Costing Research Projects- Basic Guide

Contents

INTRODUCTION

COMPLETING A COSTING BUDGET

Staff Cost

Estimating Principal Investigator (PI)/Co-investigator (CoI) time

Consultant Clinical Academics

Research Assistants/Post-Doc Researchers

Visiting researchers

Student costs

Staff that attract Estates and Indirect Costs

Staff that do not attract Estates and Indirect Costs

Equipment Costs

Student Fees

Consumables

Travel and Subsistence

Biological Services

Management Costs for Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPs)

UCL Major Research Facility or Small Research Facility

Other Costs (Directly Incurred)

Other Costs (Directly allocated)

Estates costs

Indirect Costs

Exceptions

VAT on projects

1. Output (Sales) VAT

2. Input (Purchase) VAT

Computing Resources

Indexation

NHS Trust Facilities and Services

UCL Research Ethics

Justification of Resources

Cross Department Research Grants Costing

Research Grant and Contract Applications where UCL is NOT the Lead Party

Annex 1

Annex 2

1

INTRODUCTION

This documentis intended to offer basic guidance in costing research proposals. For more detailed advice on any aspect of costing, please contact the appropriate Research Finance Officer (RFO) in the Research Finance Unit (RFU).

Sufficient time needs to be allowed for departmental review of grant applications. Individual departments have their own internal procedures and timeframes. It is therefore essential that academic staff planning to submit a grant application contact their Departmental Administrator, Finance Officer, Research Co-ordinator or Head of Department well before they undertake the application process.

Ensure you allow sufficient time for the submission process via Research Services. You should allow at least 10 working days before the sponsors’ deadlines.

Allresearch applications must be costed according to the principals of Full Economic Costing (fEC) using the UCL costing tool pFACT regardless of whether the sponsor meets all the costs associated with fEC. A detailed pFACT user guide can be found at: -

A brief Glossary of fEC Terms is shown at Annex1.

Guidance describing the UCL procedures for various grants/contract applications can be found at: -

A more detailed description of how to submit your pFACT project costing for approval is also provided under Annex 2.

COMPLETING A COSTING BUDGET

It is important to read your sponsor’s guidelines carefully to see what staff and costs are eligible for inclusion in the grant application. When completing a costing you need to consider everything you might need to undertake and deliver your research project. All projects must be costed using UCL’s costing tool pFACTand approved by the Research Finance Unit.

The following items should be considered when costing a research proposal:

  • Staff Cost
  • Equipment Cost
  • Non-Staff Cost
  • VAT on Projects
  • NHS Trust Facilities and Services
  • (Estates and Indirect Costs are automatically calculated by pFACT)

Staff Cost

The total cost of employing a member of staff on a research project should include the following elements: basic salary, London Allowance, Employer’s National Insurance and superannuation contribution, as well as yearly salary incremental progression. In addition provision for future pay increases (where appropriate) and any anticipated future promotion should be costed.

Where discretionary points or promotion is anticipated during the lifetime of the project liaise with your RFO contact for guidance on how to enter the additional information on pFACT.

Ensure you include the costs of all staff working on your project, for example:

  • Existing academic staff (including your time, and your co-applicants’)
  • Research assistants or other research staff
  • Administrative/secretarial support (add administrators to large projects)
  • Technical support
  • Project Studentships
  • Consultants
  • Replacement teaching costs
  • Casual staff
  • Support staff

Estimating Principal Investigator (PI)/Co-investigator (CoI) time

Investigators should include the estimates of time they will spend working directly on the project. More detailed guidance and advice on how to estimate PI time can be found at: -

You will need to take into consideration the fact that although a low estimate will make the costing cheaper it could indicate a lack of commitment to the proposal. Feedback from sponsors indicates that they do not consider artificially low-cost proposals to be either more cost effective or attractive for funding.

UCL has implemented a system of banding for Directly Allocated professorial salaries (currently two for non-clinical and one for clinical) rather than actual salaries. (Note: if your salary will be paid for directly from the grant, the costs must be based on the actual salary and presented as a Directly Incurred cost). Please refer to your RFO contact for guidance.

Principal Investigators, Co-Investigators and Fellows whose time and salaries are100% funded from other fEC research or fEC fellowship grants provided by the Research Councils should still indicate the number of hours on the new proposal, but with zero salary/estate/indirect cost charged to the grant.

Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators whose time is not fully funded on other Research Council grants, but who are not paid a salary by UCL (e.g. Emeritus or honorary staff) should indicate the number of hours attributed to the proposal, but with a zero salary plus estate and indirect cost request.

Consultant Clinical Academics

When costing a new consultant clinical academic please contact the relevant Divisional Manager to ascertain the individual's starting spine point and future progression points.

Contact details for Managers may be found on the relevant Division webpage.

