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Grant Agreement

All grants will generally have terms and conditions attached, and it is important that the PI understands them - although they are sometimes quite brief. For funders such UKRI, Research Contracts are not involved in the grant 鈥榓greement鈥� 鈥� however, we are often required to review grant terms prior to application and provide comment or obtain approvals.

Grant Agreements will mostly involve Research Contracts where there is (generally limited) scope for negotiation of terms, or where a formal signature is required. In these circumstances, the Grant Agreement will be passed to Research Contracts as part of the Award process. This is managed by RES Project Setup team, so in many cases we will not need any involvement from the PI as the information will have been provided at Application stage; however, sometimes we do need clarification on certain terms, such as what intellectual property is being provided to the project, so we know that the terms are appropriate. For these projects there is no 鈥榮tandard鈥� set of questions, so we will explain what information we need as required, and all we ask in those circumstances as that the PI provides it to us as quickly as possible so as to minimise delays to the setup of the project. 

Contract Research

Where the scope of a project has been drawn up with or by the funder (e.g. a commercial partner) and the funder gains some benefit from the work, this is a different relationship than under a grant. In some cases (where there is an open call for tenders) the process might be similar and be led by Research Development rather than Research Contracts at the point of Application, and passed to Research Contracts later, like a grant.  In other cases (where there is a direct approach or the project arises out of an existing relationship, for instance) Research Contracts would lead.

In each case we classify the project as Contract Research.  Where Research Development has led an application, we work in much the same way as grant, and we will be tasked by the Project Setup team. However, in the most cases the instruction for the project needs to come directly from the PI to their Contracts Manager.  These are some of the most heavily negotiated agreements and often we need to confirm a lot of information with you. The more you provide from the start, the quicker the process should be. We are likely to need:

• Details of the resources required to deliver the project (so we can get it properly costed) 鈥� we have a form that will help you work out what is needed.
• Clear details of who the funder(s) is/are (so we can carry out background checks on them)
• A point of contact we can negotiate with
• Details of any pricing discussions that have been had (NB this shouldn鈥檛 happen until the project has been properly costed according to the current Pricing Policy)
• A clearly defined project scope, with any agreed deliverables
• Confirmation of the location of delivery (some funders will want us to accept certain terms if we are visiting their premises, for instance)
• Start and end dates
• Confirmation of any materials (e.g. samples) that will be transferred as part of the project, in either direction
• Confirmation of any personal data that will be processed as part of the project
• Expectations of whether useful IP will be produced and whether it be commercially viable
• In theory, any of the above agreements might need to be amended.  However, it is most common in relation to consortium agreements, contract research, or studentships.  In the first instance, if you believe you need an amendment to one of the aforementioned agreements, contact the Project Setup Manager, who will determine what information is needed to be past to the Research Contracts Team. Confirmation of any previous discussions as to who will own the results of the project
• Confirmation of what University or third-party intellectual property might be used in he projects
• Any agreed project management arrangements
• Confirmation of any planned subcontractors
• Confirmation of any involvement of students
• Whether the project has any recruitment requirements

For direct approach contract research, a .

Studentship

Studentship Agreements cover everything from a fully funded studentship, where an industry partner might provide full fees, a UKRI-level stipend, and cover additional costs, to agreements under which top-up funding is provided for a UKRI-funded student, and various points in between. They can also be quite heavily negotiated, especially where the partner has not been involved in such a project before.  Like Contract Research, we often need a significant amount of information in order to make sure the agreement is fit for purpose:

• Provision of the Grad School proforma if already completed in relation to the project
• Confirmation of supervisors/co-supervisors
• Confirmation of fee level i.e. whether student is full-time/part-time, at 黑料吃瓜网/by distance, UK or RoI/International
• Clear details of who the funder(s) is/are (so we can carry out background checks on them) - address/company number where possible
• A point of contact we can negotiate with
• Details of any pricing discussions that have been had
• A clearly defined project scope, with any agreed deliverables
• Start and end dates
• Confirmation of any materials (e.g. samples) that will be transferred as part of the project, in either direction
• Confirmation of any personal data that will be processed as part of the project
• Expectations of whether useful IP will be produced and whether it be commercially viable
• Confirmation of any previous discussions as to who will own the results of the project
• Confirmation of what University or third-party intellectual property might be used in the projects
• Any agreed supervisory/update arrangements

For Studentships, a to set up a new contract.  

Collaboration/consortium

Although we don鈥檛 deal with all Grant Agreements, many grants also have co-applicants, collaborators or project partners - a pre-agreed consortium of o