating to the terms and conditions will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Page 52 of 65

If any provision of these terms and conditions is found by a court or other legitimate body to be illegal, invalid or unreasonable, it will not affect the remaining terms and conditions which will continue in force.

These terms and conditions, together with any additional conditions set out in the grant, contain the whole agreement between the Research Council and the Research Organisation in relation to the stated research grant. The Research Council and the Research Organisation do not intend that any of these terms and conditions should be enforceable by any third party.

Page 53 of 65

Terms and conditions of research council training grants These terms and conditions relate to training grants, comprising doctoral training grants (DTGs) and masters training grants (MTGs).

Training Grants awarded by the Research Councils listed below are made to Research Organisations on the basis of this single set of core terms and conditions. The Research Councils are:

• Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) • Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) • Medical Research Council (MRC) • Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) • Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

A Training Grant (TG) is a grant paid by a Research Council to a Research Organisation for the provision of postgraduate study.

Training Grants aim to:

• assist the Research Organisation to attract the best people into postgraduate research and training;

• allow a maximum of local discretion in managing and organising postgraduate training within clear financial and accountability arrangements;

• Provide resources in a flexible and transparent funding stream.

Subject to these terms and conditions, Research Organisations can decide on the level of stipend; the duration of a studentship; the format (e.g. part-time, industrial or work placement), and can adjust the number and start of awards within year and between years (where feasible).

Individual Councils may add additional conditions to the grant to reflect the particular circumstances and requirements of their organisation, or the nature of a particular grant. Acceptance of a Training Grant constitutes acceptance of both the core conditions and any additional conditions.

References in these terms and conditions to statutory provisions and guidance include any subsequent amendments or re-enactments.

The Research Council reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions, and where appropriate will consult the Research Organisation before major changes are introduced.

Definitions Funding Assurance Programme (FAP): A programme of visits and office-based tests to seek assurance that grant funds are used for the purpose for which they are given and that grants are managed in accordance with the terms and conditions under which they are awarded.

Page 54 of 65

Training Account (TA): A Training Account is made up of the overlapping Training Grants to a Research Organisation.

Doctoral Training Grant (DTG): a grant providing funds for the training of research students leading to the award of a recognised qualification, usually a PhD.

Masters Training Grants (MTG): a grant providing funds for the training of postgraduate students leading to the award of a recognised qualification, usually a Masters.

TA Coordinator: the principal contact at a Research Organisation for the Training Grant. The role includes responsibility for ensuring the provision of data on the students funded through the Training Grants.

Departmental Account Manager: Where the TA supports postgraduate training across the whole Research Organisation, the Research Organisation may wish to identify individuals who act as the main contact point within particular departments for funded students.

Fees: The funds required by a University for a Student to register for a higher degree.

Je-S Studentship Details Portal (SDP): the Research Councils’ web-based data collection system which Research Organisations use to return details of the students and student research projects funded from the Training Grant.

Research Council: any of the bodies listed above.

Research Organisation: The organisation to which the TG is awarded and which takes responsibility for the management of the research training programme and the accountability of funds provided.

Stipend: The funds awarded by the Research Organisation to students to cover their maintenance while undertaking postgraduate training leading to the award of a postgraduate degree.

Students: The term used to identify postgraduates who are funded through the Training Grant.

Studentship: The term used for the funding award made by a research organisation to a student for the purpose of undertaking postgraduate training leading to the award of a postgraduate degree.

Data Protection Regulations The Research Councils will use information provided on the Training Grant proposal for processing the proposal or in relation to the administration of the Training Grant for the award of any subsequent grant, and for the payment, maintenance and review of the grant. This includes data submitted through the SDP. This may include:

• Registration of proposals; • Operation of grants processing and management information systems;

Page 55 of 65

• Preparation of material for use by referees and peer review panels; • Administration, investigation and review of grant proposals; • Sharing proposal information on a strictly confidential basis with other

funding organisations to seek contributions to the funding of proposals; • Statistical analysis in relation to the evaluation of postgraduate training

and the study of trends; • Policy and strategy studies.

To meet the Research Councils’ obligations for public accountability and the dissemination of information, details of student projects funded from Training Grants may also be made available on the Research Council’s web site and other publicly available databases, and in reports, documents and mailing lists.

Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations Attention is drawn to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs). Research Councils have issued Publication Schemes which set out the types of information publicly available on their websites or published as documents. In addition, Research Councils have an obligation to respond to specific requests and may be required to disclose information about or provided by Research Organisations. In some cases the Research Council may consult the Research Organisation before disclosure, but it is under no obligation to do so. If a Research Organisation considers that any information it provides to a Research Council would be subject to an exemption under FOIA or the EIRs it should clearly mark the information as such and provide an explanation of why it considers the exemption applies and for how long. The Research Council will consider this explanation before disclosure, but it is not obliged to accept it as binding.

Where a Research Council determines that a Research Organisation is holding information on its behalf that it requires in order to comply with its obligations under FOIA or EIRs, the Research Organisation undertakes to provide access to such information as soon as reasonably practicable on request of the Research Council and in any event within 5 working days.

In some cases Research Organisations may be directly responsible for complying with FOIA and the EIRs; in such cases the Research Councils accept no responsibility for any failure to comply by the Research Organisations.

TGC 1 Responsibilities of the Research Organisation

The Research Organisation is responsible for selecting, administering and supervising students throughout their period of training, in accordance with current good practice as detailed in the QAA’s Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research Programmes (2004), and in accordance with any additional Research Council requirements.

In particular, the Research Organisation must ensure that:

• Diversity and equality must be promoted in all aspects of the recruitment and career management of students;

Page 56 of 65

• Adequate facilities and resources are made available for the research training;

• A safe working environment is provided, meeting the requirements of health and safety legislation, and any other legislation concerning the health, welfare and rights of students, including the Data Protection Act;

• Projects lie within the remit of the Research Council funding the TG; • Research Training Programmes contain good training in generic and

transferable skills

The Research Organisation must ensure that the research supported by the grant complies with all relevant legislation and Government regulation, including that introduced while work is in progress. This requirement includes approval or licence from any regulatory body that may be required before the research can commence. Where third parties, such as a regulatory body, become involved with investigating alleged breaches in legislation as a result of work funded by the Research Council, that RC must be informed immediately of the circumstances.

The Research Organisation must ensure proper financial management of TGs and accountability for the use of public funds. Research Organisations are expected to take reasonable steps to recover monies paid to students in advance who leave or whose studentship is terminated.

TGC 2 Research Governance

It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation to ensure that the research is organised and undertaken within a framework of best practice that recognises the various factors that may influence or impact on a student’s research project. Particular requirements are to ensure that all necessary permissions are obtained before the project begins, and that there is clarity of role and responsibility among the research team (including the student) and with any collaborators. The Research Councils expect research to be conducted in accordance with the highest standards of research integrity and research methodology.

Research Ethics

The Research Organisation is responsible for ensuring that ethical issues relating to a student’s research project funded from the TG are identified and brought to the attention of the relevant approval or regulatory body. Approval to undertake the research must be granted before any work requiring approval begins. Ethical issues should be interpreted broadly and may encompass, among other things, relevant codes of practice, the involvement of human participants, tissue or data in research, the use of animals, research that may result in damage to the environment and the use of sensitive economic, social or personal data.

Use of Animals in Research

Wherever possible, researchers must adopt procedures and techniques that avoid the use of animals. Where this is not possible, the research should be designed so that:

Page 57 of 65

• The least sentient species with the appropriate physiology is used; • The number of animals used is the minimum sufficient to provide

adequate statistical power to answer the question posed; • The severity of procedures performed on animals is kept to a minimum.

Experiments should be kept as short as possible. Appropriate anaesthesia, analgesia and humane end points should be used to minimise any pain and suffering.

The provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and any amendments, must be observed and all necessary licences must have been received before any work requiring approval takes place. Please note the requirements in TGC 1 regarding any alleged breaches in legislation.

Medical and Health Research

The Research Organisation is responsible for managing and monitoring the conduct of medical and health research in a manner consistent with the Department of Health’s Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care. There must be effective and verifiable systems in place for managing research quality, progress and the safety and well-being of patients and other research participants. These systems must promote and maintain the relevant codes of practice and all relevant statutory review, authorisation and reporting requirements.

Health-related research within the social sciences that falls outside the Department of Health’s Research Governance Framework must meet the provisions and guidelines of ESRC’s Framework for Research Ethics. While this research may involve patients, NHS staff or organisations, it is defined as research that poses no clinical risk or harm to those who are the subjects of research. Research Organisations must ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place for independent ethics review of social science research that meets local research ethics committee standards.

Significant developments must be assessed as the research proceeds, especially those that affect safety and well-being, which should be reported to the appropriate authorities and to the Research Council. The Research Organisation must take appropriate and timely action when significant problems are identified. This may include temporarily suspending or terminating the research.

