This page is for Oxford Brookes University staff. Its purpose is to explain internal processes to staff members. It was moved into its current location on the website in Autumn 2022.
Page content is being revised to reflect the move to the new Research, Innovation and Enterprise Directorate.
| i) | Bidding opportunity is identified by academic, member of research support or RBDO |
| ii) | Staff member begins work on the form and structure of the bid and contact the Grant Panel Chair within the Faculty as appropriate |
| iii) | Initial bid costing with Worktribe, working with Faculty support and/or RBDO |
| iv) | Approval needed within the Faculty to progress the bid to the formal bid stage |
| v) | Refinement of costing using fEC costing tool, working with Faculty support and/or RBDO |
| vi) | Completion of funder-specific forms relating to bid, working with Faculty support and/or RBDO |
| vii) | Formal Faculty Approval (including Grant Panel approval) for bid to progress to University via RBDO |
| viii) | Formal University Approval. This will include the usual checks carried out in RBDO (ensuring the bid has been costed using fEC and an appropriate cost/price is to be charged, the bid meets the requirements of the funder, insurance, IP issues etc). Please note that all applications must be submitted to RBDO in full, with their accompanying Faculty approval at least one week before the formal bid deadline. |
| ix) | Bid submitted to funder by Faculty, or by the University if to the JeS electronic system. All submitted bids will be automatically copied from Worktribe to Converis (the University's Current Research Information System (CRIS)) which is used to store and manage details of research projects at Oxford Brookes. |
| x) | Outcome of bid:
|
| xi) | After having confirmed the viability of the award, RBDO will log relevant details in Converis, including the amount awarded and a breakdown of costs in various categories. A new activity code will be set up by RBDO and Management Accounts and the costing spreadsheet will automatically calculate the costs to be incurred broken down by financial year. This will generate a journal which will post Directly Allocated and Indirect costs to the activity code which has been created in e5. Then, the residue of the income will be allocated between the University and the Faculty in direct proportion to the Principal Investigator costs, the Faulty's indirect costs and the University's indirect costs in the original budget. Any revenue shortfall will be shown as a deficit against the project and this will be transferred partly to the Faculty and partly to the University. RBDO will also liaise with the Contracts Manager to arrange any necessary contracts with third parties etc. |
| xii) | Awarded project runs from the start date shown on the award, following agreed project deadlines and OBU processes for project management |
Usually, bids to Research Councils, Charities, the EU and some Government Departments require costings to be displayed as part of the bid. However, actual costs should not normally be shown within proposals to commercial organisations. In a commercial proposal the price should be quoted and, if appropriate, a breakdown of the price into broad categories can be included. Contact RBDO for advice on this.
Where the amount charged to the funder is not based on a cost based formula pricing principles for research and consultancy are being established and disseminated by RBDO. (e.g. if the funder is a commercial organisation and the ownership or exploitation of the research lies with them, then the price should be significantly more than the fEC. If the University is retaining all of the IP, the results will be freely published and the work will contribute to the enhancement of the UK research base then the price could be set just above the level of the fEC etc).
Agreement from the Dean(s)of the Faculty(ies) submitting the bid, or from staff in the Faculty to whom that authority has been delegated (usually Research Directors) must be confirmed before the bid can be formally submitted to the University, for final agreement.
Once the above has been obtained, University agreement will be sought via RBDO and once RBDO have undertaken their usual checks.
If a bid is awarded, and is confirmed as viable, the award letter must generally be signed by the University, via RBDO. RBDO will then set up the new activity code. In cases where an award letter is not issued a Contract will be raised between the Funder and Oxford Brookes University which must be signed by both parties. Research Council awards are forwarded to RBDO and accepted via the Je-S website after confirmation is received from the PI.
Staff submitting Expressions of Interest would need to be clear that an EoI submitted with either no or very rough costings did not commit the University to any financial outlay before a full fEC had been completed. They should use Worktribe as good practice to establish broadly what the costs are likely to be as it is unusual for a costs in an EoI to change very much when a full bid is submitted. Faculty approval at least should always be received before submitting an EoI to ensure that the appropriate staff time can be committed in the way outlined.
A checklist for Principal Investigators is available as part of this Handbook (see the checklist in the appendices).
There are procedures in place for project monitoring in Faculties each year and random, sample monitoring by the University. Part of the monitoring process in the Faculties should be to review the actual costs of the project as well as the income received from the funder. RBDO have in conjunction with Finance and Legal Services developed record keeping guidelines for projects which have to be audited.
Any member of staff who has not updated the three times a year time analysis return to comply with TRAC will not be eligible to bid for external funding.
For bids which have not been costed using fEC and where agreement for the work has been given by the member of staff rather than the University, the University will calculate the fEC of the work and the first charge on any income will be to cover the indirect costs incurred by the University and the Faculty NOT the direct costs associated with the work.
