RESEARCH SERVICES
FINANCE DIVISION
pFACT User Guide
Contents
Log-in......................................................................................................................... 3
Accessing an existing proposal .............................................................................. 3
Creating a new project proposal ............................................................................. 4
Co-Investigator .................................................................................................................................. 5
Funder ................................................................................................................................................ 5
Other Institutions .............................................................................................................................. 5
Funder / Income Template ....................................................................................... 6
Staff Cost................................................................................................................... 6
Staff within your department ........................................................................................................... 7
Non-departmental staff using payscale (Non standard staff using payscale) ........................... 7
Staff not using payscale (Non standard staff not using payscale) .............................................. 8
User-Defined Scale (Off-Scale Grade) ............................................................................................. 9
Equipment Cost ........................................................................................................ 9
Non Staff Cost......................................................................................................... 10
FTE Calculated Costs ............................................................................................. 11
Reports .................................................................................................................... 12
Editing existing projects ........................................................................................ 13
Change Status (‘Submitting’ the proposal) .......................................................... 15
Additional Fields ..................................................................................................... 17
Research Approval Form .................................................................................................................. 18
Appendix A – List of pFACT Funders ................................................................... 19
Appendix B – Staff Types ...................................................................................... 21
Appendix C – Faculty-level costing procedures .................................................. 22
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------January 2011
User Guide issued by: Jonathan Hackney
Charles Demain
Research Services
General Information
pFACT is a research project costing and workflow approval tool which allows the user to calculate
both the cost of conducting a research project at UCL and as well as the income recoverable from any
potential sponsor.
Costs
The costs of conducting a research project at UCL are determined by the type of staff requested, the
type of facilities in which the project is conducted and any other associated costs. These will include
indirect and estates costs (called “FTE calculated costs” on pFACT) which are calculated
automatically by pFACT.
Income
The income that UCL may receive from a sponsor is calculated according to the terms and conditions
specified by that sponsor. “Income templates” have been set-up on pFACT for a number of the more
popular sponsors at UCL. It is, therefore, possible to easily show the difference in the amount to be
recovered dependent upon the sponsor chosen.
pFACT is a web-based application and can be found at:
https://pFACT.ucl.ac.uk/pFACT
Throughout pFACT, the following icons are used:
•
The 'plus' icon allows you to add a new record (as well as save within certain
screens).
•
The 'back arrow' icon allows you to return to the previous screen.
•
The 'forward arrow' icon allows you to proceed to the next screen.
•
The ‘filter’ button allows you to search for a particular series of letters within a
list, e.g. entering “Do” in the “Search for PI” box (see page 4) and then
pressing
will reduce the list of possibilities in the drop-down list to
“Dobson”, “Doe”, “Doorstop” etc.
•
The 'save' button saves your entered data.
•
The 'close' button closes the current screen and returns to the previous
screen.
(We would recommend that you do NOT use the ‘
’ to close the
window as pFACT will not automatically update the screen being
returned unless the ‘close’ button is pressed.)
pFACT also uses hyperlinks. Any details which are in blue and/or underlined are links to another
screen and clicking on the link will open a new screen, e.g.
Dependent on your user set-up, you will see the “Remove” button on certain screens. The remove
function removes details from your project proposal and view. For audit purposes, when removing
items from a project you will be asked to enter a reason for deletion.
Any fields with the suffix “*” are mandatory and input is required. e.g.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 2 / 22
17/08/2011
Log-in
The first screen shown within pFACT is the log-in screen.
Your log-in details (username and password) are the same ones you use to log into the UCL Managed
System, i.e. your Information Systems (IS) username/password used to log-on to, for example, WTS.
Read the “Data Protection Act Terms & Conditions” and click the appropriate button to either ‘accept’
or ‘decline’ adherence to these conditions.
Once logged in you will see the menu options available to you on the left hand side of the screen.
To begin a new costing
To view your current projects and add new ones
To filter, i.e. search, your list of current projects
To log-out of pFACT
Accessing an existing proposal
Clicking “Project Proposal” will produce a list of your 100 most recently created costings. If you wish
button to scroll through the pages of
to search for a different costing, you can either click the
costings or select “Show Filter” and complete the filter dialogue boxes: -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 3 / 22
17/08/2011
Use the ‘ID’ and/or ‘Name’, i.e. Project Name, filter options to search for the desired costing and then
button.
select the
Projects can be opened by clicking the project name, archived by clicking
or removed by clicking .