The Research Organisation is responsible for managing and monitoring statutory requirements for which it accepts responsibility, for example, in relation to legislation on clinical trials, use of human organs, tissues and data.

Guidance by the MRC on the conduct of medical research, and by ESRC on the conduct of social science research, provided on behalf of all Research Councils, must be observed.

Health and Safety

The Research Organisation is responsible for ensuring that a safe working environment is provided for all individuals associated with a student’s research project. Its approach and policy on health and safety matters must meet all

Page 58 of 65

regulatory and legislative requirements and be consistent with best practice recommended by the Health & Safety Executive.

Appropriate care must be taken where a student is working off-site. The Research Organisation must satisfy itself that all reasonable health and safety factors are addressed.

The Research Councils reserve the right to require the Research Organisation to undertake a safety risk assessment in individual cases where health and safety is an issue, and to monitor and audit the actual arrangements made.

Misconduct and Conflicts of Interest

The Research Organisation is required to have in place procedures for governing good research practice that meet the requirements of the Research Council’s guidance on good practice. The Research Organisation must ensure that there are reliable systems and processes in place for the prevention of misconduct e.g. plagiarism, falsification of data, together with well-defined and clearly-publicised arrangements for investigating and resolving allegations of misconduct.

Where an allegation of misconduct arises in respect of a student supported by a Training Grant, the Research Council must be informed immediately and notified of the outcome of any investigation.

The Research Organisation must ensure that potential conflicts of interest in research are declared and subsequently managed.

TGC 3 Use of Funds

Subject to the following conditions, TG funds may be used, without reference to the Research Council, in such a manner as to best undertake the provision of training leading to the award of a postgraduate degree which must fall within the remit of the Council concerned.

Grant funds include a provision for inflation based on the GDP Deflators published by HM Government. The value of the grant may be varied by the Research Council during the lifetime of the grant in accordance with the deflators or to take into account any other Government decisions affecting the funding available to the Research Councils.

Grant funds cannot be used to meet the costs of an activity that will fall beyond the actual end date of the grant, e.g. when a student’s support goes beyond the end date of the grant or when travel falls beyond the grant period, the costs cannot be charged to the grant even if the tickets, etc. can be purchased in advance.

Other costs, for example those associated with the administration of the training, advertising costs and the costs of open days, may be incorporated into the fee level that the Research Organisation charges to the Training Grant as long as the same level of fee is used for UK/EU non-Research Council funded students on similar programmes. Such costs may not be taken from the

Page 59 of 65

training grant other than through the fee level; nor may individual RC students be charged additional fees above the level paid by the research council.

Student Eligibility

The use of funding to provide full awards or fees-only awards should be in accordance with student eligibility as defined by the Council.

Student Training

Funds may be used for student stipends, fees, project costs and the incidental costs of research training, such as travel and conference attendance.

Students may be full or part-time. The Research Organisation may decide on the period of support for individuals (up to 4 years full time support). Part time awards should not normally be less than 50% of full time. Where the period of support for a student extends beyond the end date of a grant, the balance of support can be provided by the next or subsequent grant or from another source.

For any studentship where funding is drawn from a TA, either:

a) for a fees-only student, all the student’s fees must be funded from the TA of a single Council; or

b) where a student is eligible for a full award, at least 50% of the total cost of the studentship must be drawn from the TA of a single Council. The remaining costs may be funded from other sources, such as the research organisation’s funds or from research partners. (Joint Research Council funding of multidisciplinary awards is possible on the basis of 50:50 funding from two Councils' TAs; in that case one of the Councils must be designated as the majority funder for monitoring and information purposes.)

Where a student is eligible for a stipend, the stipend awarded must be at least equal to the Research Councils’ minimum rates for the relevant academic year. The Research Organisation may, if it wishes, pay a higher level of stipend, provided that it does not overspend the value of the grant.

The allocation of funds for the incidental costs of postgraduate training should have regard for the nature and complexity of projects and the need for fieldwork, conferences, broadening training and industrial or work placements.

Extensions, Suspensions and Terminations of Studentships

The Research Organisation must make suitable arrangements for coping with absences of students for illness, maternity leave, paternity leave, additional paternity leave, adoptive leave, extended jury service and holidays. All Research Council funded students are entitled to take 6 months of maternity leave or up to 6 months of additional paternity leave on full stipend and a further 6 months of unpaid maternity or up to 6 months of additional paternity leave. The Research Organisation must ensure that it is aware of unauthorised absences by students, so that future payments may be stopped and those

Page 60 of 65

already made in advance of need can be recovered. The period of a student’s support may be extended at the Research Organisation’s discretion to offset a period of genuine absence, subject to finding the necessary funding from within the Research Organisation’s Training Account. Where there are insufficient funds in the Training Account to meet the costs of maternity or additional paternity leave, the Research Council will consider compensation at the end of the grant to cover the additional costs arising from maternity or additional paternity leave providing the RO can demonstrate that it lacks the flexibility to meet the costs of maternity or additional paternity support and that it has no other contingency funding of concurrent Training Grants on which it could draw.

