Accept and set up your award

When your application is successful, the award must be formally accepted and set up (or ‘activated’) in the University’s systems.

Accepting an award

Let the Research Office know if your application is successful.

We can accept the award on your behalf, but we'll get approval from the Department first.

Sponsors may have different acceptance processes – for example, by sending a start certificate or a formal acceptance letter. 

Activating an award

Awards are activated in the University Finance System (UFS) by:

  • setting the start and end dates, according to the contract with the sponsor
  • entering the correct funding amounts under the relevant projects, tasks and categories
  • setting spending controls

Start and end dates

The start date is usually the day that work on the project begins. Any change to the start or end date must be agreed with the sponsor.

It’s important to know that:

  • salaries, overheads and other ongoing costs are calculated from the start date
  • purchase orders can be raised from the start date (for example, for equipment or travel) – you do not need to wait for the sponsor to transfer the funds
  • the award will be given a ‘close date’ – this is usually 2 months after the end date

Projects, tasks and funding categories

Projects are self-contained pieces of work that achieve specific objectives.

A project can be funded by multiple awards, and an award can fund multiple projects. You may need to tell us how award funds should be distributed across projects.

Each project is made up of one or more tasks. Tasks can be used to break down the budget.

We may need to talk to you about which tasks are needed and which costs belong to each task.

Tasks will include direct costs like:

  • staff
  • pooled labour
  • equipment
  • travel and subsistence

Non-direct costs are usually the full economic costing elements. These funds are used by the University and are not available to researchers.

Controls

When activating your award, we’ll set spending controls for:

  • awards
  • tasks
  • expenditure categories
  • expenditure types

Controls can be:

  • absolute – spending above the available amount is prevented
  • advisory – spending above the available amount is flagged but not prevented

Controls are based on the sponsor’s terms. The award usually has an absolute control so you cannot spend more than the total award. Controls at other levels are usually advisory.

It’s important to make sure your costs comply with the sponsor’s terms, even when they're not prevented by the system.

After an award is activated

When the grant has been activated in UFS, we’ll notify Principal Investigators (PIs), heads of department and departmental administrators.

We'll also remind them of the award’s terms and conditions, which they're responsible for delivering.

Getting started

You can usually start spending against the budget once an agreement is completed and the award is activated in the system.

Make sure the PI and any administrative support understand the sponsor’s terms and conditions, including any specific requirements like reporting and keeping records.