Administering Grant and Consultancy Applications

Contents:

• Procedures for the Administration of Grant and Consultancy Applications
• RO-AP1 Form: Authority to Apply for External Funding
• RO-AP1B Form: Application Timetable and Checklist
• Policy: Externally-funded Grants, Consultancies and Contracts
• Calendar of Closing Dates for Major Schemes
• Technical and General Quality Checking of Applications
• Covering Letter Template
• ARIES

Procedures for the Administration of Grant and Consultancy Applications

Introduction

These procedures must be followed by University administrators for the preparation, checking and submission of applications for research grants and consultancies to be managed by the ANU. They comprise a “framework” of common operational procedures, and recognise that there is variation in the detail of how each College undertakes required research management functions.

Section 1 explains the Delegation for the submission of grant and consultancy applications and tenders. Under the Delegation, some categories of applications are approved and submitted by the College Dean (or their delegate) and others by the Research Office.
Section 2 sets out procedures to be followed for applications approved and submitted by the College research manager, and the support provided by the Research Office.
Section 3 sets out procedures to be followed for applications approved and submitted by the Research Office, and the support provided by the Research Office.
A series of “how to” papers are available on various research management and administration functions. These papers provide guidance to University administrators to assist them in undertaking research administration functions.

1. Delegation to Submit Grant and Consultancy Applications (Local Area)

College Deans (or their delegates) have the authority to submit applications for grants, research contracts or consultancies on behalf of the University. Please note that some categories of application are excluded from College submission and are submitted centrally - exclusions are set out at Section 1(a).

College Deans (or their delegates) can sign off on applications that are led by their College or budget unit and involve other budget units, but they must have the written approval of the delegate of the other College(s) or Budget unit(s) involved in the application. The Delegation to Submit Grant and Consultancy Applications is transferable from a College Dean to the College Research Manager (who must not pass on the delegation to others) or to Heads of Budget Units within the College. Colleges must at all times have a delegate (who must be either a Dean or Director, Acting Dean or Director, or College Research Manager). The delegate must be aware of relevant University policies and procedures and the responsibilities of the delegation. Applications involving University funding or resources from outside Research School, Faculty or University Centre budgets (e.g. from the DVC’s Research Development Fund) must have prior written approval from the DVC.

1(a) Grant and Consultancy Applications Submitted Centrally (and not by the College Delegate)

The following types of funding applications must be submitted through the Research Office delegate:

• Applications for Centres (e.g. Centres of Excellence etc)
• Applications to the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
• Applications to schemes that limit the number of applications that can be submitted by the University,
• Applications where the Funding Agency requires the University to rank the applications prior to submission
• Applications to other funding schemes as advised from time to time by the Director of the Research Office.

The following types of application are submitted by the Office of Commercialisation:

• Applications for Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs)

Please contact the Research Office if you are in any doubt about who the Delegate is for a particular application or tender.

2. Procedures for applications submitted by the College Research Office

2(a) Grant Applications

1. Consultation with applicant(s)
1. The applicant(s) must arrange a meeting with their College Research Office after they have decided to apply for a grant and before they commence preparing the application.
2. At the meeting:
1. The College Research Office and applicant must enter basic data about the application into the ARIES database.
2. After the basic data has been entered into ARIES, the College Research Office downloads the RO-AP1 form, which comprises the Authority to Apply for External Funding and RO-AP1B: Application Timetable and Checklist. It is intended that the RO-AP1 form will be automatically populated with the data entered into ARIES.
3. RO-AP1B: Application Timetable and Checklist must cover and circulate with the application until it is approved for submission. The Authority to Apply for External Funding is not required until the final application has been forwarded to the College Research Office.
4. At the meeting, the College Research Office must explain the University’s procedures and the support that they will provide to the applicant(s). Deadlines, etc. must be entered into the “Timetable” section of RO-AP1B: Application Timetable and Checklist.
5. The applicant(s) should be advised to consult with their Head of Department/Academic supervisor prior to preparing their application. Advice on the sorts of issues applicants and Heads of Department need to consider are outlined in the document How to apply for a research grant or consultancy to be administered by the ANU: Procedures for applicants.
   vi) If a project has potential commercial application, the College Research Office must advise the applicant(s) to seek advice from the Office of Commercialisation before they prepare the application.

2. College Research Office involvement in preparing applications
   During the application preparation process, the College Research Office is responsible for:

• Arranging for the costing of the application budget, and
• Providing applicants with advice on application guidelines and University policy as needed.
• Some areas may have resources to provide additional support (e.g. some areas may employ a development officer who will assist with writing applications, etc.)