Creating a new project proposal
Enter the required data into each field using either free text or the “drop-down” list button “
”. This
will auto-populate if there is only one choice available or if there is an obvious default. The default can
be over-ridden.
Title:
Enter the name you wish to give your proposal. This is a free text field up to
the value of 69 characters. Should the title be longer than this, a long title
can be added from the “Project Proposal Summary” screen.
Department:
Select your department from the drop-down list (may be auto-populated)
Activity:
Select “Research” from the drop-down list (may be auto-populated).
Code:
Please leave this field blank (or refer to your department administrator to
establish if this is used internally within your department).
Sub Activity:
The sub-activity determines the rates used for indirect and estates costs
calculations applicable to your department (may be auto-populated).
Principal Investigator: Select the appropriate person from the drop-down list or leave blank if they
are not shown.
Start Date:
Enter the proposed start date of the project. You can either select the
calendar icon to the right of the field and select the appropriate date or enter
the date manually. The following formats are recognised by pFACT:
DD-MM-YYYY
(e.g. 01-08-2006)
DD/MM/YYYY
(e.g. 01/08/2006)
DD-MMM-YYYY
(e.g. 01-AUG-2006)
DD/MMM/YYYY
(e.g. 01/AUG/2006)
End Date:
Enter the date you propose the project will end. (The system will set this to
a default value of one year after the proposed start date.)
Contact Person:
Enter a contact person for this project. Please complete this field in order for
the Research Finance Unit to know who to contact in case of any queries
arising from the project proposal.
Deadline:
Enter the sponsor’s deadline here.
Please note that the Research Finance Unit’s five working day turnaround
1
policy still applies for your costing.
Telephone:
Enter the internal phone number of the contact person.
Email:
Enter the e-mail address of the contact person.
1
Further details can be seen on the Research Services website http://www.ucl.ac.uk/finance/research
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 4 / 22
17/08/2011
Once all the fields have been completed, click on the
message will appear at the top of the screen. On selecting
screen will be displayed.
button. The “Successfully Saved.“
the “Project Proposal Summary”
At the bottom of the screen you can also choose from the following options:
Co-Investigator
This allows you to select Co-Investigators from a drop-down list, made up from staff assigned to your
faculty. Co-Investigators from outside your faculty need to be added via the “Staff Cost” section
accessible from the Project Proposal Summary screen.
Funder
This allows you to select a funder and is described further in the Funder / Income Template section.
Other Institutions
This is an optional free text field which allows the user to add information about an external
organisation which is involved with project proposal. It is not used in the calculations.
Project Proposal Summary Screen
This screen can be considered to be the ‘dashboard’ for accessing the various sections of the project.
From this screen, it is possible to enter each of the individual cost item sections.
Funder/Income Template: The funding body from which the financial support and an appropriate
income template is selected.
Staff Cost:
The total cost of staff (directly incurred and directly allocated) who will be
working on the project, including progression up the pay scale if
applicable.
Equipment Cost:
The total cost of equipment to be used on the project.
Non Staff Cost:
The total cost of all non staff cost items, such as consumables, travel etc.
FTE Calculated Costs:
Estates and indirect costs which have been automatically calculated by
pFACT.
Full Economic Cost:
The total cost of the project to the university. (Sum of the cost items
above)
Income:
The amount recoverable from the funder as specified in the income
template.
Surplus/Deficit:
The difference between the Full Economic Cost and the potential Income
of the project.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 5 / 22
17/08/2011
By clicking on the blue hyperlinks of the cost categories and income, a further breakdown can be
viewed, access to which is dependent on your user profile. These are described below: -
Funder / Income Template
This link allows the funding body and income template to be selected. A list of available funders and
income templates can be found in Appendix A.
Funder Type:
Funder:
Income template:
Funders are grouped into different funding sources. After selecting a Funder
Type, the drop-down list available under “Funder” is limited to funding bodies
associated with the specified Funder Type source only.
Contains a list of all available funders within pFACT determined by the selected
Funder Type.
