Guidance on Estimating Investigators’ Time on
Research Projects
Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................
Factors to consider........................................................................................
What time can be included?..........................................................................
What time is excluded? .................................................................................
How is time estimated? .................................................................................
How is PI/CoI time costed at UCL?...............................................................
Verification of time actually spent................................................................
Summary ........................................................................................................
Annex 1 - Checklist for estimating PI/CoI time............................................
Annex 2 - Worked example for estimating PI/CoI time ...............................
Introduction
Since the introduction of Full Economic Costing (fEC) it has been a requirement for
the time of all academic investigators - normally termed Principal or Co-Investigators
(PI/CoI) - to be estimated as part of their involvement in research projects. This
requirement is irrespective of how the academics are funded (e.g. HEFCE,
endowment funds, trust funds etc) or whether the research funder will actually
contribute towards these and their associated costs or not.
This note provides broad guidance on how to estimate the time you will spend
working on a typical research project. However it is also important that academics
understand the terms and conditions of the specific research funding schemes to
which they apply. Additional expert support and advice is provided by the Research
Finance Unit within Pre-Award Administration.
1
Factors to consider
All estimates will be driven by a large number of variables but there a few key and
overarching factors that influence the amount of time including:
¾ The length of time for the study and the role the PI/CoI will personally play in
delivering and managing the research programme
¾ The number and level of staff to be managed/supervised by the academic as
part of the research programme
¾ The number of partners (internal and external) involved in the research
programme
¾ The nature and/or complexity of the research activity (i.e. desk, laboratory or
field based)
A more detailed checklist of issues to consider when beginning to build up an
estimate of PI or CoI time is given at Annex 1.
The Research Councils own estimates indicate that the average PI time would be
typically in excess of 8 hours per week or 20% of their time over the course of a
research project1. Recent data at UCL suggests that the average estimated time
spent on a typical research project is 14% (5 hours per week) which suggest that PI’s
may be underestimating their time. However, this should not be taken as prescriptive
since estimates for individual projects vary widely. It is particularly important that
PI/CoI’s give careful consideration to the estimate of their time with regard to grant
applications to Research Councils (RCs) since this must be fully justified as part of
the research proposal.
1
Note that for the purposes of costing, the standard year is defined as being 1650 hours (i.e.
based on 44 weeks per annum at 37.5 hours per week). This is for calculation purposes
only. It is not indicative of the actual working week (contracted or otherwise).
2
What time can be included?
1. Principal and Co-Investigator(s) Research Time
¾ This can only be realistically estimated by the individual taking into
account how much intellectual or practical research effort they are
reasonably likely to invest in the project.
¾ It may be that projects having a large number of staff employed to
deliver the research programme will involve relatively less direct PI or
CoI time.
¾ At the other extreme Fellowships and Research Leave Schemes will
encompass 100% of research activities for the period of the award.
2. Staff management/supervision time of Researcher(s)
¾ Researchers: this will vary depending on the seniority and capabilities
of the individual(s). It is suggested that you estimate time per
researcher on a weekly basis and then aggregate this over the preiod
of the project.
¾ Technicians/Other staff – estimate as per Researchers (above)
3. Project Management time for Principal and Co-Investigator(s)
¾ This may include time associated with obtaining regulatory approval
requirements such as ethics.
¾ Co-ordination of multiparty collaborative projects may involve
significant PI/CoI time.
4. Other
¾ Travelling time for example fieldwork, seminars or conferences funded
throughout the project and incurred during the funding period.
¾ Time spent preparing reports (e.g. Final and Intermediate Reports for
Research Councils) and in the dissemination of results can be
included where these are explicitly part of the research project
3
What time is excluded?
Any time that can be categorised by TRAC as Support or Teaching should not be
included. Examples include:
¾ Drafting and re-drafting new research projects for grant applications or
funding bids.
¾ Postgraduate Students – supervision time for Research Council Project
Students is not part of the time estimation on grant application forms. RCs
fund 100% of student stipend and fees.
¾ Committee work.
¾ Refereeing work for research proposals or publications.
¾ Activities directly related to professional development.
How is time estimated?
Although estimating time spent on long-running projects cannot be done with any
great precision it is possible to provide a reasonable estimate by adopting a
consistent approach.
During the course of a project the time spent can vary depending on a number of
factors (e.g. an experienced Researcher may leave and be replaced by a more junior
individual or vice versa) which may lead to actual time spent varying from the original
estimates.
Generally, however, academic staff are usually able to make a reasonable estimate
using experience to take into account potential changes unknown at the project start.
Two distinct methods can be used to estimate time:
A. Bottom-up estimate (actual hours)
The hours required to carry out the work are built up, based on a detailed
programme of work. This will involve breaking down all the activities involved in
the specific research programme (as above) and ensuring that the cumulative
time estimates for PI and CoI time are reflected correctly in the project costing
and application. This is good practice and should be used wherever possible.
B. Top-down or overview estimate (%time)
Research time can be considered as the time available after teaching,
administrative duties and student supervision not associated with specific
research projects has been taking into account. This research time is then
allocated to specific research projects, including new projects being planned. For
this method it is particularly important that the estimates are weighted to reflect
complex or time-consuming projects.
4
An estimate of the time required on average across the whole project maybe used for
each year’s estimate without taking into account annual fluctuations in workload.
Please note that the effort is likely to extend over a greater period than the official
grant period, to include the initial recruitment of staff prior to starting and the writing
of the final report after the end date. All this time should be averaged over the official
life of the grant.
How is PI/CoI time costed at UCL?