3. Draft application: technical and general quality checking and arranging college peer-review

• Using RO-AP1B: Application Timetable and Checklist, the College Research Office must check the draft for technical correctness and general quality, and provide feedback to applicant(s). A “how to” document is available to assist College Research Offices with this function. For some schemes such as ARC and NHMRC additional guides may be available.
• Every College must have a college peer-review system in place (which may or may not be managed by the College Research Office). Where the College Research Office is managing such a system, the draft application must be circulated to peer-reviewers with instructions, including a deadline for sending feedback to applicants.

4. Final application check and approval

• The final application must also be checked for technical correctness and general quality (using RO-AP1B: Application Timetable and Checklist).
• The College Research Office must ensure that the data entered in ARIES is correct
• The College Research Office must determine who the Delegate is for submitting the application (College Dean or Research Office).
  If the Delegate is the Research Office, follow Section 3(a) of these Procedures from sub-section 4(d). If the College Dean (or delegate) is the Delegate, continue through this section.

• The College Research Office must then:

1. Complete the “Funding Details” “Clearances/Approvals required” and “College Research Office” sections of the Authority to Apply for External Funding.
2. Obtain the “Applicant Certification” on the Authority to Apply for External Funding Form.
3. Circulate the application package (which must include the Authority to Apply for External Funding, RO-AP1B: Application Timetable and Checklist, and the final application) to the following for approval on the Authority to Apply for External Funding: [Note: some areas may request that the Applicant/s take responsibility for obtaining the HOD and Director approvals]
• The Business Manager of the local budget unit
• The Head of Department (if there is no HOD, the Director must complete the HOD Certification section)
• The Director
• The Delegate

• If the application is not approved for submission, the Delegate must consult with the applicant(s) to explain why.

5. Submission of the application
   When all certifications and approvals (including the Delegate’s) have been received, the College Research Office must submit the appropriate number of copies to the funding organisation by its application deadline. The application must include a covering letter using the template provided by the Research Office. Additional information may be added to the template if required by the Funding Organisation.
6. After submission?

• The College Research Office must inform applicants about the outcome of applications. Correspondence and feedback received from the Funding Organisation should be copied to applicants.
• The College Research Manager must approve submission of any additional information to the Funding Organisation.
• If the application is unsuccessful, the College Research Office must enter the “date unsuccessful” in the ARIES database.
• If the application is successful, the College Research Office must then refer to and follow the Procedures for Accepting Grants and Consultancies to be Administered by the ANU.
• Periodically (say six monthly) the College Research Office must follow-up on applications for which outcomes have not been notified.

2(b) Consultancies

This Sub-Section refers to University consultancies, as defined in the Policy on Externally-funded Grants, Consultancies and Contracts. Procedures to be followed for private consulting work to be undertaken by University staff are described in the University’s Policy for Undertaking Individual Consultancies and Professional Practice (52-Day Rule).

The procedures to be followed for Consultancies are the same as outlined at 2(a) for Grants, with the following differences:

1. Potential clients approaching a researcher directly
   Researchers must be instructed that they may indicate interest in undertaking a consultancy when a potential client approaches them directly. However, they must advise the client that they cannot confirm a price or conditions until their College Research Office has properly costed and priced the project. The researcher must also advise the client that they do not have the legal authority to accept consultancies on behalf of the University, and that terms and conditions may need to be negotiated on the University’s behalf by the relevant University delegate.
2. Tender requirements
1. Consultancy tenders often require the Delegate to agree to legal conditions at time of tendering. The College Research Office must ensure such conditions are in accordance with University policies and provide relevant advice to the Head of Department, Dean/Director and Delegate.
2. Consultancies must be fully costed, including infrastructure costs, all direct costs, and a profit margin consistent with market value. Consultancies must be entered into with a proper understanding of the costs of the work to the University, and provisions for the recovery of those costs. Costing must also be carried out cognisant of the University's responsibility under the Federal Government's policy on competitive neutrality and the Trade Practices Act. Consultancies divert the University from its usual research activities and therefore the School, Faculty or Centre involved must make a profit when providing such services. The University cannot subsidise commercial activities. The Executive expects that in these days of financial stringency all consultancies will be examined carefully by College Research Managers and Deans and Directors to ensure that overheads have been charged wherever possible and that work has been fully costed and priced appropriately.

2(c) Research Office support for applications submitted by the College Research Office

1. Provision of advice to the College Research Office on scheme guidelines, University policy and procedures, strategic advice, etc (either by phone, email, or prearranged meeting).
2. Support such as training, networking opportunities, group email systems.
3. Provision of web advice and documentation on research administration issues, including funding opportunities databases, procedures, forms, guidelines, FAQs and URLs relating to frequently used schemes.
4. Deliver seminars, workshops and mentoring activities for some schemes.
5. Quality review functions that aim to provide feedback to research administrators to assist them in undertaking their responsibilities to the highest standard.
6. Analysis of data on the University’s research activities.
7. Provision and support of research management systems.

