Managing your grant

Notification of award

The Office for Research should be the administrative contact for all funded competitive research grants. Many granting bodies will send a formal letter notifying a grant application has been successful, along with a funding agreement. If a granting body notifies you directly, all original documentation should be forwarded to the Office for Research. In these instances, the lead researcher must inform the granting body that the Office for Research will be the administrative contact for the project moving forward. If the Office for Research receives the funding agreement, we will be in touch with the lead researcher to begin the process of grant acceptance and establishment.

Acceptance of funding agreement or conditions of award

It is the responsibility of the Office for Research to negotiate acceptance of a grant in consultation with the researcher (where appropriate), and to sign the funding agreement on the University’s behalf. To ensure staff, students and researches remain covered under the University’s insurance policies, researchers must not act independently to negotiate terms or sign funding contracts.

Setting up an account

To set up an account the Office for Research requires the following documentation:

• completed and signed Research Grant Application Coversheet
• a copy of the application
• a copy of the letter of award
• fully executed funding agreement
• fully executed Intellectual Property Deed (where applicable)
• fully executed Moral Rights Consent (where applicable)
• International Engagement Checking Tool Responses (where applicable)
• Data Management Plan (where applicable)
• Conflict of Interest Declaration (where applicable)
• all necessary ethical clearances.

Once this documentation is received the Office for Research will advise Finance and Business Services to open a research grant account. You will receive an email from Finance and Business Services one the research grant account has been established.

Assignment of Intellectual Property Deed

It is the University’s policy that Intellectual Property (IP) rights created by a researcher in the course of their work at Griffith should be formally assigned to Griffith through an IP Deed prior to Griffith signing any funding agreements. Griffith ownership of IP enables the University to accept research funding, gives greater certainty about ownership as well as provides access to the University’s commercialisation services.

Chief Investigator Responsibilities and Ongoing Grant Management

A Chief Investigator takes intellectual, administrative and ethical responsibility for a research project from its conception to finalisation and the communication of outcomes. Where a research project is carried out through a collaborative arrangement involving a number of co-investigators, the first named chief investigator is designated as the primary contact and manager of the project. The Chief Investigator’s responsibilities include:

• acting as the administrative contact for the project
• understanding and adhering to all terms and conditions of the funding agreement and conditions of award (the Chief Investigator must retain and read the funding agreement and all necessary documentation regarding the management of the project)
• ensuring that all project participants are fully informed of relevant University policy and administrative procedures, and, the granting body’s conditions of award as they relate to the participants. This includes, but is not limited to, intellectual property and confidential information arrangements
• obtaining ethical and other clearances where relevant
• effecting risk assessment and management
• ensuring all project participants comply with codes of good practice in research. This includes the Griffith University Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
• ensuring steady progress is made towards achieving the project’s stated outcomes; any project milestones set down in the funding contract are met; and progress and final reports are submitted on time, in the format prescribed
• financial management of the project, which includes
  • ensuring that the grant funds awarded are spent:
    • in a way that can be clearly demonstrated as being essential to achieving the project’s objectives, as stated in the project application;
    • in accordance with the granting body’s conditions of award;
    • in accordance with University policy
  • ensuring external partners who are contributing funds to the project are invoiced in a timely manner.
  • ensuring consultants and contractors are appropriately engaged as per the university’s purchasing procedures and using the standard engagement contract
  • ensuring expenditure does not exceed the budget awarded
  • ensuring that funds are expended in a timely manner during the life of the grant.

Student participation: Where project participants include one or more students, the Chief Investigator must ensure that the Office for Research is aware of their participation at the time the funding contract negotiated. This will enable the Office for Research to ensure that the students’ needs are appropriately catered for in the funding agreement.

Variations to grants

Please contact the Office for Research if there is a change in circumstance which affects the conditions of award. The Office for Research will liaise with the funder and determine whether a formal variation is required. Once approval from the funder is received, the Office for Research will coordinate the execution of the variation and update details in our database.

Transferring grants

If you are a new staff member and are transferring grants into the University from another institution, please contact the Office for Research for assistance.

Research Financial Reporting

Once awarded and a Finance Speedtype has been established for your project, you can keep track of the whole-of-life budget and expenditure for your project via the Research Financial Reporting tool, available via the Staff Portal>My Finance Page>Research Financial Reporting.