Managing Externally Funded Grants

Owned by Laura Smith
Last updated: 23 Oct, 2023
5 min read

First Steps:

When you are offered a research or research-related 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.

  • The budget consists of budget headers such as ‘Directly Incurred’ and ‘Directly Allocated’ costs. Clear financial trails are a requirement for any Directly Incurred staff - such as PDRAs - working on grants. This often involves completing timesheets for part-time staff and staff working across several grants
  • Check the award details for ineligible costs, which often include general stationery, general computer consumables (e.g. memory sticks), general postage, basic PCs/laptops and printers
  • Expenditure outside of the start or end dates of the grant is not allowed unless they relate to the period of the grant and are no later than 2 months after the end date
  • Equipment costs made in the last 6 months of the grant - if these are a requirement then the PI should request funder approval in advance (via Je-S) – (applies only to costs over £3k per item)
  • Small equipment costs must be coded as ‘Consumables’ not ‘Equipment’
  • Travel costs require a clear description; dates, name of traveller, and destination in the description box on the claim form, before sending to Payments Office
  • All invoices and costs should include the budget header and have clear descriptions, e.g. 'Travel: Travel by 'name' to 'place' for 'activity', 'dates'; this makes reconciling expenditure much easier
  • Directly Allocated charges not being charged in full (e.g. for facilities) should be divided up over the project lifetime and charged monthly
  • If there are changes in staffing during the lifetime of the project (e.g. maternity, sick leave, staff moving posts) the PI must contact the relevant HR/RGO Grant Coordinator
  • UKRI funders allow you to vire between budget headers under the Directly Incurred category only. However, this is not the case with many charities (e.g. Leverhulme), where you must keep within budget headers as per the original offer. In these cases, changes are sometimes allowed by the funder, but you must request it in advance and with justifiable reasons. Contact your RGO Grant Coordinator for advice
  • Overspending is NOT allowed, and any expenditure which does not fulfil the grant conditions and is thereby disallowed will be the responsibility of the PI to clear the debt. If the PI can't clear the debt, the costs fall onto the Department and this means our available budget is reduced for other things
  • No-cost extensions to the end date of the project are usually permissible (up to 6 months). Contact your RGO Grant Coordinator if you need an extension
  • All PIs should monitor their expenditure throughout the lifetime of the project, at minimum on a quarterly basis. You will be a sent a monthly budget spreadsheet which will show you how much has been spent and how much remains. Raise any issues with your RGO Grant Coordinator as soon as possible so that they can be rectified.


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 grant