1- Opening a research account and receiving the money (UNSW administered)

If your competitive grant is successful you will receive a congratulatory letter or other form of notification. Outcomes of granting rounds are also posted on the Grants Management Office website.

You will be informed that funds cannot be released until the Grants Management Office has received the appropriate clearances – usually an GALF and Grant Acceptance Form or both forms.
These forms confirm that your research will be conducted in accordance with all necessary regulatory and risk requirements and that any overexpenditures occurring within the project will be met from other funds.

If you are part of a shared grant and there are investigators who are not at UNSW our university and all others involved in the administration of the project are required to enter into a shared grant agreement before any funding can be released. Please note that this can often be a source of delay – all participants must sign before the grant can commence.

When your UNSW clearances are received your funds can be released. Please note however that the appropriate UNSW committee must ratify clearances from hospitals, area health services, other institutions and UNSW ethics panels.

When these processes are complete you will receive another letter from the Grants Management Office advising you of the NSS chartfield and any other information which is relevant at the time.

2- Opening an account and receiving the money for a shared grant (your first-named CI is at another institution)

If you are part of a shared grant and the chief investigator is not at UNSW our university and all others involved in the administration of the project are still required to enter into a shared grant agreement before any funding can be released. Responsibility for initiating paperwork for shared grants is that of the administering institution. If you are the second or third named person on a grant we would request that you advise UNSW Grants Management Office so that we can follow up with the host institution.

3- Managing your expenditure

You are required to manage your expenditure in accordance with the terms and conditions of your grant.

Balances of projects and details of expenditures and encumbrances should be obtained from either your school/department/centre administrator or your Faculty Client Services Accountant.

If you are concerned about income into your project – invoices not sent, budget appearing incorrectly etc – contact your grants management team immediately and they will investigate the matter for you.

4- Employing staff

Where a research project requires the employment of staff, this must be done within the University’s employment policies. There are clearly defined procedures which must be followed to ensure that funds are available to cover the personnel cost and that the correct level of appointment is offered. Staff must be employed in accordance with UNSW salary scale and conditions of employment. Usually you will find that the amount awarded for Fellowships and some other directed salaries differs from the UNSW salary for that level of position ie it is less. In these circumstances you must advise the Dean of your Faculty of this liability and have a Fellowship FDP nominated from which the gap can be paid.

5- Invoicing external parties

It is important to understand how your contract deals with invoicing of external sponsors.

Date Driven
If your contract is date driven, e.g. quarterly or yearly, then invoices will automatically be released through UNSW financials in accordance with the specified dates.

Milestone or Cost Recovery Driven
If your contract is milestone or cost recovery driven then it is important to inform GMO as each milestone has been reached. The GMO will then arrange for the appropriate invoice to be sent to the external party.

Please Note all "Request For Invoice-Research" forms relating to research must be sent directly to the GMO for processing.

If you require help in understanding your contract or how invoices are to be raised please do not hesitate to contact your friendly GMO faculty team.


6- Transferring grants to/from other institutions

If you change institutions your grant may travel with you. There are several conditions applicable to such transfers, for example you must remain in employment in an “eligible institution”. If you are leaving UNSW (or coming here) and you hold research funding, please contact UNSW Grants Management Office for advice. It is advised that you notify us as soon as you become aware of an impending change. This will assist in minimizing delays which can occur with cross-institutional transfers of funding.

7- Change of investigator/industry partner etc

If circumstances change – one of your fellow investigators leaves the project, the industry partner withdraws and so on – please contact your grants management team for advice. Such changes will need to be advised to the funding body and in some instances the terms of the grant or contract will need to be renegotiated on your behalf.

8- Problems with colleagues, deadlines or payments

If you are having difficulties meeting deadlines which may require renegotiation of milestones, problems with payments or any other difficulties with the administration of your grants, please immediately advise your grants management team. It is important that these matters are dealt with as quickly as possible. The University holds the grant on your behalf and will need to advise your funding body or industry partner of the problems. In all instances, grants management staff will endeavour to renegotiate the grant and deliver a favourable outcome.

9- Management of UNSW internal schemes

9.1 Faculty Research Grants

These internal awards are determined by Faculties. From the 2007 awards, administration of FRG's will be undertaken by the individual faculties.

9.2 Early Career Researcher Scheme
A centrally funded scheme for Early Career Researchers runs in conjunction with the FRG scheme. Applications are made to faculties who rank applicants and refer those recommendations to the DVC(Research) for decision.

9.3 Goldstar

Goldstars are awarded for near miss ARC and NHMRC applications. No Goldstar application is necessary. After the ARC/NHMRC announcements a University committee determines Goldstar awards. In general these awards are for one year and recipients must submit applications in the following ARC/NHMRC rounds.