The UCL project costing tool, pFACT, enables you to enter PI or CoI time as total
hours, days or months for the selected work period. It is also possible to enter as a
% of time by the use of FTE per annum.
Examples of how these equate are shown below:
1 FTE (full time equivalent) for one year = 1650 hours
Weekly (hours)
Percentage of
time
Total hours
over one year
Total FTE (3
year project)
Total hours 3
year project
5
13%
220
0.4
660
10
27%
440
0.8
1320
15
40%
660
1.2
1980
22.5
60%
990
1.8
2970
The actual salary costs associated with the time allocated to a particular project as
well as the estates and indirect costs attributed to this time are automatically
calculated on pFACT.
An example of how PI/CoI time maybe built up for a typical Research Council project
is given at $QQH[
5
Verification of time actually spent
Few projects will run exactly as estimated. Sometimes PIs will put in less time,
sometimes more (e.g. when a research assistant leaves early for another post). Most
of these variances will be small, and they will tend to average out when aggregated
across all projects at the level of an institution or a research council. Research
Councils are concerned about PIs "double-booking" themselves and putting in less
time than planned, or charging more than a full working week. They will require some
assurance (as now) that budgeted costs have actually been incurred. However,
expensive cost-tracking systems are not required for this.
Instead, PIs will be required to take a more explicit responsibility for building up the
project budget (with help as appropriate); for keeping an overall assessment of effort
put in and outcomes; and occasionally, at the end of the project, for verifying that
academic time input has been as planned (within a reasonable tolerance limit perhaps 20%).
This will require PIs to keep some simple records (e.g. in a desk diary or project log
book) of the main events, visits, meetings etc. in the course of a project. It will not
require them to complete time sheets, or (for example) to allocate small fractions of
time such as telephone calls between different projects.
Research Councils are also likely to introduce (joint) systems that will allow them to
identify any individuals who are working more than a standard working year on
Research Councils' projects. However, Research Councils also realise that, to some
extent, institutions will need to over-commit academics at the proposal submission
stage in recognition that success rates for proposals are not 100%.
Summary
In estimating PI and CoI time on projects :
•
Include all PIs and CoIs, whether paid by the University or not.
•
Include all the direct time required to manage the project, to undertake the
work and to supervise and manage the project staff.
•
Do not include PGR supervision.
•
Calculate time on an actual hours or % time basis, actual hours being
preferred.
•
Note that time committed to all activities should not exceed 100% of your
available time.
6
•
Note that a maximum of 1650 hours per annum for one individual on one
project can be included for Research Council projects.
•
Note that PIs may be required to verify that academic time input has been
broadly as originally planned, on a sample basis.
7
Annex 1 - Checklist for estimating PI/CoI time
The check-list below is not meant to be exhaustive, nor does it prescribe a specific
number of hours for specific tasks, rather it is an aide memoir to help academics
consider what may be relevant when estimating the time they spend managing and
delivering individual research projects they are responsible for.
1. How long is the study for and will you be playing an active role throughout
the full period of the project?
2. Are you a new investigator or an established researcher?
3. New investigators should consider whether they will be required to play a
more ‘active’/‘hands-on’ research role in the study.
4. Established more senior researchers (typically those who are PI/CoI’s on
a large number of projects) should consider whether their role will be more
of an overarching ‘intellectual’/’academic’ contribution with the majority of
the day-to-day management being undertaken by the CoI or researchers
employed directly on the project.
5. Will the staff (new or existing named researchers) need to be trained by
the PI/CoI in the development and/or application of new techniques
pertinent to delivery of the project? If so, over what period of the project
do you anticipate the training to take?
6. How much time do you anticipate spending monitoring/evaluating
research outcomes/progress generated by research staff over the course
of the project? Will this vary over the course of the project?
7. How much time do you expect to spend discussing research outcomes
with CoI’s/collaborators? Remember to include estimates of time spent
travelling if appropriate.
8. How much time will be involved visiting external facilities (e.g. to collect
data specific to the project)
9. How much time will be spent disseminating research outcomes at
conferences? Remember to include estimates of time taken to prepare
presentations and travelling time.
10. How much time will it take to produce specific deliverables required by the
sponsor? (e.g. public communication training) Remember to include
estimates of time spent travelling.
11. How much time do y ou antici pate spending w riting up the final
scientific report after the project has been completed (NB this is time
that w ill be incurred AFTER the project has finished but is still an
eligible cost to be add ed into the total time you estima te spending
on a given project.
8
Annex 2 - Worked example for estimating PI/CoI time
The numbers given below are neither prescriptive nor based on an exhaustive list of
activities. The aim is to simply illustrate how you would build up and estimate PI and
CoI time allocated to a typical research project.
Principal Investigator:
2 hours per week research time, 1 hour per week managing Senior Researcher, 3
hours per week managing Junior Researcher, 2 hours per month Project
Management, 4 hours travelling UK field trip, 15 hours (total) preparing Final Report.
Co-Investigator
5 hours per week research time, 3 hours per week supervising Technician, 1 hour
per month Project Management (with PI), 6 hours travelling UK field trip, 2 hours
(total) preparing Final Report.
Year1
Year2
Year3
Total
Research time
88
88
88
264
Researcher management
176
176
176
528
Project management
24
24
24
72
PI
Conference travel time
4
Preparing Final Report
4
15
Total
15
1081
CoI
Research time
44
44
44
220
Technician supervision
132
132
132
396
Project Management
12
12
12
36
Field trip travel time
6
Preparing Final Report
Total
9
6
2
2
660