To prepare a costing, you'll need to work with the project's Principal Investigator. You'll need to check:
Staff costs
Make sure that time for all Investigators (Principal and Co Investigators) has been included within the FEC, and calculated in line with Cambridge's Research Investigator Time Policy and School Policy.
- Investigator time is a driver for Estates and Indirect Costs, as such the FEC of a project should include the cost of all PI / CoI time, irrespective of whether the funder will contribute to these costs, the funding source (with exception of fellowships), and the employment type (e.g. the time of honorary staff may be costed, even though their salary may not).
- costing should be in line with Cambridge's Research Investigator Time Policy.
Check if Investigator time can be recovered
Whilst Worktribe will support the automation of pricing to funders, it is important to be familiar with the funder's requirements.
- check the funder guidelines to establish whether the scheme will fund investigator salary costs either as a Directly Allocated Costs (typically UKRI, Other UK Government Departments, Commerical) or Directly Incurred (EC, some charities, some overseas government organisations)
- check the funder guidelines to establish whether the scheme will contribute to the associated investigator overheads (Estates & Indirect Costs), particularly if the approach is atypical for the funder e.g. if a UKRI scheme does not fund these costs this would be an exception to their standard pricing (and the default funder costing template)
Support staff
- check the funder guidelines to establish whether the scheme will fund shared support staff costs, where these costs are excluded from the Institutional FEC rates e.g. Pool Technicians
- check the nature of the work to be undertaken by the member of staff to establish whether this could meet the definition of research, and therefore could be included within the Project FTE (i.e. attract Estates and Indirect Costs). If in doubt seek advice from ROO
Hosting overseas researchers
Due to salary imbalances, it may not be appropriate to expect researchers from low and middle income countries to cover the cost of visiting. You might need to budget for their accommodation, travel and food.
Equipment costs
If a PI is requesting new equipment, you’ll need to:
- ask if they've checked the Cambridge Equipment Sharing database and the National Equipment Portal. The equipment may already be available
- read the University's procurement guidelines
- get estimates for the equipment, making sure you consider associated costs like installation and maintenance. Some funders may need you to provide quotes
- make sure that the funder will cover the full cost of the equipment. If they’ll only partly cover the cost, you’ll need to check whether your Department can meet the shortfall, and follow any internal processes
Other directly incurred costs
As well as staff and equipment, you need to calculate other directly incurred costs. Directly incurred costs are specific to the project and wouldn't exist if the project didn’t go ahead. You’ll need to be able to justify these costs to the funder, and they’ll need to be charged directly to the project.
Examples include:
- facilities
- consumables
- data storage
- travel and subsistance
- publishing
- sub-contracting
- generating impact
Some funders will restrict how their money is spent. It’s important to read the funder’s guidance to make sure that everything that's been requested is eligible for funding. If you’re unsure whether certain costs can be included, get advice from ROO.
Project affordability
- funders which award on the basis of FEC, may only meet a proportion of the total costs (e.g. UKRI), therefore it is important to ensure that all participating academic departments can (in consideration of the Income Allocation Policy, Anticipated FEC overheads and any additional funding for equipment) afford to support the project (with particular consideration for any direct cost under-recovery)
- funders which award overheads as a fixed % rate (e.g. as % of staff or all costs), will normally fund all eligible directly incurred costs fully. Some of these funders (e.g. EC, NIH) permit PI and CoI staff to be costed as directly incurred, and therefore a proportion of the costs can be recovered in addition to the % overhead. If unfamiliar with the scheme, contact ROO for advice
- where price (and therefore overhead recovery) is negotiable (e.g. Industry funded), reference should be made to the Industry Pricing Policy to ensure pricing is aligned
Institutional commitments
Some projects will need additional funding or resources from Cambridge. This is called institutional commitment. Examples could include:
- matched funding for equipment
- University funded studentships
If a project has institutional commitments you'll need to:
- add any supporting documentation to the Worktribe project record
- ask the PI to include these in the Worktribe risk assessment
VAT
You'll need to make sure that the correct VAT has been calculated. Read our Grants and VAT Guidance.
Accessing Cambridge research facilities
If the PI needs access to Cambridge research facilities, you'll need to:
- select the facility's published rate held in Worktribe, selecting the appropriate rate (e.g. FEC, Charity or Commercial).
- if the facility is not listed, seek advice from ROO
External collaborating partner costs
If there are External collaborating partner costs, you'll need to:
- add the partner to the Worktribe record, using the partner tab (if the Partner is not listed follow the process for working with a new organisation or individual)
- request the costs from all partners, ensuring these meet the funder costing requirements, and have been approved by the appropriate Partner authority (e.g. if UK HEI their Research Office equivalent)
- add partner costs to the Worktribe project
- upload copies of costs and all relevant approvals to the Worktribe record
Currency
Worktribe is configured to support budgeting in GBP, EURO and USD. If the funding is going be in a different currency then you need to contact the Research Operations Office as soon as possible.
Exchange rates are set by Finance and maintained within Worktribe.
Infrastructure
If a PI has infrastructure needs, you’ll need to:
- follow any relevant internal processes
- ask the PI to give details in the Worktribe risk assessment, including: what infrastructure they need, how much it’s going to cost and how it’s going to be funded. They can also upload supporting documents