Published on 10 June 2022
Horizon Europe ERC and MSCA Awards
Earlier today (10th June), successful ERC Awardees and MSCA Fellows from the 2021 Horizon Europe calls were contacted by the EC informing them that the process to terminate the EC Grant Agreement Preparation sessions will soon be initiated. As previously communicated, termination of the EC Grant Agreement Preparations for these projects was an expected step as the UK’s current lack of association to the Horizon Europe programme means that we are unable to sign the EC Grant Agreements. Instead, where the awardees have elected not to take their grant to an institution in the EU, these projects will be transferred to UKRI and be funded as part of the UK Government’s underwrite guarantee.
While the termination of the Grant Agreement with the EC was anticipated, the communication from the EC this morning has caused some alarm due to a lack of clarity around the next steps to be taken and the apparent urgency of the request.
The Research Office has been in touch with the ERC Executive Agency (ERCEA) , European Research Executive Agency (REA) and our National Contact Points to clarify the next steps in relation to the termination process. ERC awardees and MSCA Fellows can continue to work on the submission to the UKRI underwrite via JeS, following the instructions previously emailed to them by the Research Office.
This situation impacts only those new awards under the Horizon Europe framework and ongoing H2020 grants are currently not affected and can continue as normal.
UKRI Grants - timesheet requirements
In the previous bulletin, we reminded you that timesheets are required for all part-funded directly incurred (DI) staff and must be signed off and dated within 2 months of the end of the timesheet period.
This week we have written to Departmental Administrators asking them to check the list of staff we believe they have in their Department, that are part-funded DI staff who are charged against UKRI grants. If you are involved in the checking process, please respond by 17th June, either confirming the list or providing details of any amendments. Following this, HR will be able to do a bulk update for the July payroll. Please refrain from moving any staff onto task 89 before the HR bulk upload.
From July onwards, all part-funded DI staff will be charged to a new task on the grants module that will need to be reconciled against timesheet evidence. This will meet our obligations around the UKRI audit findings and the new process can also include other funders such as Wellcome Trust, US federal funders (e.g. NIH) and EC grants.
Further guidance around the timesheet process will be circulated in the next bulletin. In the meantime, if you have any queries please contact your Research Support Manger or Assistant Director at the Research Operations Office.
Research Grants User Group Meeting
A reminder that the next RGUG meeting is scheduled for Thursday 14th July at 11:15am. An agenda will be circulated nearer the time. If you have any queries, please contact Hannah.Pawson@admin.cam.ac.uk.
EC Webinars
There are a number of webinars scheduled to help Horizon 2020 grant holders and applicants to Horizon Europe funding. This includes
- 22 June - H2020 grants. Avoiding errors in declaring personnel costs
- 22 June - ERC 2023 starting grants (Part 1)
- 24 June - ERC 2023 starting grants (Part 2)
- 27 June - ERC 2023 synergy grants (Part 1)
- 29 June - ERC 2023 synergy grants (Part 2)
Further details can be found on the ROO events page.
Cambridge Africa ALBORADA Research Fund 2022
The Cambridge-Africa programme is pleased to announce that the call for proposals to the ALBORADA Research Fund is now open. Applications are invited from pairs of researchers (post-doctoral level and above) from the University of Cambridge or an affiliated institution and sub-Saharan African institutions, across all disciplines, to initiate and/or strengthen research collaborations.
The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund competitively awards grants of between £1,000 and £20,000 for
- conducting research training activities in Africa (e.g. workshops / courses)
- research-related travel between Cambridge and Africa
- research costs (such as reagents, fieldwork and equipment)
For more information on the scheme and the application process visit www.cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/2022-call/. The deadline for submission is 5th September 2022. Please direct any queries to alboradafund@cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk.
Research Office Vacancies
We have a number of job opportunities available at the Research Office, further details can be found on the University Jobs website.