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The Grants & Information Office

Grants Administration

There is a considerable amount of paperwork involved in the administration of the substantial sums of money that flow into the university for the purposes of conducting research. Hopefully the following resources will help to explain some of the more confusing aspects of grant administration. Otherwise please contact Kellie O'Toole on 08 9360 6429 or via email if you have any further questions.

Contents

Research Grants Cover Sheet

This form is required to be completed and submitted to our office with every grant application (not just once successful). It is much easier if we have details of the application BEFORE it becomes successful - ie when you submit the application - which is of course something the Grants office can do for you. We cannot stress the importance of this cover sheet enough. Much of the University reporting on Grants and Consultancies is collected from the information on this coversheet. It is part of the University policy that a cover sheet must be submitted with an application. If we do not receive a cover sheet, an account can not be created. Once the coversheet is received, your project is added onto our Research Information System and allows it to be tracked through our office.

• Research Grant Cover Sheet ( DOC)
• Consultancy Cover Sheet (PDF)

Application Submission

Once you have found a funding opportunity, take some time to consider each of the following:

1. Check the eligibility criteria - if you are not eligible you will be wasting your time;
2. Check the guidelines to make sure the funds can provide what you need.
3. Check how the application must be lodged - via email or post. If it is via post, and especially to the East Coast of Australia, allow time for the mail to follow its route.
4. Ensure you write the application so as it meets the guidelines - if it says 12 point font - use 12 point font;
5. Check that you have the time to produce an application of superior quality by the deadline;
6. Ensure you are happy with the method of costing (eg. are overheads included or is the scheme exempt?) Exemptions from overheads requires the approval of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research);
7. Draft an application and submit it to the Grants Office for advice (allow plenty of time);
8. Follow up on the ethics requirements for the application;
9. Fill out a Grant Application Cover Sheet and get it signed by the Executive Dean and Divisional Business Manager. They MUST approve your proposal. Send the final application to the Grants Office; and
10. Make sure the application is lodged ON TIME.

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Travel Allowance

An employee who travels on official business shall be reimbursed reasonable expenses according to the Murdoch University (General Staff) Enterprise  Agreement (extract clause 52). 
Schedule B - Travel allowance is also attached for general rates. These documents will give you more information when claiming travel expenses in grant proposals.

for further information visit www.finance.murdoch.edu.au

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Steps Once Successful

There are a number of steps you need to go through in order to get the money into a research account for your use. If you have followed all of the steps shown under "Application Submission", then this process is much easier for everyone concerned.

The Grants Office is informed of the outcome of an application in one of the following ways:

If you were unsuccessful, you may wish to consider an appeal. We can advise you whether we believe you have grounds for an appeal and how to frame it.

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Signing the Contract

Most contracts / agreements are straight forward, but should still be sent to us before it is returned to the sponsor. In many cases a signature may be required from the DVC (Research) or a staff member from the Industry Liaison Office. It is IMPORTANT that IP issues are dealt with properly.

Establishing the Research Account

When the contract has been signed and the original lodged with the Legal and Governance, we will request the Financial Accountant to establish the research account. A University Central File is created for each successful research grant. The file will contain all correspondence related to the grant and the copy of the original agreement. You will be emailed with the details of the account and additional information about the grant. The account you are assigned for that research grant must only be used for that research grant.

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Policy on Recovery of Infrastructure Costs from External Organisations

1. With the exceptions listed in clause 4 below, the direct costs of a research project shall be identified and charged to the external funding body. Examples of such direct costs include laboratory and office space, power, lighting and telephones.

2. In addition, with the exceptions listed in clause 4 below, an infrastructure charge of 15% of total funds requested shall be applied.

3. The imputed salary costs of University staff working on the project are to be included if the external agency will allow such a claim.

4. Direct costs and infrastructure costs shall not be claimed in the following cases:

(a) formal research grant schemes, such as ARC, NHMRC, Rural Industry Research Funds, etc (unless the scheme allows infrastructure costs to be claimed);   A more definative list may be found here.
(b) charitable foundations and certain not-for-profit organisations;
(c) unfettered donations to the University;
(d) scholarships for educational purposes only;
(e) the grant provides a significant financial, or other, benefit to the University.

5. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) is authorised to waive, reduce or increase the overhead charge in particular cases as appropriate. If the charge is waived or reduced the School will bear the cost of the lower rate. (Application to Waiver form )

6. The income generated by the infrastructure charge shall be distributed as follows:

Responsible Officer: Director, Research and Development
Date of Last Review: 31 May 1995
Date of Authorisation/Approval: 31 May 1995
Authorising/Approving Officer: Research and Development Board

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Tax Invoices

Tax invoices became a part of research funding when the GST was introduced but the end result is that because research is generally exempt from GST, the net effect on you is nil. However, you still need to complete the paperwork that allows the tax payments to move along the supply chain.

With the introduction of the GST, most funding agencies will require the researcher to invoice them for payment of the grant this is easily determined from the contract/agreement, a copy of which will be provided to you. It is the responsibility of the Chief Investigator or his/her delegated person to raise the tax invoices.

The Finance Officer in your School or Division will be able to assist.
Details of GST and tax invoicing can be found in the Finance Policies and Procedures Manual.

However some agencies operate on a Recipient Created Tax Invoice basis which require no tax invoices to be raised. This will be highlighted in the agreement.

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Reporting Requirements

Reporting requirements are set by most funding bodies to ensure they are getting value for their money during the course of the research, and to convert the intellectual property into a more permanent and easily distributed format. It is often wise to provide comprehensive progress reports on time, and in the proper format.

Progress Reports and Milestones

It is your responsibility to note the dates by which the funding agency or company requires progress reports on the project (including the final report), and reports on the achievement of any milestones specified in the agreement. These reports should be submitted to the Grants Office in time for the Section to forward them to the external agency by the deadline. The deadlines or milestones for your grant will be highlighted in the project agreement which will be provided to you by the Grants Office once signatures are obtained.

Progress reports and milestones must be met in order to maintain a good standing with the funding agencies for further collaborative work.

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Broad Research Types

Pure Basic Research
Experimental or theoretical work which is undertaken primarily to acquire knowledge without a specific application in view, and is carried out without looking at the long term economic or social benefits other than the advancement of knowledge. It includes most Humanities research.

Strategic Basic Research
Experimental or theoretical work which is undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge without a specific application in view and is directed into specific broad areas in the expectation of useful discoveries. It provides the broad base of knowledge necessary for the solution of recognised practical problems.

Applied Research
Original work which is undertaken to acquire new knowledge with a specific application in view. Applied research is undertaken to determine possible uses for the findings of basic research or to determine new methods or ways of achieving some predetermined objectives.

Experimental Development
Systematic work, using existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, for the purpose of creating new or improved materials, products, devices, processes or services. In the Social Sciences, experimental development may be defined as the process of transferring knowledge gained through research into operational programmes.

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RFCD & SEO codes
These codes are used by DETYA and the Australian Bureau of Statistics for analysing research funding in Australia. They were revised recently, so please use the new codes from now on.

• Research Field, Discipline and Subject Codes (RFCD's) ( HTML)
• Socio-Economic Codes (SEO's) ( HTML)
  

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Overheads and GST

Overheads and GST are essentially a University tax of 15% levied against all research income in order to cover the administrative costs associated with managing that income. The following should help to assist you in constructing your budget. The 15% university overhead MUST be applied to your budget unless:

1. The funding body is on the Australian Competitive Grant Register maintained by DEST.
2. You have received approval to waive the overheads by the Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Research).

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Approvals

It is the Chief Investigator's responsibility to obtain approvals from the appropriate University Committees or State or Commonwealth authorities before commencement of the research, or as otherwise specified by the funding agency. The most common matters requiring approval are listed below, together with the appropriate body that would consider the issue.

Approval Situation	Relevant Committee
The use of animals or human subjects	Animal or Human Research Ethics Committees
Potentially hazardous procedures and recombinant DNA	Institutional Biosafety Committee
The use and disposal of potent teratogens or carcinogens	Hazardous Chemicals Sub-Committee
The use of ionising radiation	Radiation Sub-Committee
Intellectual property rights or confidential material	Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
Other matter of a hazardous nature	Occupational Health and Safety Policy Committee

The Contracts Officer must be informed immediately if matters relating to intellectual property or confidentiality arise during the course of a project, or have already arisen and remain unresolved.

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