Research Assistants/Post-Doc Researchers

It is important to contact HR to seek advice on the most appropriate grades for staff to be employed on Research grants and contracts. The RFU can provide advice on costing and funders’ rules only. Refer to HR website for grades: -

Visiting researchers

Support may be requested to provide funding for senior scientists from the UK or overseas who are of acknowledged standing to visit and work at UCL. Support may be requested for specified individual visitors and general support for unspecified (usually short-term) visitors. The support requestedshould be justified in the Case for Support. The funding can cover the costs of hosting visiting researchers, including travel, subsistence and associated estates and indirect costs.

Student costs

When costing a project student (typically a PhD student) you need to consider both the stipend costs and the tuition fees.The stipend costs are entered under staff costs. The appropriate tuition fees should be included under ‘Non-Staff Cost’ as Student Fees

.Check if the student is overseas or UK and use appropriate tuition fees rate. UCL’s schedule of tuition fees can be obtained from the UCL Registry site.

Some sponsors have set a fixed contribution towards these costs. Some Research Councils e.g. BBSRC and MRC do not fund students on all grants. Always check Terms and Conditions for eligibility and costs. For more information on Research Studentship see the Research Services website.

Staff that attract Estates and Indirect Costs

  • Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator
  • Researchers (i.e. Research Assistants (Grade 6B) /Fellows/Associates, Research Nurses, Clinical Fellows, Support Staff satisfying the definition of “researcher” etc.)
    Emeritus professors
  • Visiting staff from industry
  • Honorary Staff
  • Visiting Academics

Also see Definition of a researcher.

Staff that do not attract Estates and Indirect Costs

  • Technical Services Staff undertaking support
  • Administrative Support Staff (Professional Services/Clerical Grades)

Equipment Costs

Funds for equipment[1] may be sought as a directly incurredcost, provided that it is essential to the effective conduct of the research and is not already at UCL. Equipment costs may cover the purchase of equipment outright or in part, sharing across a number of projects where appropriate. Full justification for equipment must be given.

Examples of equipment costs include:

  • the costs of purchasing/hiring/relocating all necessary equipment
  • equipment fully dedicated to the research project e.g. computers and laboratory/workshop equipment
  • major equipment spares
  • project dedicated software
  • equipment installation charges e.g. delivery, calibration, essential premises modifications e.g. provision of clean rooms, extensions to air conditioning.

Where VAT is chargeable, all new equipment required for the project should be costed inclusive of VAT at the appropriate rate. (For further information on VAT see UCL’s VAT Guidelines)

Check the sponsor’s definition of Equipment and also any special requirements.

You should seek the advice of your Departmental Administrator/Finance Officer when completing this part of your proposal. In all instances contact the Procurement Office.

In the case of purchases costing more than £50k discuss with the Head of Procurement ext. 41918 and consult the Procurement Web site for UCL and EU rules.

Student Fees

Student fees should be recorded under this heading. UCL has standard rates for student fees available from theUCL Registry site. However certain sponsors will have a limit to what they will pay – always refer to sponsors Terms and Conditions.

Consumables

Costs to consider may include;

  • Laboratory supplies
  • Computer sundries and small equipment
  • Test costs
  • Licences
  • Fees, including patient fees if applicable for clinical research
  • Project specific stationery, copying, postage, telephone, fax (only if directly supporting research, for example questionnaire based study).[2]
  • Project specific specialist journals
  • Project specific courier costs

It is essential that such costs are clearly described and justified in the justification for resources.

A list of products and suppliers can be found on Procurement Website.

Where VAT is chargeable, all consumables required for the project should be costed inclusive of VAT at the appropriate rate. (For further information on VAT see UCL’s VATGuidelines)

Travel and Subsistence

Travel and subsistence costs for journeys, conferences and workshops that are directly related to the research project can be sought as a directly incurredcost. Standard fares should be quoted to include taxes, parking costs, rail/taxi transfers from the airport (where applicable).

Costs to consider include;

  • UK and Overseas travel
  • Subsistence Costs
  • Travel insurance
  • Conference fees
  • Staff and patient travel

The UCL approvedtravel supplier is available to assist in pricing the travel requirements.

Train Fares:

Travel Expenses:

Subsistence comprises accommodation in hotels, guesthouses etc. and meals

Travel Insurance:

Biological Services

UCL Biological Services are classified as a UCL Major Research Facility and from now on entered as a Directly Incurred cost. Biological services brought in from outside UCL are also Directly Incurred.

If your project involves work with animals, you may need to consider the following:

  • Animal purchase
  • Facility Hire, Equipment Hire, Consumables
  • Animal Maintenance
  • Statutory Fees (Personal Licenses, Ethical Review Process, Accredited Training Course Modules)
  • Experimental procedures

Management Costs for Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPs)

It is now mandatory that all UCL grant applications for clinical trials of medicinal products include a costing for the clinical trial management support that is provided by the Joint UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Unit. You should now contact the Joint Unit (tel. 020 7380 6978) or email for a costing to include in your grant application. The Joint Unit needs a minimum of 3 days to confirm costings.

