Variations
About
Over the duration of an Australian Research Council (ARC) or National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant, various changes in circumstances may require a request for a Variation of the Funding Contract/Agreement. All variations to the funding agreement must be submitted to the ARC/NHMRC for approval via the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR).
Procedure
Researchers must forward variation requests to their College Research Office (CRO), who will complete the Proforma where applicable and forward the request to the OSR.
The CRO prepares variation requests and forwards them to the Post Award contact person in the OSR, who prepares a cover letter to be signed by the Director of the Research Office. The complete variation request is then sent via email to the ARC/NHMRC for their consideration. The CRO and the OSR College Contact are copied into the email correspondence at the time of the request.
The OSR submits all variation requests to the ARC/NHMRC as both funding bodies insist on one contact point for each university, which for the Australian National University is the Research Office.
ARC Proformas
The ARC website provides proformas for the following types of variation requests:
Variation proformas for all ARC grants can be downloaded from the ARC website.
NHMRC Proformas
The NHMRC has recently launched a post award section of Research Grant Management System (RGMS). The variation process is initiated by the researcher, who submits the variation request to the College Research Office (CRO) in the following manner:
- Researcher raises variation request on RGMS (below is a list of NHMRC variations that can be selected from RGMS);
- CRO checks the variation and the request letter, and arranges for the required support documentation;
- When completed, the CRO notifies OSR that there is a post award variation to be checked and sent to NHMRC;
- OSR checks that the variation is correct and ready to send – if the variation contains all the appropriate information a confirmation email is sent to the CRO and OSR submits. If further information is required OSR will follow up with the CRO;
- OSR logs variation and monitors RGMS for outcome;
- If any issues arise from the variation OSR will follow up with the CRO.
NHMRC/RGMS Variation types:
- Add New Non-CI Team Member
Request to add a new Non-CI Team Member to the Grant
- Carry Forward
Request to Carry Forward unexpended funds in the final year of the Grant. If approved, the Final Financial (Acquittal) Milestone date is re-set.
- Change in Research Plan
Request to change the research plan from that plan outlined in original application
- Change of Supervisor
Request for Change of Supervisor. Only applies to Scholarships.
- Defer Grant Start Date
Request to defer the Start Date of an awarded Grant
- Defer in-progress Grant
Request for a period of deferral to an in-progress Grant
- Extend Grant Duration
Only to be used for Training Fellows and Scholars. Request for an extension to the term of the grant / to ensure the research outcome is achieved.
- Extended Leave Request
Request for leave of longer than 3 months duration
- Modify Non-CI Team Member
Request to vary Non-CI Team Member details and/or allocation for this Grant
- Relinquish Grant
Advice that this grant is to be relinquished
- Remove Non-CI Team Member
Request to remove a Non-CI Team Member from the Grant
- Transfer Administrative Institution
Request to transfer the administration of an NHMRC funded research grant to a new Institution.
- Update CI Team Membership and Structure
Request to add and/or remove CIs and/or re-allocate CI roles
If any variation falls outside of those listed in the attached document the CRO notifies OSR who will seek advice from the NHMRC regarding the correct variation procedure to ensure consistency.
Please refer to the OSR procedures for Approvals and Denials on Variation Requests.
Approval / Denial Procedure