Student Transfers

The grant will not be amended to take account of the transfer of a student from one Research Organisation to another or from one department to another within the Research Organisation. Transfers may be arranged where they are essential to the student's training e.g. when a supervisor is moving, and should be by agreement between the Research Organisations concerned. Research Council expects that the arrangements for such a transfer would include the relevant funds. The SDP should be updated following a student transfer.

Disabled Students Allowances

Students funded from a TG are eligible for additional support where, because of disability, they are obliged to incur additional expenditure in undertaking their training. Application and payment arrangements will be as specified by the Research Council.

Where a student is funded from two Councils’ TAs, the application will be considered by the Council which is acting as the majority funder (see above).

TGC 4 Grant Arrangements and Starting Procedures

Grants are for a specified number of years, adopting fixed start and end dates. The process for activating a grant consists of two separate stages. The Research Organisation must formally accept the grant by completing and returning the Offer Acceptance within 10 working days of the offer letter being issued. Returning the Offer Acceptance will result in the start confirmation and the payment schedule being issued. The start confirmation must be returned within one month of a student starting. These notifications will be taken as acceptance of the grant on the terms and conditions stated, and will activate profiled payments.

Payment arrangements will be as specified by the Research Council. Expenditure may be incurred prior to the start date of the grant and subsequently charged to the grant, provided that it does not precede the date of the offer letter.

Page 61 of 65

TGC 5 Annual Statement

The Research Organisation may be sent a statement to return each year showing payments made by the Research Council during the previous financial year for all the grants it holds. Where a statement is required, the Research Organisation must certify, by returning the statement, that:

• expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the grant conditions, and

• those grants shown as current are continuing.

No further payments will be made until the annual statement has been received and accepted by the Research Council.

TGC 6 Expenditure Statements

At the end of the grant, the Research Organisation must complete and return a final expenditure statement (FES) detailing expenditure incurred over the full period of the grant. The FES must be received within three months of the end date of the grant. Once an FES has been received by the Research Council, and expenditure incurred has been reconciled against payments made, the statement will be considered as final.

If there are exceptional circumstances that will prevent submission of the expenditure statement within the period allowed, a written request may be made via the grant maintenance facility in Je-S, before the due date passes, for the submission period to be extended.

The Research Council reserves the right to require the Research Organisation to complete and submit a statement of expenditure at any time during the course of a grant, or to provide supplementary information in support of an interim or final expenditure statement.

TGC 7 Inspection

The Research Council reserves the right to have reasonable access to inspect the records and financial procedures associated with Training Grants or to appoint any other body or individual for the purpose of such inspection.

The Research Organisation must, if required by the Research Council, provide a statement of account for the grant, independently examined by an auditor who is a member of a recognised professional body, certifying that the expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the Training Grant terms and conditions.

Research Councils will undertake periodic reviews of Research Organisations within the Funding Assurance Programme (FAP) programme to seek assurance that Training Grants are managed in accordance with the terms and conditions under which they are awarded.

TGC 8 Sanctions

If the Final Expenditure Statement is not received within the period allowed, the Research Council may recover 20% of the expenditure incurred on the

Page 62 of 65

grant. All payments may be recovered if the statement is not received within 6 months of the end of the grant.

TGC 9 Public Engagement

It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation, Supervisors and Students to actively communicate the research to the public at both local and national level, and to raise awareness of the role of science and research in any related issues of public interest. Special schemes exist in some Research Councils providing additional support for these activities, or earmarked funding may be provided in the grant for this purpose.

The Research Organisation is expected to adopt the principles, standards and good practice for public engagement with research set out in the 2010 Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/per/Pages/Concordat.aspx. The Research Organisation must create an environment in which public engagement is valued, recognised and supported. It must ensure that reliable systems and processes are in place so that the principles of the Concordat are embedded into practice within the Research Organisation.

TGC 10 Monitoring and Information Requirements

The Research Organisation will be required to provide the Research Council with standard information on students and their training programmes through the Je-S Studentship Details Portal (SDP) for inclusion in the Research Council's management information system.

