Published on 14 January 2022
US Federal Funding
The Research Office is conducting its annual SAM (System for Award Management) registration renewal process for US Federal funding and in doing so is performing some additional checks to satisfy recent updates to the US regulatory framework.
We expect to have completed the SAM registration later this month in order for researchers to be able to apply for and receive US Federal funding. Further details are available on the Research Office website.
Horizon Europe Grant Awards
We are pleased to announce that the University has been notified of the first tranche of successful applications under the Horizon Europe funding programme. Work is underway between the Research Operations Office, Departments and PIs to prepare the Grant Agreements for the recently awarded projects.
The UK government position remains that their priority is association to Horizon Europe, following the Trade and Cooperation Agreement from last year, and that it is ready to formalise UK association. As such, we are preparing the Grant Agreements in line with this position. However, we are mindful that the on-going delays have led to uncertainty for researchers, businesses, innovators based in the UK and EU co-ordinators. The situation is now pressing due to the up-coming Grant Agreement preparation deadlines.
The UK government has issued additional guidance on their scheme that guarantees funding for successful applicants to the first wave of Horizon Europe grant awards. The guarantee is a short-term measure for those who are unable to sign grant agreements with the EU prior to the formalisation of the UK's association to the programme. In this situation, funding will be delivered through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and further details, guidance and FAQs are available on their website.
Currently, the advice remains to prepare the Grant Agreements with the expectation that full association will be forthcoming, however we are working to ensure processes are in place should the UKRI guarantee be required.
Research Dashboard upgrade - 27th January 2022
The Research Dashboard is a web-based application which gives Researchers an overview of their applications, grants and contracts. When you open the tool you are required to use Raven authentication. This authentication process is going to be upgraded on 27th January to the latest version using Google Cloud Identity. Therefore you may see an additional window pop up about signing in. Please follow the instructions on the UIS website about what you need to do.
The upgrade will also include the latest 2021 pay scales which will be added to the Dashboard and means that the ‘Staff Commitments’ figures may change slightly. If you have any questions about this, please email UISResearchSystemsTeam@admin.cam.ac.uk
Research Grants User Group Meeting
The next RGUG meeting will take place as a live event on Tuesday 8th February 2022 at 11:15am. Details will be circulated nearer the time.
Slides and recording of the previous RGUG meeting in November are available on the RGUG web page. For further information or if you have any questions, please contact Hannah.Pawson@admin.cam.ac.uk.
fEC Rates Delay
Following published guidance from the Office for Students, both the Annual Financial Return and the TRAC Return submissions for 2020-21 have been given an extension until the end of March. Therefore, the University’s fEC rates and the Facilities’ rates will be updated on the X5 tool, following submission of TRAC in March 2022.