The A to Z of Commonly used Terms in Research and Research Management

Acquittal / Statement of Revenue received less Expenditure incurred resulting in a remaining surplus/deficit balance for the research project
Administering Organisation / The organisation that submits a proposal for funding and is responsible for the administration of the funding if the project is successful
Animal Ethics / Compliance with the Australian code of practice for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, including in teaching, research and experimentation
Audit/Independent Audit / Examination of project financials by a registered company auditor under Corporations ACT or a qualified CA or CPA member who is not an employee of UC.
Authorised Signatory / A designated representative authorised to execute a binding agreement on behalf of an organisation
Background Intellectual Property (IP) / Know-how, confidential information, inventions, discoveries, and IP rights identified prior to the signing of the agreement that have been developed, invented or acquired by the University prior to the commencement date of the agreement.
Breach of contract / Failure by one party to a contract to uphold their part of the deal or the agreed obligations. A breach of contract will make the whole contract void and can lead to damages being awarded against the party which is in breach
Cash Contribution / The total fixed cash funding from any party to be provided for the conduct of a research project
Chief Investigator (CI): / The Researcher identified by the University or named in the relevant Research Grant Agreement or Contract as taking the lead responsibility for the project
Conditions / Major terms in a contract. Conditions are the basis of any contract and if one of them fails or is broken, the contract is breached
Commercialisation / The process of bringing intellectual property to the market in order for it to be exploited in return for business profits and growth
Confidential Information / Any confidential information or data, whether or not in material form, which by its nature is confidential or which is designated as confidential, and which is obtained or acquired by a Party during the Research Services, except if the information, date or materials are already in the public domain.
Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreement / An agreement made to protect confidential information if it has to be disclosed to another party. The parties are legally obligated not to pass on that information whether or not the actual contract is ever signed
Conflict of Interest / A situation in which financial or other personal considerations have the potential to compromise or bias professional judgment and objectivity. This may include an apparent conflict of interest, in which a reasonable person would think that the professional judgment is likely to be compromised, or a potential conflict of interest whereby a situation may develop into an actual conflict of interest
Copyright / The protection of the original expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves, that gives the owner an exclusive right for a set amount of time to reproduce, perform, publish or distribute a work. Copyright applies automatically as soon as something is written down or recorded
Deed / A written document by which a person transfers ownership of real property to another. A deed must be properly executed and delivered in order to be effective
Deficit / The amount by which expenses exceed income in a cost centre
Dispute Resolution / Procedures for settling disputes by means other than litigation; e.g., by arbitration, mediation, or mini-trials
Direct Costs of Research / Costs that are integral to the objectives of a funded project. These costs are specifically identified within a research project and are charged as project expenditure. Examples of direct costs include salaries, travel expenses, cost of material/equipment required to conduct the project
Dis Code / A specific 6-character code that each UC business unit has, which enables the business unit to group funding and income into desired categories. Each cost centre must be linked to a Discipline Code. This field is essential for reporting of income.
Ethics Clearance / Approval from the relevant ethics committee for the conduct of a research project that involves the use of animals or human participants
Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) / An initiative administered by the Australian Research Council which aims to identify and promote excellence across the full spectrum of research activity. The initiative entails the submission of information about research activities, including details relating to staff, publications and other research outputs, awards, research income, and applied measures such as patents and research commercialisation income
Field of Research (FoR) code / A classification system which allows Research and Development activity to be categorised according to the field of research. The FoR Code system has three hierarchical levels ranging from Divisions (at the broadest 2-digit level covering the broad subject areas), to Fields (at the finest 6-digit level).
Final Report / A report that CIs are usually required to submit by the funding body at the completion of the project
Fund Scheme / Name of the Scheme under the funding Body. This is applicable for Funding Bodies that run multiple schemes and in multiple years e.g. Australian Research Council runs funding schemes such as the Discovery Projects and Linkage Projects each year. Each fund scheme is named by an acronym and year in which funding will be disbursed. A Discovery Project that will commence funding in 2014 is thus called DP14 in University records as well as by the Funder ARC.
Funding/Funds / The amount or amounts payable under a research contract/agreement for a specified project
Higher Education Research Data (HERDC): / An annual data collection exercise comprising the submission of the university’s publications (books, book chapters, refereed journal articles and conference publications), and research income data for the previous year. The statistics from this exercise are used by the government to allocate funding to universities
Human Research Ethics / Compliance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research for the conduct of research using human participants
Indemnity / A promise by a third party to pay a debt owed or repay a loss caused by another party. The right to indemnity and the duty to indemnify ordinarily stem from a contractual agreement, which generally protects against liability, loss, or damage. The obligation to indemnify another for the loss or damage is generally reduced in proportion to the act or omission of another person which contributed to the loss or damage
Infrastructure and Indirect Cost of Research / Institutional overhead costs that support research activity. These costs represent the dollars being spent by the University in support of programs. Examples of indirect costs include items such as operation and maintenance of facilities, expenses of general administration
In-kind Contribution: / The non-cash contribution (valued in AUD) to be provided by any party to support the conduct of a research project. This may include the contribution of services (CI time) or goods, such as equipment and commodities
Intellectual Property (IP): / The property of your mind or intellect, including your knowledge, creations and discoveries. It can take many forms, such as reports, publications, patents, confidential information or trade secrets, know-how and trademarks
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRS): / The general term for the assignment of property rights through patents, copyrights and trademarks. IPRS provide protection for creativity or innovation in the marketplace and allow the owner to potentially benefit from the practical applications of their ideas
Knowledge Transfer / The means by which expertise, knowledge, skills and capabilities are transferred from the knowledge-base (e.g. a university or college, a research centre or a research technology organisation) to those in need of that knowledge (e.g. a company, social enterprise or not-for-profit organisation).
