Roles & Responsibilities

The day-to-day administration of research grants is the responsibility of the principal investigator working with Co-Investigators and the relevant departments.

The university advises that large and complex grants include funding for a project administrator to assist with the workload.

Cradle to Grave

Main Responsibilities

Tab Content: Principle 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
  • Monitoring of leave (including annual, maternity, paternity, adoption and sick) and ensuring where possible these are taken during the lifetime of the grant
  • 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

Tab Content: 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.

Tab Content: 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 in our guidance) but can ask for training and support from RSO PA when required.

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