Published on 19 May 2023
US Federal Agency contracts - information required
Does your Department or Institution have a contract with any US Federal Agencies where the Research Operations Office (ROO) has not been part of the contractual process? If so, you need to tell us about those contracts.
ROO is undertaking a due diligence exercise in connection with its registration to the US government’s system for award management (SAM). As part of that exercise, we need to identify any type of active contract with a US Federal Agency that isn't being handled by ROO.
If your Department or Institution has entered into a contract with a US Federal Agency:
- for US financial assistance (e.g. grant funding)
- to provide goods or services to that agency; and/or
- which doesn't fall into any of the above
please email CROCompliance@admin.cam.ac.uk by Monday 5th June 2023 with a brief overview of the contract. If you are unsure whether your contract falls under this remit or you have any other questions, please email us and we can provide further guidance.
RGUG Meeting 11th May 2023 - recording and presentations now available
Thank you to those who were able to attend the Research Grants User Group Meeting (RGUG) on 11th May 2023. The recording and slides are now available. The next meeting is schedule for 20th July at 11:15am, details to follow.
In response to questions about having more information about the salary files when they are updated in X5, a new rates files in X5 webpage has been created to include these details. If you have any comments or further suggestions, please email hannah.pawson@admin.cam.ac.uk with your feedback.
UKRI and Wellcome Trust – new funding platforms
UKRI and Wellcome are each introducing new online systems for applying and managing their funding as follows -
|
Funder |
Old System |
New System |
Schedule |
Accounts migrated? |
|
UKRI |
Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) |
The Funding Service (TFS) |
Both systems running in parallel until January 2024 |
Je-S accounts will not be migrated to TFS. You need to register a new account. |
|
Wellcome |
Wellcome Grant Tracker |
Wellcome Funding Platform |
Both systems running in parallel until October 2023 |
CV information from Grant Tracker accounts will be migrated once you have set up a new account on the funding platform. Active grants will be migrated later in the year. |
For UKRI, different Research Councils are releasing different opportunities on TFS so you will need to check if applications are on Je-S or TFS. Further details are available from UKRI’s website and you can also sign up to their newsletter.
There is a recording from the RGUG meeting on 11th May with information about timescales and screenshots for both UKRI and Wellcome systems.
Pausing of the EPSRC Repeatedly Unsuccessful Applicant (RUA) Policy
In 2010, EPSRC introduced the Repeatedly Unsuccessful Applicant (RUA) policy. With the transition to the new UKRI Funding Service and the aspiration to create a more consistent policy landscape across UKRI, EPSRC has taken the decision to pause the RUA policy for a period of 12 months from 16th May 2023.
This means that current applicants under the Warned or Constrained statuses will have this status removed and will be allowed to apply without the restrictions laid out in the RUA policy. No further applicants will be placed in the Warned or Constrained statuses during the pause to the policy.
EPSRC will continue to monitor submission numbers and behaviours over this time and will make a final decision on the future of the policy in May 2024. Please note that the Resubmissions Policy will continue.
If you have any queries, please contact the EPSRC Business Improvement Team epsrcpeerreviewpolicy@epsrc.ukri.org.
EU Council Action against certain Hungarian entities
On 15 December 2022, EU Council adopted an implementing decision prohibiting certain Hungarian institutions (any public interest trusts established on the basis of the Hungarian Act IX of 2021) from entering into legal commitments regarding the EU budget. This means that
- From 16th December, Hungarian Institutions listed cannot sign grant agreements including programmes such as Horizon Europe. Instead of being a beneficiary and receiving EU funding, they must now become an Associated Partner and funding be sourced from the Hungarian Government.
- Where the Grant Agreement with the EC is signed after 16th of December 2022, indirect funding of the Hungarian entities is also prohibited. For example, through the purchase of goods, works or services, subcontracting and financial support to third parties.
- Where Grant Agreements are signed before 16th December 2022, the listed Hungarian entities can continue to participate as beneficiaries. Legal commitments concluded before 16th December 2022 and any subsequent payments are not affected. However, within these projects, new legal commitments (new subcontracting arrangements, new legal agreements to provide contributions against payment as a third party, newly adding them as a beneficiary) cannot be engaged. Only the original agreement prior to 16th December 2022 can continue.
- Hungarian entities are allowed to apply for EU Funding (Horizon Europe). For successfully evaluated proposals, (assuming that these measures are not lifted at the time of the grant agreement signature), the Hungarian entities could still participate as Associated Partner i.e. without EU funding and instead the funding would flow from the Hungarian Government).
For further details, please refer to UKRO’s webpage on Clarifications on the Participation of Hungarian Universities in Horizon Europe Projects. In addition, we advise you to get in touch with your Project Officer for confirmation and further guidance for any queries you may have on your project.