Published on 25 April 2025
Worktribe post-award launch postponed
The launch of the Worktribe post-award module, originally scheduled for July 2025, has been postponed. This decision follows the Transforming Research Support (TRS) programme board meeting on 23rd April.
Early meetings with users in Schools and institutions, as well as Research Office staff, have highlighted outstanding questions (for example, around the future use of current systems like Research Grants Expenditure Application and Research Dashboard). In addition, essential technical work is needed to integrate Worktribe with our finance system, CUFS.
The TRS team in the Research Office remains committed to launching the post-award module as soon as possible, which will include careful consideration of user confidence and readiness.
Research Grants User Group meeting – Thursday 8th May 2025
The next Research Grants User Group (RGUG) is scheduled for Thursday 8th May at 11:15am as a Teams meeting.
| Thursday 8th May 2025 | 11:15am - 12:15pm | Teams meeting link |
The agenda will include presentations on Worktribe, closing grants project and audits. This is an open meeting for any staff with an interest in grants administration. If you have any queries, contact Hannah.Pawson@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Timesheet Training - Key Funder Considerations
As part of their terms and conditions, many of our research funders require evidence of an individual’s time worked on an award. This online training session will explain the process of completing, authorising and retaining timesheets to meet funder requirements.
The following dates are now available –
| Tuesday 27th May | 10am - 11:30am | Book your place |
| Thursday 12th June | 10am - 11:30am | Book your place |
Please note that these sessions are a repeat of the training held on 10th April.
Research Grants Administration Programme - May 2025
The Research Office invites Expressions of Interest for the Research Grants Administration Programme from all departmental professional support staff at the University who play an active role in the research grants lifecycle, whether that be applying for funding, managing awards or working with contracts.
The training programme will take place over 5 half days between May and July 2025 and offers a range of benefits to participants including greater understanding of costing and budgeting, funder requirements and an extended network of contacts.
To allow for the Easter vacation, we have extended the deadline by an additional week which means that applications can now be submitted until Friday 2nd May 2025. Further details and the Expression of Interest form are available on the Research Grants Administration Programme Sharepoint site.
If you have any queries, please contact Lisa.Christie@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Getting VAT Right for Research Grants
A new self-taught course is now available which provides an overview of the basic principles of VAT and research grants. Content includes-
- Why VAT matters when costing grants
- Determining VAT status of your grant
- Guidance and tools
This course is aimed at anyone involved with costing or managing research grants and those responsible for ensuring grant compliance. Further details are available from the University Training Booking System.
University signs sustainable research agreement
The University has become a signatory to the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice. By signing the concordat, the University pledges to embed environmental sustainability in its research and innovation practices. The Sustainable Research Working Group (SRWG), chaired by Professor Judy Hirst, Director of the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, is providing strategic direction and is a sub-committee of the Research Policy Committee (RPC).
The SRWG is developing plans to engage directly with Schools to support them in understanding more about the environmental impact of research and enhancing sustainability in their research practices. Further details will be available later this year.