When a grant is awarded the processes it goes through are called 'post-award'.
First Steps:
When you are offered a grant, notify Research Support (environment-research@york.ac.uk), including a copy of the offer/award letter and the Worktribe number. We will notify Research Grants Operations (RGO), who will advise whether the terms and conditions of the grant are acceptable and whether you need an Intellectual Property (IP) consultation. They will also mark your grant as awarded on Worktribe.
Contracts:
For some grants, contracts will be required between the University and the funder and/or between the other organisations involved. This is necessary for all industry funding and for any subcontract work (York subcontracting an external partner or York being subcontracted by someone else). The University contracts team (RKEC, research-contracts@york.ac.uk) reviews all contracts for the university and will negotiate with the other parties. Your RGO Grant Coordinator will request any research contracts required on Worktribe for you.
You should never sign contracts yourself on behalf of the University. Contracts must always be reviewed by RKEC before signature and the University has delegated signatories with the authority to sign contracts.
Offer Acceptance:
In all cases, an official acceptance of the award will be required by the funder and the offer letter will set out you need to do. This needs to be completed by the Principal Investigator (PI) and the RGO Grant Coordinator (on behalf of the University). If a form needs completing to accept the award, RGO will ensure it is signed and returned to the funder. If the PI is required to send their own acceptance letter, please liaise with RGO for advice and send a copy to RGO for filing once complete.
Starting Your Grant:
The process for starting grants varies between funders. For some funders - UKRI and Wellcome Trust, for example - you may need to use their systems to send a ‘start date certificate’ for your project. This is done electronically and will trigger the financial start of your project for the funders. Your start date may be different from your original proposed start date. Flexibility on start dates varies and the offer letter will tell you what's allowed.
- The PI must consult with RGO and Departmental HR (environment-hr@york.ac.uk) at the earliest opportunity to discuss any staff appointments. See the Departmental HR wiki pages for more information Bear in mind that overseas appointments, work permits, and documentation can take 6+ months to be confirmed, while UK appointments can take 2+ months. When current York staff will be working on the project you need HR to approve their availability fits with your project dates
- A project code (e.g. 'Rxxxxx') will be allocated to the grant by RGO to authorise expenditure on the grant up to the budget stated on the award letter. RGO will set up the grant and the agreed budget for expenditure, and provide you with access to the project code in Agresso (the University's finance system)
- If you are a Co-I, you need to liaise with your PI and RGO Grant Coordinator on internal processes. If the PI is external, you need to ascertain how and when York will be paid, the invoice process that will be required, the timing of the invoices, and the contact details needed for the lead institution's finance team. All this information needs to be passed on to the RGO Grant Coordinator so that they can set up invoicing processes
- A grant ‘kick-off’ meeting may be requested by RGO or the PI/CoI (Kick-Off Meeting Agenda (MS Word)).
Managing Your Grant:
Here are some common rules and issues that occur when managing UKRI Research Council grants. Requirements vary, so always check the terms and conditions of your grant. Charities are often a lot stricter on expenditure than UKRI.
UKRI grants often require any changes to be done via the Je-S system (this will soon be replaced by The Funding Service, TFS).
Remember: financial management of the grant is the responsibility of the PI.
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A well managed project that has been regularly monitored makes for a simpler Final Statement for both the PI and the RGO Grant Coordinator at the end of the project.
Useful Links:
University Website: Post-award
University Website: Running your grantManaging Externally Funded Grants