Accept a Successful Grant

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1. Notification of Award

When your Research Grant Application is successful and a grant is awarded, the granting agency will usually advise the Office of Research of the award, and may also send a contract or an agreement or conditions of award.

In some cases the granting agency may send these documents direct to the researcher. If this happens please keep copies and forward the originals to the Office of Research.

2. Acceptance of Contract or Grant Conditions of Award

Under no circumstances should a researcher sign a research contract or research agreement on behalf of the university - only the Director, Office of Research is authorised to sign these documents.

The Office of Research will check, negotiate and amend where necessary any contracts, agreements or conditions of award and accept the award on behalf of the University.

Once the award has been accepted, the researcher will be sent copies of any contracts, agreements or conditions of award which apply to the grant, together with a Research Grant Account Form, which is used to open the grant account.

3. Contracts and/or Conditions of Award

Although conditions of award vary widely between different granting agencies and schemes, they may include provisions for:

• progress and final reports to be submitted
• milestones to be achieved
• specific expenditure guidelines or time limits to be followed
• agreements on intellectual property
• confidentiality agreements.

Please read any contracts, agreements or conditions of award which apply to your grant carefully, as it is your responsibility to ensure that they are adhered to.

Most contracts or research agreements also specify financial reporting requirements such as financial statements to be submitted. Financial statements must be prepared only by the Research and Special Accounts section in the Finance Department. Do not prepare your own financial statements for forwarding to the granting agency. If you are in doubt as to what is required, contact Heather Coburn (ext. 82882) in the Office of Research or email Financial Administration and Procurement in Financial Services.

4. Your Research Grant Account

The Research Grant Account Form forwarded to you on the award of your grant is used to open your grant account on the Finance System. The form should be completed and forwarded to Research and Special Accounts, Finance Department. Research and Special Accounts should then advise you of the account number when your account has been opened.

You should monitor expenditure and commitments against your account regularly to ensure that all salaries and expenditure on your grant is being correctly charged to your account. Your school or centre administration officer should be able to advise and assist you with your grant account, however always remember that while administrative staff can assist you, you are the person primarily responsible for the conduct of your research and expenditure of grant funds.