In the event of a new award it is important that all the relevant parts of the University are informed and engaged in a timely manner. The first crucial step is that you inform your Research Support Officer of the award and provide any documentation you have received so far. You should also share the good news with your unit head (Discipline/Division/Institute) and your School Research Director and Head of School.

Setting up a new award can be complicated but the RSS team is experienced in providing all the necessary support and ensuring that the relevant colleagues are involved.

The RSS team will check the details of the award and then either raise any queries or accept the award on behalf of the University and the PI. When all the necessary award documentation is in place the award is set up on the Research Management System and an account code is generated. For an award held exclusively within one School this is a relatively simple and quick process.

It is more complicated if the award involves partners from other institutions or is a sub-contract from another institution or organisation, because a sub-contract has to be agreed in advance of an account code being set-up. This stage has the potential to generate delays, because we are reliant on outside organisations to complete the required tasks. RSS colleagues will keep you updated throughout the process and any potential issues will be flagged and escalated as needed.

Once an account is set-up, the RSS team will pass the award details to the SoSS Research Operations team (Research Ops) to arrange a brief start-up meeting with the PI, RSO/RSM, Research Finance Officer and a representative from Research Ops. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the continued support available and to identify any potential difficult or unusual elements of the award.

Extensions and Amendments

If your research plans change in a way that might affect the original terms and conditions of your award, you will need to inform/seek approval from the funder in advance of any revised activity taking place. For example if you need to extend the duration of the project or if you need to suspend work on the project due to illness etc.

Please liaise with your RSO  initially to determine what action is required.

Monitoring budgets

You can access financial information on your project budget via the My Projects platform on the Staff Portal. 

The research support and finance team are available to meet with you should you wish to discuss any element of your budget.

All research projects conducted by University staff or students that involve human participants in a way that might harm, disturb or upset them (however slight the possibility) or where they can be deemed to be in a vulnerable or disadvantageous situation, must receive approval from the University Research Ethics Committee (UREC). No work on a research project that involves ethical issues can take place until pre-screening has been fully completed and, if required, formal ethical approval has been obtained.

The University has adopted an online ethics review software system (ERM) to manage the ethical review of research projects that involve human participants. This online ethical review application system is available to members of staff and students at the University of Manchester.

Before logging into the ERM system you MUST use the Ethics Decision Tool which is designed to help you determine whether your research requires ethical review and if so, by which ethical review body/process. Please ensure you read and answer each question carefully to be guided to the correct avenue of ethical review (if required).

IMPORTANT: You MUST use this tool BEFORE logging into the ERM system as submitted forms have a cost attached.

For information on, and access to the online Ethical Review Manager (ERM) application system please refer to the University Research Governance, Ethics and Integrity Team (UREC) website in the first instance.

It is HEFCE and University policy that all peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers accepted from the 1st April 2016 are made Open Access. Papers that do not meet the HEFCE Open Access policy requirements may not be eligible for submission to the next REF. 

To ensure that your work will be eligible for REF submission you must deposit the Author Accepted Manuscript of your paper to the institutional repository within three months of acceptance for publication.

The Author Accepted Manuscript is the version that has been agreed with your editor/s at the point of acceptance. It is not the same as the copy-edited, typeset or published paper, which is often referred to as ‘proofs’ or ‘versions of record’.

Publications should be deposited via the Open Access Gateway and the Library will create your publication in Pure on your behalf.  The Library has created guidance materials which summarise the process and provide answers to Frequently Asked Questions.