The drop-down lists shows available templates that specify the level of recovery
from sponsors. A nominal default option will be selected based on the funder.
This can be changed if necessary.
Funded Percentage: Do not change this from 100%. UCL will not be using the multiple funder
method at present. Do not add more than one funder to a costing.
Staff Cost
This section allows all staff associated with the project to be entered. The PI/CoI previously specified
in creating the project will appear on the screen automatically. You will now need to specify the time
they will spend on the project by clicking on the hyperlink in the “Name” column, e.g. Doe John.
This will open the following screen
Start / End Date: Defaults to the start and end dates of the project but can be overwritten as
appropriate.
Unit Type:
Defines how you would like to enter the time the staff will spend on the project,
i.e. Hours, Days, Months, FTE/Annum, Hours/Week.
Units:
Defines the number of hours, days etc. Is dependent on the Unit Type specified.
to save your data.
Click
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 6 / 22
17/08/2011
Click
to return to the “Staff Cost” screen which has now been updated to show the cost
associated with the time the PI will spend on the project.
Clicking
on the “Staff Cost” screen enables you to enter additional staff to the project.
Use these links for staff not
currently employed at UCL or
in a different faculty. See
descriptions below.
Staff within your faculty
For staff within your faculty, use the screen as shown above. Select the appropriate ‘Staff Type’ (a list
of staff types available can be found in Appendix B) from the drop down list as well as the member of
Button. The following message
staff’s name from the ‘Staff*’ drop-down list and click the
appears on the top of the screen
will take you to the “Staff work spells” screen where you can enter time spent on the
Clicking
project by these staff members. Alternatively, the “Staff work spells” screen can be accessed as
described above.
Non-faculty staff using payscale (Non standard staff using payscale)
When selecting this hyperlink, a new screen opens that enables you to add staff not currently within
your faculty but paid using standard payscales for the purpose of cost calculations.
Staff Name*:
Pay Scale*:
Full Time:
Name of the member of staff, if known, or job title, e.g. New Research Assistant.
Choose a pay scale from the drop down list.
Check this box if the member of staff is working full-time on the project. pFACT
then automatically assumes a 1.00 FTE/annum for this member of staff for the
entire lifetime of the project.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 7 / 22
17/08/2011
Spine Point*:
Choose from the drop-down list the spine point at which the member of staff will be
appointed.
Max Spine Point: Choose from the drop-down list the discretionary point to which the member of staff
will progress, if applicable.
Staff Type:
Choose from a drop-down list the role the member of staff will perform on the
project.
Increment Date*: This defaults to the increment date associated with the pay scale but can be
overwritten.
No. of entries*: This value defines how often the member of staff should appear in the “Staff Cost”
screen. The default value is 1 but if you need to add two identical members of
staff, e.g. 2 research fellows, overwrite the default.
Unit Type:
Choose value from the list. Available options are: Days, FTE/Annum, Hours, Hours/Week, Months.
Department*:
Select your department from the drop down list (default).
Once saved, the following message appears on the top of the screen
will take you directly to the “staff work spell” screen where you can enter the time
and clicking
spent on the project. Alternatively the “Staff work spells” screen can be accessed as described in the
Staff Cost section on page 6.
Staff not using payscale (Non standard staff not using payscale)
pFACT can cost project staff who are not paid using a payscale, e.g. payment using daily rates or a
fixed fee. Note: this will NOT calculate employers’ on-costs, i.e. National Insurance (NI) and
Superannuation costs calculated on a basic salary. You may wish to speak to your Research Finance
Unit contact regarding the tools available to help you calculate this.
Staff Name*:
Work Type*:
Unit Type*:
Units*:
@ Rate*:
Start/End Dates*:
Staff Type:
No. of entries*:
Inflation*:
Base Year*:
FTE for fEC*:
Category*:
Click
and
Name of the member of staff, if known, or job title, e.g. New Research
Assistant.
Is used to categorise staff costs, i.e. Directly Incurred or Directly Allocated.
Choose a pay scale from the drop down list.
Note: The pay scale is not used to calculate cost, only to categorise!
Choose value from the list. Available options are: Days, FTE/Annum, Hours, Hours/Week or Months.
Enter the number of days, hours etc.