For further information or for advice on the rules and regulations of individual funding bodies please contact us in the RSO.
| x) | Outcome of bid:
|
| xi) | After having confirmed the viability of the award, RBDO will log relevant details in Converis, including the amount awarded and a breakdown of costs in various categories. A new activity code will be set up by RBDO and Management Accounts and the costing spreadsheet will automatically calculate the costs to be incurred broken down by financial year. This will generate a journal which will post Directly Allocated and Indirect costs to the activity code which has been created in e5. Then, the residue of the income will be allocated between the University and the Faculty in direct proportion to the Principal Investigator costs, the Faculty's indirect costs and the University's indirect costs in the original budget. Any revenue shortfall will be shown as a deficit against the project and this will be transferred partly to the Faculty and partly to the University. RBDO will also liaise with the Contract Manager to arrange any necessary contracts with third parties. |
| xii) | Awarded project runs from the start date shown on the award, following agreed project deadlines and OBU processes for project management |
Faculties normally submit their own proposals. Always send the number of copies the funding body asks for, in the way specified and by the deadline.
Once the outcome of a project has been notified, successful or otherwise, you should advise the Faculty and the Research Support Office of the details. Only the University's Senior Management Team can sign award letters, contracts and collaboration agreements. However, Principal Investigators should understand the nature of the agreements being undertaken and how it might affect the running of the project.
SCHOOL AND THEN UNIVERSITY APPROVAL IS REQUIRED FOR ANY BID TO ANY EXTERNAL FUNDER
Good research governance requires the monitoring of research projects to ensure that investigators are undertaking their research as agreed with the project sponsor and in accordance with University research ethics procedures and code of practice for academic integrity. Inter alia, research project monitoring should focus on compliance with any ethics approval conditions, project financial arrangements, research methodology, timetables, and outcomes, and data protection.
Monitoring should take place both at Faculty and University levels. Faculties are required to establish monitoring procedures that are appropriate for their individual circumstances and to report on these to the Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee (RKTC) via the Annual Review mechanism.
At University level, responsibility for monitoring rests with the Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee in collaboration with Finance and Legal Services Directorate.
Monitoring at Faculty level should be carried out in accordance with the University's Code of Practice for Academic Integrity, paragraph 3.3.
Each Faculty should also establish a mechanism for monitoring the effectiveness of the University's policy on good research practice, for example, tracking back a random selection of research studies from conclusions to conception to ensure that all necessary paper/electronic 'trails' are in place.
Faculties were invited to develop their own procedures and reported on these procedures to the Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee during Semester 1 2004/05.
At University level, responsibility for monitoring rests with the Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee (RKTC) in collaboration with the Finance and Legal Services Directorate.
Faculties should describe their project monitoring processes in their Annual Review document and also use this opportunity to flag up any issues with projects.
Annual reviews are received at the University RKTC which considers problems and concerns as well as good practice and refers issues for resolution as appropriate.
The Post-Award Processes Officer meets Faculty Research Managers and Finance Officers regularly to review progress of projects throughout the year.
If you wish the University to act as the Research Sponsor of a project, under the terms of the Department of Health's Research Governance Framework, please download a copy of this form, complete and get agreement from your Faculty. A copy of the form must then be sent to either Sarah Taylor or Louise Wood in RBDO.
All consultancy/contract research needs to be agreed through the correct internal processes, which are outlined below. No work can be undertaken which has not been agreed by both the Faculty and University:
Faculty Finance Officers will work with academic colleagues to provide the data for ITTs and PQQs, but the final document will be sent to RBDO to get University signature. When sending the final document through, RBDO will need an assurance from the Faculty of the process that it has involved in gaining the information included. NOTE, though, that the nature of tenders means that there are usually legal terms and conditions attached. These need to be reviewed by the Contracts Manager in RBDO, so please send these to him.
If you wish a funder to be added to Worktribe please contact your Faculty finance office. The Faculty finance office should check if they are already listed as a supplier on E5; if they are the Faculty finance office should email RBDO with the funder details. If they are not already listed as a supplier on E5 the Faculty finance office should consider whether to run a Dun and Bradstreet credit rating check. Once that has been completed and the Faculty is happy with the rating of the funder they should contact RBDO.
If there are any particular financial terms the Faculty finance wishes to reflect in any contract relating to that funder please advise RBDO (e.g. some or all payment in advance; payment against milestones etc.).
A proposal to develop a Research Centre should be made by completing the Proposal to Establish a New Research Centre Form. The proposal will be considered on the basis of this form and a presentation from the proponents at a meeting of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee (RKEC).
On completion, this form should be returned to the Secretary of RKEC, at least three weeks before the meeting at which the proponents would like the proposal to be considered.