COST ITEMS for RESEARCH PROJECTS
This document is intended as an aid to staff in the process of preparing applications for
research funds, through providing suggestions on items which may be a cost to their project
and which may be considered as eligible costs by the intended funder. It is clearly important
to identify all costs to the project so that a realistic picture of the full project cost is obtained
and so that all eligible costs can be recovered from the funder.
Many of the items listed will be considered an eligible cost by a number of the commonlyused funders; however, some items may be eligible costs for perhaps only a single funder.
Staff are advised to seek guidance on what is and is not an eligible cost from the funder’s
own information documents (for example, a Research Council’s ‘Funding Guide’ or ‘Grants
Guide’) and, if further clarification is required, the Pre-awards team in Research and
Commercial Division (RACD) will be able to help.
Where items of project cost are not considered eligible by the funder, then the
School/University will have to bear those costs. It may be worth pointing out in your
application the amount of the total project cost that is to be borne by the School/University in
order to demonstrate the commitment to the Project and the value-for-money to the funder.
Full Economic Cost
According to the Full Economic Cost (FEC) methodology, cost items fall into one of a small
number of categories. Items in the list below have been identified as falling into a particular
category in order to indicate (i) where they are likely to appear in the University’s Costing
and Pricing (CAP) form, and (ii) where they should appear in the funder’s application form
(where the funder uses FEC).
-
Directly Incurred (DI) costs. These are costs that are explicitly identifiable as
arising from the conduct of a project, are charged as the cash value actually spent and
are supported by an auditable record, e.g. salaries of research staff working wholly on
the project.
-
Directly Allocated (DA) These are the costs of specific resources used by a project
that are shared with other activities, including resources identified as “facilities”.
They are charged to projects on the basis of estimates rather than actual costs and do
not represent actual costs on a project-by-project basis (eg. cost associated with
investigator time spent on the project). DA costs also include an “Estates cost” which
represents estate-related resources which will be used by the project (figures will be
provided by RACD).
-
There are also Indirect costs – figures for these will be provided by RACD.
These are the costs of general resources used by a project that are shared with other
activities. They are charged to projects on the basis of estimates and do not represent
actual costs on a project-by-project basis. They include: the costs of administration
(such as HR, Finance, RACDV and INSRV), and some departmental services (such as
secretarial and financial support to investigators); and the
Research Councils pay 80% of the FEC, however:
December 2012
1
-
Exceptions (E) are costs where RCs will provide the full amount. The number of
exceptions is small: some RCs will pay (full) studentship costs as part of researchproject costs; in certain, limited circumstances, equipment costs may be provided in full
(see section 3); gene sequencing – as some examples.
Useful additional information on Full Economic Costing and Cardiff University’s approach
to this can be found at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/racdv/preaward/fec/index.html
Research Council Funding/Grants Guides can be found at
AHRC BBSRC EPSRC ESRC NERC MRC STFC -
http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Research-Funding-Guide.pdf
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/apply/grants_guide.html
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/apprev/fundingguide/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/guidance/applicants/research-funding-guide.aspx
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/researchgrants/
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Fundingopportunities/Applicanthandbook/index.htm
http://www.stfc.ac.uk/rgh/
This document is unlikely to provide an exhaustive list of costs. If you are aware of
something that is not mentioned here that should be, please inform Lee Bartlett
(bartlettlm@cardiff.ac.uk).
December 2012
2
Cost Items
Items that might be an element of a research project and could be an eligible cost in
applying for funding for that project.
1. Staff (and students)
(a) Investigators (DA)
Principal Investigator (value of time contribution to project)
Co-Investigator(s) (value of time contribution to project)
(b) Recruited (Salary costs - DI)
Research Assistant/Associate
Techniciana
Administrative supporta
Computing supporta
Project managerb
(c) from School pool of staff or central administration (DA)
Technician
Administrative supportc
Computing supportc
Legal supportd
(d) Students (E)
Ph.D. student stipend and fees
(Research Councils have differing rules on studentships associated with
research-project grants. As of December 2012, AHRC, ESRC, NERC and
STFC allow these on grants from at least some of their funding schemes;
however, see specific guidance for details.)