Enter the amount to be paid for the chosen unit type.
Enter appropriate dates for staff workspell.
Choose from a drop down list the role the member of staff will perform on the
project.
This value defines how often the member of staff should appear on the Staff
Cost screen. The default value is 1 but if you need to add two identical
members of staff, e.g. 2 research fellows, overwrite the default.
Automatically completed by pFACT.
Automatically completed by pFACT.
Enter FTE value to be used for indirect and estates cost recovery.
Automatically completed by pFACT when staff type is chosen.
to return to the project summary screen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 8 / 22
17/08/2011
User-Defined Scale (Off-Scale Grade)
pFACT is able to calculate a staff member’s full costs using a user-defined basic salary (plus
additional allowances).
For example, data is entered as below: -
pFACT is able to calculate the additional Employer’s costs, National Insurance (NI) and
Superannuation, based on the basic salary details of the member of staff.
Equipment Cost
To add equipment, click on the hyperlink on the Project Summary Screen. Click
equipment to the project.
to add new
Use this!
There are currently no standard items of equipment set up on pFACT.
Any equipment needs to be entered by clicking “Add new item not in the list.”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 9 / 22
17/08/2011
The following screen will then appear.
This figure refers
to inflation on
UCL’s costs, not
the income from
the sponsor.
Item Description*:
Units*:
Unit Type*:
Unit Cost*:
Start / End dates*:
Category*:
Inflation*:
VAT Type*:
VAT Value:
Rate On Date*:
Enter the description of the equipment.
Enter the number of units you require.
Choose unit of measure from the drop down list, i.e. “Item”.
Enter the price (inclusive of VAT) for one unit of measure you choose.
If you are paying for the item over a period of time, enter start and end dates.
If you pay for an item in a single lump sum, which is usually the case, enter
the payment date as both the start and end date.
Choose the appropriate category from the drop-down list.
Automatically entered by pFACT.
Automatically entered by pFACT.
Automatically entered by pFACT.
Indicates the date on which the estimates were calculated. Usually the start
date of the project.
. Continue to enter items, pressing
Once you have entered all the information, click
to return to the project
after each one, until you have entered all necessary items. Click
summary screen.
Non Staff Cost
There now exists a number of Non-Staff costs built into pFACT. These will appear in the drop-downs
in the first data entry screen, for example: -
These drop-downs show information as gathered from relevant departments.
If non-staff costs are entered via the Add new item not in the list option, there will be a greater number
of options in the Category* drop-down than are seen in the Equipment data entry screen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 10 / 22
17/08/2011
FTE Calculated Costs
These are estates and indirect costs which are automatically calculated by pFACT.
The “Project Proposal Summary” screen now contains a breakdown of costs to UCL and a single line
showing the total income that is expected to be recovered from the funder along with the
surplus/deficit expected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 11 / 22
17/08/2011
Reports
Submission reports can be accessed by clicking
.
Reports are available for the data required for completing the forms for Je-S Submission
(AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, NERC & STFC) and
EAA Submission
(MRC)
EU Funder Submission
To be used for collaborative projects under EU FP7
Other Funders Submission
Generic submission report depending on funder and income template
chosen
WT Submission report
To be used for e-Grants submissions
Other Financial Reports can be accessed by clicking
.
will show a report showing costs to UCL, as below: -
will produce the high-level summary of the requested report
details the recovery from funder of proposal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 12 / 22
17/08/2011
report shows costs versus income for each cost item of the
proposal as shown below
A more detailed guide about reports on pFACT can be found on the pFACT web-site at
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/finance/research/pre_award/pfact/index.html
Editing existing projects
hyperlink will produce a list of your projects or projects that you
Clicking on the
have been given permission to edit.
By clicking into the “Project name” required (in this case
screen for the chosen project is displayed.
) the “Project Proposal Summary”
Some of the menu items on the right hand side of the screen are accessible for editing as defined by
your user access level. Simply click into the required section to edit the details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 13 / 22
17/08/2011
A short description of the editable fields is given below. After changing the details as required, press
to save any adjustments you made and then
Summary” screen: -
to return to the “Project Proposal
Edit
This function opens the “Edit Project Proposal” screen which allows for the main project details to be
amended.