Where a student is funded from two Councils’ TAs, the information should be returned to the Council which is acting as the majority funder (see above), and not returned to the other council. Details of the secondary Research Council funder would be included in the submitted data.

Information should be entered within one month of the student starting their studies. Failure to provide this information may result in sanctions being imposed on future payments.

The Research Organisation should inform the Research Council of any significant changes to the student’s research project funded from the TG, including change of supervisor or project objectives, by updating the SDP.

The Research Council expects that the start and end dates for the funded period of study will be agreed at the outset and would not be amended during the doctoral project unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Research Council will monitor any amendments to the start and end dates and reserves the option to apply original dates for assessing when thesis submission is due.

The Research Council should be notified through the Je-S SDP of students whose awards have been terminated, extended or transferred within a month of the change being formally agreed by the Research Organisation.

Research Organisations are also required to return information on the date of submission of the student’s thesis.

Page 63 of 65

The Research Organisation must make a clear statement, in relation to the Data Protection Act 1998, that personal information on students is being collected on behalf of the Research Council.

TGC 11 Exploitation and Impact

It is the responsibility of the Research Organisation, and all engaged in the research, to make every reasonable effort to ensure that the outcomes obtained in the course of the research, whether patentable or not, are used to the advantage of society and the economy. Research outcomes should be disseminated to both research and more widespread audiences - for example to inform potential users and beneficiaries of the research.

Responsibility for the arrangements relating to the ownership and management of intellectual property rests with the Research Organisation. The Research Organisation will be expected to put in place an agreement regarding the relative contributions to the creation of intellectual property and any associated revenue sharing arrangements before commercialisation or exploitation commences.

Arrangements for collaboration and/or exploitation must not prevent the future progression of research and the dissemination of research results in accordance with academic custom and practice. A temporary delay in publication is acceptable in order to allow commercial and collaborative arrangements to be established.

TGC 12 Publication and Acknowledgement of Support

Publications and other forms of media communication, including media appearances, press releases and conferences, must acknowledge the support received from the Research Council(s).

Journal publications should acknowledge the funding source using the standard format agreed by funders and publishers and detailed in the additional information accompanying this grant.

In the case of Ph.D. theses funded by Research Councils, metadata describing the thesis should be lodged in the institution’s repository as soon as possible after award and a full text version should be available within a maximum of 12 months following award. It is expected that metadata in institutional repositories will be compatible with the metadata core set recommended by the ETHOS e-thesis online service.

TGC 13 Disclaimer

The Research Council accepts no liability, financial or otherwise, for expenditure or liability arising from the research funded by the grant, except as set out in these terms and conditions, or otherwise agreed in writing.

Where studies are carried out in an NHS Trust, the Trust has a duty of care to its patients. The Research Council does not accept liability for any failure in the Trust’s duty of care, or any negligence on the part of its employees.

Page 64 of 65

The Research Councils reserve the right to terminate the grant at any time, subject to reasonable notice and to any payment that may be necessary to cover outstanding and unavoidable commitments.

Further to TGC3, the Research Councils reserve the right to amend the payment profile at their discretion. The Research Organisation will be advised, in advance, of any such change. Changes to payment profiles may affect the overall value of the grant.

TGC 14 Status

These terms and conditions will be governed by the laws of England and Wales; all matters relating to the terms and conditions will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

If any provision of these terms and conditions is found by a court or other legitimate body to be illegal, invalid or unreasonable, it will not affect the remaining terms and conditions which will continue in force.

These terms and conditions, together with any additional conditions set out in the grant, contain the whole agreement between the Research Council and the Research Organisation in relation to the stated grant. The Research Council and the Research Organisation do not intend that any of these terms and conditions should be enforceable by any third party.

Page 65 of 65

Additional information to accompany terms & conditions Following discussions between the Research Information Network, Research Councils, other funders and journal publishers, a standard format has been agreed for acknowledging funders in journal articles. This is to enable improved tracking of the publications generated by funded research projects.

For articles published in journals, or deposited in institutional or subject-based repositories, the acknowledgement of funding should take the form of a sentence as in the following example, with the funding agency written out in full, followed by the grant number in square brackets:

This work was supported by the Medical Research Council [grant number xxxx].

Multiple grant numbers should be separated by comma and space. Where the research was supported by more than one agency, the different agencies should be separated by a semi-colon, with "and" before the final funder. For example:

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Natural Environment Research Council [grant number zzzz]; and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [grant number aaaa].