(e) Visitors (DI)
Visiting Researchers’ salary (for extended visits, where home institution is not
paying for duration of visit, or uplift to salary over home institution rate to
provide equity with equivalent staff at the University.
(f) Fellowships (DI)
Applicant’s salary costs (scheme-specific)
(Contribution to) reasonable replacement (teaching) costs
Notes (Please seek advice from RACD on these matters)
a – only likely where the activity is a non-typical project and the volume of work for
this type of staff is significant and beyond the scope of school staff support.
b – only likely where the activity is a non-typical project, of substantial scale and
involving partners from a number of institutions.
c – only likely where volume of work for these staff is notably greater than would
normally be provided by pooled school staff whose contribution is normally
covered by a portion of Indirect Costs (eg. a project involving a regular posting
and receipt of large numbers of questionnaires).
d – only likely in exceptional circumstances of atypical volumes of legal support (eg.
clinical studies or large, multi-party EU projects).
December 2012
3
2. Travel and Subsistence (DI)
Standard-class travel for project staff and students, within UK or overseas where
directly necessary for the project (eg. to visit collaborators, to carry our field work,
workshops).
Accommodation and subsistence related to the travel above.
Conference attendance – T&S and conference costs, where attendance is of direct
benefit to the project.
(Above-normal child-care costs related to attendance at conferences or workshops –
STFC only?)
T&S for visitors (collaborators, advisors) necessary to the project or for visiting
researchers (funding-scheme dependent).
NB – University rates should be used when applying for subsistence costs.
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/fince/servicesstaff/accountspayable/staffexpenses/index.html
3. Equipment (DI)
Equipment required to carry out the project
NB. When seeking funding from any of the Research Councils (RC), certain
conditions apply. Specific guidance on equipment costs might be met can be found at
the individual Research Council’s web site or at
www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/publications/Equipment_Guidance.pdf
(i)
Equipment valued at <£10,000 inclusive of VAT that is necessary for the
project should be included in the Consumables section of the JeS form. Costs of
such items will be met at the 80% level by RCs.
Eg. laboratory or workshop equipment, major-equipment spares, installation
costs, refurbishment costs related to new equipment, computers.
(ii)
Equipment valued between £10,000 inclusive of VAT and the OJEU
threshold value (at the time of writing, £113,057 net of VAT and £135,668
inclusive of VAT, but check current figures) will require additional justification
and information, and costs are likely to be met by the RC only at the 50% level.
(iii) Equipment valued at more than the OJEU threshold value requires an
additional two-page business case. Such equipment might be funded at 100%
and the business case may be subject to additional review, over and above that
of the project case for support.
(iv) Equipment needed for development of new instrumentation may be funded at
100% FEC. (Refer to specific RC guidance.)
Note
Quotations may need to be supplied with the application – see funder regulations.
Contact Purchasing for assistance: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/purch/index.html
December 2012
4
4. Consumables (DI)
(These items must be exclusively for use in the proposed project, not shared with
other projects.)
Examples might include:
Laboratory supplies
Specialist software
Equipment valued at <£10,000 (eg. computer)
Note 1 – RCs take the position that Investigators (academic staff) should be provided
with standard PCs by the University and (at least some) appear to be moving towards
the position that PCs for recruited research staff should be provided out of Indirect
costs. As long as they are properly justified for the project, higher-specification
computers are generally acceptable to RCs.
Note 2 – a certain level of usage of stationery, printer supplies, photocopying, postage
and telephone is assumed for each Research Council- or government-funded project
and an element of Indirect costs is intended to cover these. Where a project is of an
unusual nature and involves above-normal elements of any of the above list (eg. a
questionnaire-based study requiring significant paper and postage), the funder may
fund this, subject to suitable justification.
For assistance with purchase of consumables see
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/purch/index.html and links from that page.
5. Other Costs (DI unless specified)
Access charges for external equipment or facilities: eg. computing (although contact
ARCCA first to discuss your needs), synchrotron sources, ships …).