All clinical trials of investigational medicinal products (or CTIMPs) require a sponsorthat must have systems with procedures that assure the quality of every aspect of the trial and thus is able to take on full accountability for the activities of the trial at all stages including setting up.It is crucial that CTIMP proposalsare identified at the earliest possible stage so that sponsorship arrangements can be clarified andappropriate funding sought toenable the clinical trial tomeetthe demands of the clinical trials regulations.

UCL Major Research Facility or Small Research Facility

For fEC purposes UCL is required to exclude the cost of research facilities from the estates and indirect cost rates. When applying for research funding from Research Councils and Government Departments the costs for accessing research facilities need to be charged separately on applications to these sponsors. Therefore usage of UCL facilities must be costed on pFACT using the facilities option and selecting the appropriate facility from the approved list.

Other Costs (Directly Incurred)

Costs of other items dedicated to the project including:

  • Predicted costs of dissemination of research outputs e.g. publication in author-pays journals, where these will be incurred during the period of the grant
  • Recruitment and advertising costs for staff directly employed on the project
  • Field work
  • Reprint/page charges
  • Computer costs dedicated to the project; e.g. specialist stationery supplies, software licences not associated with central computing facilities;
  • Equipment related items (if not included as part of the Research Organisation’s estates costs), e.g. maintenance; relocation. The case for support should describe the service being sought, the usage and the basis of charging.
  • Purchase/hire of vehicles

Other Costs (Directly allocated)

These costs may include, for example, the costs of shared resources including:

  • Estimated costs of laboratory technicians in academic departments
  • All non-laboratory technicians, secretarial and computing staff who are part of a ‘staff pool’ supporting a range of facilities and projects
  • Access to central and distributed computing
  • Access to clean rooms
  • Maintenance of major research facilities

Estates costs

Estates costs are automatically calculated by pFACT and should be shown as a single figure (£ total for the project). They do not need to be justified in the Case for Support.

Infrastructure Technician costs

Infrastructure Technician costs are automatically calculated by pFACT based on the FTE for academic/research staff on the project. This cost is applied only to those Departments that have been identified to have technicians which are involved in the general running of a laboratory. This cost should be entered on the proposal as a single figure under the Directly Allocated – Infrastructure heading. They do not need to be justified in the justification for resources.

Indirect costs

Indirect costs are automatically calculated by pFACT and should be shown in the proposal as a single figure (£ total for the project). They do not need to be justified in the justification for resources.

Exceptions

This term is used by the Research Councils for Directly Incurred costs that will be funded in full (i.e. at 100%), subject to actual expenditure incurred. Usually these are student stipend and fees and equipment costs in excess of £50,000.

Justification of Resources

All costs associated with the research project must be justified.This statement should be used to justify the resources required to undertake the research project and is a mandatory addition. Applicants should:

  • Explain why the indicated resources are needed, taking account of the nature and complexity of the research proposed. Note that it is not sufficient merely to list what is required.
  • Have regard for the breakdown of resources into the summary fund headings Directly Incurred, Directly Allocated and (where appropriate) Exceptions.
  • In some cases, such as investigator time, use of internal facilities and shared staff costs (all likely to be Directly Allocated costs), the basis of the costing need not be justified, but the need for the resources does need justification.
  • Try to be explicit about the need for the level of investigator time sought, bearing in mind the complexity of the research, the need to manage the project and supervise staff and any wider considerations such as collaboration or facilities usage.
  • Estates and indirect costs do not need to be justified.

Justifying computer resources:

Any proposals requesting items that would ordinarily be found in a department for example non-specialist computers, should include justification both for why they are required for the project and why they cannot be provided from the research organisation’s own resources. The following text can be included in the justification for resources:

'the computer is project specific because ...etc etc... or/and ... there are no other sources available to fund this computer within the Department, UCL provides computers for established members of staff from Departmental funding allocations (which include indirect costs) but NOT for new staff who are recruited for specific research projects'

Please refer to the sponsor’s guidance notes for specific detail.

VAT on projects

There are two types of VAT

1. Output (Sales) VAT

Research projects for Research Councils, Government Departments and Charities are all VAT exempt i.e. we do not charge VAT on the prices that we charge to these organisations.

Commercial Contracts are charged at the standard rate of VAT.

Non-UK based research is outside the scope of UK VAT, but local taxes may apply.

2. Input (Purchase) VAT

In general we have to pay VAT on all purchases of goods and services for research unless there are special exceptions – see UCL’s ‘VAT Guidelines’ on the Finance website for more information.

The main Zero-rated items are UK travel, printed matter for reading, equipment for use in medical research, substances for use in medical research.

If in doubt about whether VAT is applicable, it is safer to include VAT in the application form and grant.

Computing Resources

The Computing Resource Group (CRAG) ( be consulted where access to UCL Research Computing facilities is required as part of the research project.

Indexation

All costings should be at current prices, inclusive of VAT and other taxes where applicable. Check sponsors terms and conditions for rules regarding inflation/indexation. All salaries are indexed by 4% unless the Sponsor indicates it will not pay indexation or pays at a lower rate. If in doubt, add in. For more information see Appendix A at pFACT User Guide.