Liability (Contractual) / The state of being responsible for something. A person or business deemed liable is subject to a legal obligation. A person/business who commits a wrong or breaks a contract or trust is said to be liable or responsible for it
Limited Liability / This usually refers to limited companies where the owners' liability to pay the debts of the company is limited to the value of their shares. It can also apply to contracts where a valid limitation clause has been included in the terms
Moral Rights / The right of integrity of authorship (that is, not to have a work subjected to derogatory treatment), the right of attribution of authorship of a work, and the right not to have authorship of a work falsely attributed, as defined in the Copyright Act 1968
Multi-Institutional Agreement / An agreement between the Administering Organisation of an NHMRC or ARC funded project and its collaborating organisations (referred to collectively as collaborating parties). The MIA outlines the roles and obligations of the Administering Organisation and each collaborating party, the cash and in-kind contributions to the project and the distribution and use of the project funds
Novation Agreement / A legal instrument that formalises an arrangement for the replacement of the original party with a new party or the replacement of the original contract with a new contract. A novation requires the consent of all parties
On-costs / A cost that an employer has when they employ someone in addition to the cost of the person’s salary i.e. supplementary costs such as superannuation, payroll tax, leave loading etc. It is the cost of putting the person in the seat.
Overhead costs / Also known as indirect costs or infrastructure costs, the indirect recurring costs of running a project that are not linked directly to the goods or service produced and sold. Overhead costs can include the cost of office premises, utility bills, employees' salaries for support services (for eg. University Finance, HR, Research Services Office). University of Canberra has accepted 20% of the total cost of the project as an acceptable average of overhead costs
Peer review / Impartial and independent assessment of research by others working in the same or a related field
Post-award / Continuum of activities that occur following the award of funding and contract sign off, including the establishment of a cost centre for the project and the creation of project reporting and financial alerts, the monitoring of performance, and the recording of project compliance
Pre-award / Continuum of activities that occur prior to the award of funding, including identification of a funding opportunity, the development and review of applications documents, faculty authorisation of the application, and submission of the application
Pre-Existing Intellectual Property / Intellectual Property that is developed and is owned by a staff member, student or affiliate prior to the date of their employment, enrolment or engagement at the University
Primary Personnel / The key person on a project who is listed as responsible for the project. In the University context, this can be different in the contract signed for the project, or the grant application and in the University Research Services Office. The Grant application and or the contract may list a Primary Personnel who will be responsible for the project to the external funder but the person listed internally in the RSO may be an administrative staff member who has been nominated by the Research Team Leader to be responsible for managing the project for the Team Leader. The RSO system allows only one Primary Personnel to be listed
Progress Reports / Reports that CIs are periodically required to submit by the funding body at key points during the project
Project IP/Agreement Material / All material brought or required to be brought into existence as part of, or for the purpose of, performing the research project including, but not limited to, documents, equipment, information and data stored by any means
Research Activity Pre-Award Clearance (RAPC) form / An internal form that must be completed by the Chief Investigator and signed by the Dean/ADR or Director of the CI’s Faculty/URC at the time of application for external research funding. The form serves as Faculty/URC approval for the CI to undertake the research project or consultancy.
Research Award Acceptance (RAA) form / An internal form that must be completed by the Chief Investigator and signed by the Dean/ADR or Director of the CI’s Faculty/URC at the time of acceptance of external research funding
Research Consultancy / The purchase by an external organisation of the services of University Staff in the provision of expert advice, specialist knowledge or objective review within a particular research field and/or access to University equipment or facilities to work on a specific project
Research Contract/Agreement / A contract to provide funding for a specific research project or set of projects to be undertaken by the University. It may be funded by a company, government body, charity or other body, and will contain terms and conditions governing the conduct of the project, as well as obligations incumbent upon the University and the funder
Research Cost Centre / A cost centre that relates to a project which is for research purposes as determined by the Research Services Office. Revenue for these cost centres is classified as Category 1 to 4 as per HERDC reporting guidelines
Research Grant / Funding for a research project available from a variety of different sources including Federal, State or Territory Government, the public or private sector, and charitable organisations. The funding may cover a variety of items, including but not limited to project costs, travel, teaching buy-out, equipment