Audit costs (where audit is required by the funder).
Animals - purchase or maintenance (where not covered by previous item).
Consultancy/subcontract fees (where outsourcing of elements of the project is
necessary). (Please contact RACD at an early stage as recent HMRC regulations can
make this type of activity complex to cost. Also note that if you wish another university
to do some work which you consider to be ‘services’, rather than research, and
which, therefore would involve a sub-contract, rather than staff from that university
being co-investigators, it is probably worth checking with the funder concerning the
specific circumstances: there have been occasions of applications being returned to
the University because a Research Council felt that the other university’s involvement
should have had its staff as co-investigators and a sub-contract was not appropriate.)
Costs related to ethical clearance of researchers (eg CRB checks).
December 2012
5
Equipment-related costs (eg. maintenance contracts) where the equipment is used
exclusively for the project.
Cost of running events (eg. catering, room hire, IT/equipment provision).
Expenses for research subjects (eg members of public involved in a study).
Facilities (internal) usage costse (eg, University-designated facilities such as
ARCCA, animal houses, etc. or School equipment/facilities). (DA)
Fees for use of copyrighted material (eg. text, images) required for project.
Insurance costs (if cover is necessary and beyond the normal scope of
University cover).
“Pathways to Impact” - resources needed for ‘knowledge exchange’ or ‘impact’
activities (eg. workshop costs, publicity materials, interaction with potential users).
Publication costs (although note - Research Councils no longer pay these costs
within grants; a block grant is to be paid to universities following 1st April 2013 and
publication costs for work carried out using Research Council funding should draw
upon this fund).
Specialist publications (not expected to be in institution libraries) of direct benefit to
the project.
Public engagement costs (including communications training), where dissemination
is a key output and specific to the project.
Recruitment and advertising costs for staff listed in section 1(b)f.
Relocation costs for staff listed in section 1(b)f, g .
Rental charges for items required for the project.
Survey/poll costs (eg. web questionnaire set-up, paper questionnaire
production and distribution).
Translation or transcription services.
Specialist Training costs if required for by staff or students for the project.
Generic/developmental training costs will be provided by only a limited number of
funders as part of a research-project grant: eg. RCs will not pay such costs, while
Wellcome Trust will on certain schemes. Public communication training is an
exception in that RCs will accept such costs on project and fellowship applications;
however, it is probably best to have some justification for this training, such as public
communication being one of the Pathways to Impact.
Fellowships’ funding presents a slightly different picture: some of the RCs (and on
some schemes) will consider generic/developmental training as an eligible cost. See
specific scheme information for details.
December 2012
6
Purchase/hire of vehicles.
Information Services
Costs for standard, ongoing services are generally included in Indirect Costs. Significant new or
additional requirements beyond the standard INSRV provision may be eligible.
Significant new/additional, centrally-provided IT and data services. (DA)
Significant new/additional Library Services including physical and electronic
Information (DI) or specialist-staff time (DA).
Significant new/additional centrally-provided Media Services. (DA)
Telephone socket installation and IT/AV projection.
Please first discuss your needs with your School IT support staff or library representative, and then with INSRV, at
an early stage and before the formulation of detailed proposals.
Further information at www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/forresearchers/contactus
Research Computing: ARCCA Costs (DA)
Please discuss your requirements with ARCCA at an early stage and before the formulation of detailed proposals
(arcca@cf.ac.uk) . For further information please visit: www.cardiff.ac.uk/arcca/services/bids/
Processor time on a range of HPC machines.
Data storage/backup.
Code development & support, training courses etc.
(Changes
to the ARCCA charging mechanism are anticipated for late 2012 / early
2013. Please refer to ARCCA staff / guidance for details. Following the change, costs
are likely to include Subscription Charges.
Note
e - Facilities will have charge-out rates: contact Facility manager for details.
f - HR recruitment: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/humrs/recruit/index.html
g - eligible to a limited number of funders; not for Research Councils.
December 2012
7