Melbourne ResearchResearch Grants and Contracts

Getting and managing the funds

Accessing the funds | Managing the expenditure | Employing staff | Financial reporting and ‘carry forward’ | Contact

Accessing the funds

If your application for external funding is successful, and is not an ARC or NHMRC scheme, you will be prompted to submit a Budget form. This should be completed in consultation with the department’s Agreement Administrator or financial manager, and enables a new project account to be opened in Themis for funding management purposes. The form must be submitted with a copy of the research contract and the new contract checklist.

Once your contract has been executed, and acceptance documentation signed, the budget form will be forwarded by the Research Office to the Department of Financial Operations, and a separate Project Account established if the grant meets GL Project Code Determination criteria. If the grant does not qualify for a new account then invoicing and charging will be made from an existing departmental account. When a Project Account has been opened the CI and Department Manager will be notified via Themis email. For those grants that involve central contributions (eg LIEF grants), the Research Office will also arrange for the approved central contribution to your grant to be paid into the account nominated by your department.

Expenditure on the award can then begin, subject to any conditions set by the sponsor (e.g. some sponsors state that no funds may be expended until ethics approval is obtained for the project).

Managing the expenditure

The first-named CI and their department are responsible for the daily management of the research funds. In most cases, the full amount of the award will be available as a ‘one-line’ budget at the commencement of the project. Some funding bodies, however, require the University to invoice them for progressive payments throughout the award period. These may be linked to specific project milestones, or to certain dates. The CI and department must be aware of all invoicing requirements, and any associated project milestones/reports, and must ensure that they are met in a timely manner. The Departmental administration is responsible for meeting invoicing requirements.

If you have been given a project account you will be able to check your balance at any time by logging into the Self Service module of the Themis Research Management System. If not you will need to contact your Departmental Administrator to check on balance and expenditure.

Employing staff

All personnel funded from your grant must be employed in strict accordance with the University’s Human Resources policies (salary scale and conditions of employment), and within the terms and conditions of the sponsor’s fellowship or scholarship program if applicable.

If you need to commence staff on salaries under a grant contact your Department Client Services Officer for advice on commencing the recruitment process. Recruitment should start when you are advised of your account number. If the position is for more than one year you are required to advertise the position (unless your preferred candidate has been named on the grant). Upon finalisation of the selection process (or request for direct appointments) HR will generate an offer of employment to the successful candidate.

Fellowships are grants awarded to individuals to cover the salary components of their research. Unlike salaries, Fellowships are tied to the name of the individual that was awarded the Fellowship. Consequently there is no need for a selection process but rather individuals can be appointed directly. Your Client Services Officer will coordinate the information to be entered into the system (an electronic copy of the candidates CV will be required). HR will then generate an offer of employment that satisfies the conditions of award for the Fellowship.

Financial reporting and carrying forward funds

The ‘core deliverables’ – the major financial and reporting milestones for your project – are identified and entered into Themis by the Research Office and Financial Operations. Themis will generate an email reminder to the first-named CI and the Agreement Administrator in the department two weeks before a deliverable is due.

Financial Operations is responsible for providing ongoing financial reports and end of project financial acquittal to the funding body. In most cases it is possible to carry-forward unspent project funds from one year to the next. Each funding body has different conditions and processes. For instance, if remaining balance is more than 75% of ARC funding allocated for a calendar year, a letter of justification must be provided. Contact the Research Office for advice on carry forward.

Contact

Client Services Accountant: Financial Operations (daily financial management questions)
Research Office (grant conditions and expenditure rules)
Client Services Officers (recruitment and employment practices)
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