Published on 23 April 2021
Official Development Assistance Budget Cuts
As a result of COVID-19 and its impact on the economy, the UK government has decided to reduce the funds available for Official Development Assistance (ODA).
The Research Office has been notified of cuts to some UKRI funded GCRF and Newton grants where the PI is at Cambridge and we have been supporting Departments in re-costing these awards in order to maximise the outcomes achieved. Where the award is held at another Institution, PIs may be contacted directly and asked to re-profile expenditure. Please work with your Departmental Administration and inform the Research Office Team where these cuts to the budget have been requested. Further details are available on the Research Operations Office website.
EC Funding - Forthcoming Webinars
The UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for Horizon Europe is holding several information webinars for researchers and support staff interested in applying for current calls including,
- MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 Information Webinars - 27th April, 4th May
- ERC 2021 Advanced Grant Information Webinars - 11th & 13th May
There is also an online event about the implications of EU-UK data transfers for the European health care sector on 6th May, organised by the European Health Stakeholder Group. Details of all these events, as well as tentative dates for 2021 – 2022 calls are available on the EC Latest News page on the Research Operations Office website.
RGUG - Thursday 13th May at 11:15am
The next Research Grants User Group (RGUG) meeting will take place as a live event on Thursday 13th May 2021 at 11:15am. Details and joining information will be circulated in the next bulletin.
New Funder and New Collaborator Forms for X5
When costing a research project using a funder or collaborator that is not listed on X5, you will need to complete a New Funder Form or New Collaborator Form. These forms have recently been updated to clarify information required for each field, update risk evaluation, and streamline Research Office processes. Please delete any previous versions you may have stored locally and use the new forms instead. If you have any questions about the changes, you can contact your Pre-award team at the Research Office.
Once new funder or collaborator forms are received at the Research Office, we aim to respond to requests and complete due diligence checks within 5 working days. However, if risks are identified that require escalation, approval may be needed by the University's Committee on Benefactions and External Legal Affairs which usually meets on a monthly basis. For researchers who wish to work with organisations overseas additional checks maybe required. More information about due diligence processes can be found on the Research Office website.
Activating an Award on CUFS
When the Research Office activates an award on CUFS, we would like to remind Departments to check that the award has been set up as expected. If there are any discrepancies, please contact your Research Support Advisor as soon as possible so that we can prevent errors or misunderstandings relating to the budget headings that could expose the Department to financial risk.