Grant acceptance process
Although grant offers will refer to a Chief Investigator (CI) and a specific project, research funds are legally awarded to the University of Melbourne and grants can only be formally accepted by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) or delegate on behalf of the University.Outcome notification and negotiation
The sponsor (funding body) will inform the Research Office of the outcome of an application. If the sponsor communicates directly with the CI please forward any correspondence to us immediately. We do our best to contact CIs as soon as possible, but in a small number of cases the sponsor may release award details publicly (by news release) ahead of contacting the Research Office. Upon receipt of the Funding Agreement, the Research Office will check that any terms and conditions are acceptable to the University and negotiate with sponsors if required.ARC Linkage Projects acceptance
- Successful ARC (round 1) 2010 Linkage Project outcomes
- Successful ARC Linkage Project obligations
- Linkage agreement checklist
ARC Conditions of Award state that a formal research contract (Linkage Agreement) with Partner and Collaborating organisations will need to be negotiated before project funds are released or work can commence.
Grant acceptance pack
The Research Office will advise the first-named CI of the offer and conditions of award by forwarding a grant specific acceptance pack. The pack consists of:- Instructions on how to accept the grant
- A grant (or fellowship) acceptance form that is to be returned to the Research Office to confirm that the first-named CI (or the Fellow) and their Head of department wish to accept
- Copy of the conditions of award setting out all obligations under the grant
- Copy of the letter of award if provided to the Research Office
- Where relevant, a request to return a Budget Form. See Budget preparation section
- Multi-institutional agreements also need to be completed for all NHMRC and ARC projects where two or more higher education institutions are involved
Funding agreements
Signing the research grant acceptance form obliges CI(s) to comply with the conditions of award, including all financial and reporting provisions, and to conduct the research program diligently. The Head of Department (or Dean, in cases where the CI is Head) must also sign as supervisor and agree to accept the grant into the department and provide the infrastructure necessary to support the project. In considering whether to accept, researchers should consider:- Are the conditions acceptable?
- Are the researchers still in a position to undertake the project?
- Can you accept the responsibilities that come with being a CI on a research grant?
- Is the amount awarded sufficient (noting that in many cases the sponsor will award less funding than originally requested)? If you are awarded less, will you need to re-scope the project, and should you discuss this with the sponsor?