Note: You can
NOT change the
Start/End Date on
this screen.
Instead, use the
“Change Start
Date” and
“Change End
Date” buttons on
the Project
Proposal
Summary Screen.
Long title
This allows you to enter a more qualitative title for the project should you wish.
Change Start/End Date
Use these options to change start and/or end date of the project.
Financial Reports
See page 11.
Replicate Project
This function creates a copy of an existing project proposal. This function might be helpful if you need
to create a new proposal which differs only slightly from an existing proposal.
Change Status
Changing the status of a proposal essentially means submitting the costing to the next stage or
returning to a previous stage of approval. This is described in more detail on page 15.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 14 / 22
17/08/2011
Change Status (‘Submitting’ the proposal)
Various approvals must be given to a project proposal as it goes through the submission process.
pFACT recognises this by applying a different status to the project at the different stages as described
in the workflow diagram below: -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 15 / 22
17/08/2011
To move a proposal along the workflow path, press the
Summary Screen which will open the “Status History” screen.
To add a new ‘Status’, press the
Status From:
Status To:
Date of Change*:
Target Date*:
Submitted to:
Notes:
button on the Project
button which will open the “Change Status” screen
Current status. Cannot be changed.
Example used: A PI (John Doe) changes the status from “Draft” to “First
Review” for submission to the Departmental Administrator who is undertaking
the first review. Values for this field are determined by the role template
associated with a user.
Automatically completed with today’s date. This should not be changed.
Enter the date by which the next stage of approval is to be completed.
Choose from the drop-down list
This field enables further information to be added to the e-mail.
Once you have completed all the field, press
mail pick-list screen.
and
This will display the e-
You can then add extra people to the list of e-mail recipients by either: 1) Typing their name into the “Name” text field and the e-mail address into the “Email ID” field
before hitting the
button or
2) Selecting a person from the drop-down options in: -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 16 / 22
17/08/2011
a) the “Show Staff List” or
b) the “Show Users List”.
Press
to preview the e-mail to be sent.
Press
to send the e-mail.
The changed status of the project proposal will be visible in the list of your projects.
Additional Fields
In order that the costing AND ASSOCIATED APPLICATION can be approved by the
department/division, the “Additional Fields” section of the pFACT costing must be completed.
This can be done when the costing is moved to “Request HoD/Dean Approval” as, at this status level,
the ‘Additional Fields’ button appears in the right-hand menu.
On clicking this button, the user will be presented with an electronic version of the “Research Approval
Form”. This is split into two sections, “Finance” and “Review and Governance”.
Note: An additional condition (no. 8 on the ‘Research Approval Form’) applies where members of staff from
departments other than the lead department have been selected. See Appendix C for details of procedures in
this case.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 17 / 22
17/08/2011
Research Approval Form
The pFACT version of the “Research Approval Form” is shown below.
In order that the proposal can be submitted elsewhere (either on paper or via an electronic submission
system): i)
ii)
the two tickboxes should be checked and
the status should be changed to “Approved by HoD/Dean”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 18 / 22
17/08/2011
Appendix A – List of pFACT Funders
Funding Source
Funder
Research Councils
AHRC
BBSRC
EPSRC
ESRC
MRC
NERC
STFC
British Academy – (fEC-based income)
British Academy – (non-fEC-based income)
Royal Society
Inflation
Arthritis Research UK
Leverhulme Trust
Wellcome Trust (e-Grants)
UK Industry
EU Government
Bodies
EU Other
Other Overseas
Other Sources
0%
0%
3% (inflation on salaries only)
4%
(0% research staff,
0% students)
Other UK based charities - indexed
Other UK charities - unindexed
Royal Academy of Engineering
UK Central
Government Bodies
0%
4% non-staff
(0.5% non-clinical salaries,
1.5% clinical salaries)
British Heart Foundation
Cancer Research UK
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research
UK Based Charities
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
4%
Wellcome Trust (indexed)
CBRC (NIHR)
Department of Health
Department of Health (no inflation)
Health Technology Assessment
National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)
