Grant Management
The day-to-day administration of research grants is the responsibility of the PI working with CIs and the relevant departments.
The university advises that large and complex grants include funding for a project administrator to assist with the workload.
Throughout these pages, we reference the RSO Post-Award (RSO PA) team as central support for research projects. Members of RSO PA are allocated to a number of departments and large projects to manage with PIs, visit the contact detail page to see your nominated contact.
For researchers in the School of Computing and Communication (SCC) support is provided by the SCC Research Support team, SCC researchers can read the below guidance but should refer to the SCC team in the first instance.
Main Responsibilities
Accordion
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Principal Investigator (PI)
PIs are responsible for the financial management and integrity of their research projects in accordance with the funder’s terms and conditions, university regulations and the Concordat to Support Research Integrity.
Advice and guidance is provided to PIs by RSO through our webpages and departmental contacts and through your department and project administrators. Training can be arranged with colleagues across the university in all elements of grant management, please contact RSO for more information.
For each research grant they hold PIs must ensure that:
- They have read and understood the grant/contract terms and conditions of award
- Both funder and university procurement requirements are adhered to
- Timesheets are completed by relevant staff and authorised on a monthly basis when required
- Only legitimate costs that properly relate to the grant and which are in accordance with the contract are charged to the project
- Potential cost overruns are notified to the HoD and RSO as soon as they become apparent
- The research is conducted in an ethical manner in accordance with the University’s code of conduct and the Concordat to Support Research Integrity
- Interim and final reports are submitted to the funder on time
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RSO Post-Award
RSO PA work with the RSO Pre-Award team to set up your research grant on Agresso. They read the grant terms and conditions highlighting any important points and add your grant to the monitoring systems in RSO. For complex grants, RSO PA will arrange an initial meeting with the PI, research team and pre-award. RSO PA support the training of project support staff across the university, produce templates for grant management and are responsible for many of the financial management tasks relating to most research grants.
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Project Administrator
Where a Project Administrator is in place they are responsible for many of the tasks otherwise undertaken by the RSO PA alongside their other tasks supporting the PI undertake the research project activity. They should be familiar with their grant terms and conditions and the tasks needed to fulfil their responsibilities (as outlined below) but can ask for training and support from RSO PA when required.
Patient and Public Involvement (PPI)
It is important to determine in advance whether a public contributor participating in research activities is engaging as a volunteer, employee or as a casual worker. This distinction is important as it affects the tax obligations of both the individual and the University and is also critical in ensuring the appropriate internal payment procedures are followed.
Guidance for making the correct assessment, and speeding up the process of payment, can be found here: Public Contractors Guidance
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