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Research Operations Office

 

Published on 25 October 2013


pFACT Decommissioning

pFACT will no longer be supported after 31st July 2014 and therefore will no longer be available for use after this date.

What do you need to do ?

1)   Please ensure that any reports you need access to are printed and/or saved before 31st July 2014 so that you have access to a local copy where required.

2) If you believe you require access to pFACT after 31st July 2014 , please email X5Project@admin.cam.ac.uk  by the end of December 2013 with a full explanation as to why you require ongoing access. 

Full Economic Costing Briefing Sessions – 29 October 2013

As part of the Research Operations Office Training Strategy (ROOTS) and co-presented by Finance Office, the next briefing sessions on Full Economic Costing and the Income Allocation Policy will take place as follows:

Tuesday 29 Oct 9.30am – 11am at Clinical School

The briefing is relevant to all staff involved in research grants, particularly those new to the University and/or research grants and those seeking to confirm or refresh their understanding of University policy and its impact on research grants. Content includes:

  • What the PI should be aware of at application stage
  • What information might the Head of Department need to know before approving the application
  • What questions the Departmental Administrator may ask before submitting the application
  • How the Income Allocation Policy apportions overhead between the Department and the University (Chest)

To register please e-mail ryan.blackburn@admin.cam.ac.uk including your full name, department, role and a contact number.

Please forward these messages on to colleagues who may be interested in attending.

Allocation of Principal Investigator (PI) time on Research Council grants

In order to incentivise the amount of PI time recovered through RCUK grants the Resource Management Committee agreed (also confirmed with the RPC) that the attribution of the PI time element of residual indirect income (income remaining after direct costs have been met) should change from a 86%:14% Chest:Department share to a revised attribution of 70:30 Chest:Department.

The policy change has been made on condition that one third of the Department share directly benefits the work of the investigator. How that benefit is managed is at the discretion of Heads of Department. In some cases, Heads of Department may wish to allocate the funds directly to the PI, but this is not a requirement. Departments are, however, encouraged to ensure that the benefit to PIs is clear and demonstrable and understood by PIs. A process is being put in place to ensure this policy change is introduced without additional analysis needing to be carried out by Department Administrative staff.

This change applies to all grants awarded in relation to RCUK applications submitted from 1 August 2013 and will run for two years. It will not affect grants applied for earlier than 1 August 2013 and the change only relates to RCUK grants. As before, all direct costs are to be met before the revised attribution is made to the remaining income.

Letters are to be sent to Departments and PIs later this month setting out the change in policy. This information is also available on the PRAO website at http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/cam-only/univ/fec/policy/

 These changes will be a topic of a more detailed discussion at the RGUG meeting on 26th November.  Please contact Stephen.heppenstall@admin.cam.ac.uk or Jennifer.gilmartin@admin.cam.ac.uk if you have any immediate questions.

 

Interdisciplinary Projects within X5

A new overview guide is available on how interdisciplinary projects work within X5. This is relevant to lead departments as well as collaborating departments. The guide is available here, http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/research/documents/local/applying/x5/Interdisciplinary_projects_within_X5_Oct_2013.pdf or via the X5 website’s helpful documents section http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/research/applying/x5/default.aspx

The guide complements the training videos available on this topic including “Adding Collaborating departments” and “How to add External Partners and their costs” http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/research/applying/x5/videos.aspx

Draft Work Programmes for Horizon 2020

In preparation for Horizon 2020, the Commission has released draft Work Programmes for 2014-2015. The latest copies are available on the ROO website http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/research/raven/ec/Work_Programmes.aspx

You will need to use your Raven log in to access these documents as they will only be publicly available once the Work Programmes have been finalised. 

Horizon 2020 Presentations - Thursday 14 November 2013

Katie Price, European Advisor for the UK Research Office (UKRO) Brussels will be visiting Cambridge and giving two presentations on Thursday 14 November 2013 in Mill Lane Lecture Rooms. She will be talking about Horizon 2020 the EUs new programme for investment in research and innovation. The morning session will focus on administrative matters and the afternoon will give details about the Work Programmes and content of the calls.

9:30am – 11:30am Horizon 2020: Structure and administration of the new framework programme

2:00pm – 4:00pm Horizon 2020: Work Programmes and research funding opportunities

The presentations will be of interest to anyone who is already involved in FP7 and intends to apply for Horizon 2020 funding, as well as those that are new to EU funding.

To register, please e-mail Ryan.blackburn@admin.cam.ac.uk indicating which session you will be attending. If you have any other queries, please contact Renata.schaeffer@admin.cam.ac.uk

Horizon 2020 – ‘Health’ Information Event - Tuesday 26 November 2013

Dr Octavio Pernas, FP7 UK National Contact Point for Health will be visiting Cambridge on Thursday 26 November 2013. He will be talking about the “Health, demographic change and wellbeing” challenge in Horizon 2020 – the EUs new programme for investment in research and innovation. The session will cover the Work Programmes and content of the calls as well as a brief overview of administrative matters. The presentation will be of interest to anyone who is already involved in FP7 and intends to apply for Horizon 2020 funding, as well as those that are new to EU funding

To book your place, please e-mail Ryan.blackburn@admin.cam.ac.uk. If you have any other queries, please contact Renata.schaeffer@admin.cam.ac.uk

11:30am – Registration and coffee

12:00pm – 2:00pm (approx) – Horizon 2020 and the Health Challenge

2:00pm (approx) Light lunch

2.00pm - 4.00pm One-to-One Sessions with Dr Octavio Pernas (pre-booking required - see below)

Venue: Alice Fisher Lecture Theatre, Addenbrooke’s Site

There will also be an opportunity to have a one-to-one 15 minute session (individual or small group) with Dr Octavio Pernas to discuss specific issues/projects. Times will be allocated on a first come, first served basis so please indicate your request when registering.