National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) (no inflation)
NHS Executive
Other UK Government Bodies
TSB (for Je-S submission)
Commercial Sponsors UK
EU FP7 Collaborative
EU CSA (Coordination and Support Activities)
European Research Council (ERC)
EU Government Other
ESA
EU Non-Government Bodies
National Institute of Health (US)
Department of Defense (US)
Other Overseas Sponsors
Other Funding Sources
4%
0%
4%
1%
(to first year of project only)
4%
3%
4%
0%
4%
4%
0%
4%
4%
0%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
3%
4%
4%
4%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 19 / 22
17/08/2011
Income Templates available
Template
Comments
Charities - Direct Costs only
Recovery of direct costs only, indexation
dependent on funder specific inflation rate
fEC recovered is calculated using the funderspecific inflation rate
Recovery of all DI costs & DA staff + 96%
overhead on DI staff
Recovery of direct costs and investigators’ time
+ 7% of these costs (except audit and
subcontracted costs) as contribution to indirect
costs
75% to 100% recovery of direct costs and
investigators’ time + 60% of these costs
(except audit and subcontracted costs) as
contribution to indirect costs
Recovery of direct costs and investigators’ time
+ 20% of these costs (except audit and
subcontracted costs) as contribution to indirect
costs
Recovery of direct costs and PI time, indexed
dependent on funder specific inflation rate +
8% off all direct costs except equipment to
indirect costs
fEC recovered is calculated using the funder
specific inflation rate
Recovery of all appropriate direct costs plus
indirect/estates costs
Recovery of all appropriate direct costs
Commercial/Government Contracts 100% fEC
ESA (European Space Agency)
EU – CSA
EU – FP7 Collaborative Projects
European Research Council – ERC
National Institute of Health
Research Council/Government Grants –
80% fEC
Royal Society - Fellowships
Royal Society (non fEC)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 20 / 22
17/08/2011
Appendix B – Staff Types
Description
Academic
Clinical Fellow
Clinical Researcher
Co Investigator
External Consultant
Fellow
KTP Associate
Principal Investigator
Researcher
Researcher - Co Investigator - Clinical Staff
Researcher - Co Investigator
Student
Support DA
Support DI
Technician DA
Technician DI
Visiting Researcher
Code
AC
CF
CR
CI
XC
FS
KT
PI
RE
CC
RC
ST
SU
SI
TE
TI
VR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 21 / 22
17/08/2011
Appendix C – Faculty-level costing procedures
Lead departments preparing proposals involving more than one department within a faculty at
UCL have a choice to either prepare: a) one costing per faculty
OR
b) individual departmental costings
Different approval procedures apply depending on the choice made: -
One Costing per Faculty
1. The lead department must notify their Research Finance Officer (RFO) in UCL’s Research
Services of a faculty-level pFACT costing by typing “Faculty Costing” in the “Project Name”
before the title. Further relevant information such as the names of the collaborating
departments must be entered in the pFACT ‘Notes’ field.
2. The lead department must coordinate and liaise with the collaborating departments for details
of all their staff and non-staff costs. These costs must be added to the pFACT costing details,
indicating to which department the costs apply.
3. The RFO will liaise with the lead department regarding any queries such as how members of
staff are funded.
4. The lead department’s RFO will be responsible for approving the pFACT costing.
5. The lead department is responsible for obtaining Dean/Head of Department (HoD) approvals
for all departments involved. NB: Authorisation of pFACT by Dean/HoD confirms authorisation
has been received from all appropriate HoDs.
6. The lead department’s RFO will check the costing to ensure it conforms to the sponsor’s
terms and conditions.
Individual Departmental Costings
1. The lead department must notify their Research Finance Officer (RFO) of the pFACT project
id’s of all other collaborating departments’ costings. These id’s should be noted in “Project
Name” before the title to alert the RFO. Further relevant information must be entered in the
pFACT ‘Notes’ field e.g. collaborating institution name, subcontracting party name.
2. Each collaborating department must liaise with its own RFO for approval. The pFACT id of
the lead department’s costing should be noted in “Project Name” before the title to alert the
RFO.
3. The lead RFO will ensure the total costings as a whole conform to the sponsor’s terms and
conditions.
4. The lead RFO will prepare a Joint Proposal spreadsheet containing all the combined costs to
the lead department to assist with completion of the application.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCL pFACT 2.03.b User Guide
Page 22 / 22
17/08/2011