3. Procedures for applications submitted by the Research Office

3(a) College Research Office Procedures

1. Consultation with applicant(s)
   This procedure is the same as that followed for applications submitted by the College Research Office, but in addition:
3. College Research Offices must ensure that its deadlines are set prior to the Research Office deadline for applications. Research Office deadlines are published on its website, and its deadlines for major schemes are also widely advertised to the University community by email.
4. Where the Research Office has advertised special procedures for a particular scheme, the College Research Office must ensure its internal procedures are consistent with Research Office requirements and that both the College Research Office and the applicant(s) are familiar with those requirements.
5. College Research Offices must ensure they copy all relevant advice received from the Research Office (e.g. clarifications passed on by Funding Organisations, procedures for approval of University contributions, special procedures for certain schemes) to its academic staff.
2. College Research Office involvement in preparing applications
   This procedure is the same as that followed for applications submitted by the College Research Office, but in addition:
2. Where the Research Office has advertised special procedures for a particular scheme, the College Research Office may be required to undertake coordination functions (e.g. coordinating and checking requests for University cash contributions before forwarding them to the Research Office).
3. Draft application: technical and general quality checking and arranging college peer-review
   This procedure is the same as that followed for applications submitted by the College Research Office, but in addition:
3. From time-to-time the Research Office might advise a different procedure to be followed (e.g. for some schemes of strategic importance to the University, the DVC may ask the Research Office to coordinate checking and peer-review processes).
4. Final application check and approval
   For steps (a) to (c), this procedure is the same as that followed for applications submitted by the College Research Office. Then:
4. The College Research Office must then:
1. Complete the “Funding Details” “Clearances/Approvals required” and “College Research Office” sections of the Authority to Apply for External Funding.
2. Obtain the “Applicant Certification” on the Authority to Apply for External Funding Form.
3. Circulate the application package (which must include the Authority to Apply for External Funding, RO-AP1B: Application Timetable and Checklist, and the final application) to the following for approval on the Authority to Apply for External Funding: [Note: some areas may request that the Applicant/s take responsibility for obtaining the HOD and Dean/Director approvals]
• The budget unit Business Manager
• The Head of Department (if there is no HOD, the Dean/Director must complete the HOD Certification section)
• The Director
• The Delegate
5. When all college approvals have been received, the College Research Office must submit documentation as a complete set to the Research Office or load them onto ARIES:
1. Both parts of the RO-AP1 form, completed and certified by the Applicant, Head of Department, and Director must be uploaded into ARIES
2. The original application (including signatures as required), plus the number of copies required by the Funding Organisation as well as being uploaded into ARIES
3. If relevant, a copy of approvals for college, University and external cash and in-kind contributions.
4. Any other special documentation that the Research Office may request for a specific scheme or application.
   Please note that only complete applications can be processed. College Research Offices will be required to collect incomplete documentation from the Research Office.
6. If the application is not approved for submission, the College research manager must consult with the applicant(s) to explain why.
5. Submission of the application (see below)
6. After submission
   4. The Research Office will inform the College Research Office about the outcome of applications. The College Research Office must pass on the outcome details to applicants. Correspondence and feedback received from the Funding Organisation will be copied to the College Research Office.
   5. The College Research Office must approve submission of any additional information to the Funding Organisation. The College Research Office must copy any additional information to the Research Office.
   6. If the application is successful, the College Research Office must refer to and follow the Procedures for Accepting Grants and Consultancies to be administered by the ANU.

3(b) Research Office Procedures

1. Submission of the application
1. The Research Office arranges approval by the Delegate and submission to the Funding Organisation/ client by its application deadline.
2. The Research Office will not accept responsibility for non-submission of late applications received after its closing date.
2. After submission?
1. The Research Office will inform the College Research Office about the outcome of applications. Correspondence and feedback received from the Funding Organisation will be copied to the College Research Office. The College Research Office should provide this advice to the Investigator.
2. If the application is unsuccessful, the College Research Office must enter the “date unsuccessful” in the ARIES database.
3. Periodically (say six monthly) the Research Office will follow-up on applications for which outcomes have not been notified.

3(c) Research Office Support to College Research Offices for Applications Submitted by the Research Office

The Research Office provides the same support as it does for applications submitted by the College Research Office (described at 2(c) above), and additionally:

1. Acts as the point of liaison between the University and the funding organisation/client.
2. Coordinates the submission of applications.
3. For University schemes (e.g. Major Equipment), schemes involving central cash or in-kind contributions, and schemes limiting numbers of University applications, the Research Office coordinates the contribution approval process or University assessment processes, as relevant.
4. Research Office support may vary for some schemes as determined by the Director, Research Office on request from the DVC. These variations will be advised to College Research Offices.
5. Important note: The Research Office does not undertake technical and general quality checking of applications.