Research Application Budget Guide

All research projects require staff to deliver the research project. All funders are expected to pay the on-costs associated with research staff (i.e., National Insurance and Superannuation). Some funders, such as research councils and government bodies are also expected to pay the associated overheads, which are calculated based on staff time (FTE and duration). Please note that for industry funding, it is likely that an additional amount should be added on a case-by-case basis – please discuss this with JRES before providing any costs to industry funders.

The following table contains some common examples of staff roles and their associated costs. These costs are intended as a rough guide. They are based on St George’s University salary scales; there are similar NHS salary scales. JRES will provide specific costings as part of the grant approval process.

Note: For SGUL grades, the midpoint of the scale has been used. For clinical staff, the range has been provided as the cost varies substantially depending on responsibility and experience. The overheads are calculated per FTE of research staff (per annum). Please consult JRES for costing staff on Hospital salary scales.

Any study sponsored by St George’s involving participants under an NHS Health and Social Care duty of care and/or their data, will require the involvement of the Research Governance Team and a completed SoECAT (Guidanceand Templates). The Research Governance Team are responsible for reviewing the study protocol alongside the SoECAT to confirm the proposed project is compliant with relevant regulatory and legislative requirements and for providing sponsorship approval.

The SoECAT ensures NHS site-level costs are appropriately attributed between the NHS, NIHR and the research funding body. This applies for studies with or without a clinical intervention. The full costs of the research study cannot be established until a SoECAT has been provided and approved by an AcoRD specialist in the JRES Research Governance team. This is also usually required by the funding body.

Many funders require a data management plan (DMP) as part of the grant application process and allow researchers to cost data management into their grant application. A good DMP demonstrates how you will create and share FAIR data. The RDM Service and the JRES work together with project teams to identify RDM-related costs at the application stage. Applicants are strongly advised to contact the RDM Service to discuss their DMP. 

Some funders pay overheads directly to the university and as such cannot be charged again for use of or access to university supplied services.

The IRF pricing structure details what can be charged to particular funders for equipment use and services. Please contact the IRF to discuss the requirements for your research and to establish the eligibility of cost for accessing research facilities. Applicants intending to use the Zebrafish Unit (part of Biological Research Facility) must contact Dimitra Mantzorou prior to submission.

Funders terms and conditions should be consulted to confirm whether studentships are an eligible cost. In addition to stipend and tuition fees, costings for students should generally include an allowance for research and dissemination costs. The approximate costs for a 3-year home PhD studentship are outlined below. 

Some funders have prescribed rates for studentships which will take precedence over the above. For international students, part-time students, and MRes pathways, contact should be made with the Research Degrees team to confirm the relevant rates. Further information can be found on the Research Degrees web pages.

Key Travel is the travel service provider for SGUL. When applying for funds to travel as part of your research and dissemination, it is recommended that you review the SGUL Expenses Policy and contact Key Travel to obtain accurate and up-to-date estimates for your travel costs. 

Not all funders will allow the purchase of equipment, and academic staff should liaise with their JRES Research Funding Officer to establish eligibility. All equipment purchases must follow the University’s or NHS Trust’s procurement policy. For the University, Research Operations staff are available to help with this process and Research Operations staff must also be notified about purchases of large equipment requiring significant laboratory space, so that such equipment can be considered in space allocation.

Please note that some equipment is required by law to undergo periodic testing (e.g., autoclaves, microbiological safety cabinets, fume hoods). Please liaise with Research Operations to ensure provisions are included for this within the application.

Regardless of what the funder is willing to pay, it is essential for the university to record for the Full Economic Costing (FEC) of the project to ensure the financial sustainability of research at SGUL. TRAC (‘Transparent Approach to Costing’) is a government-directed costing methodology for HEI’s to establish the FEC of research, including adequate provision for investment in the institutes infrastructure. Each year, St George’s University undertakes a process to determine the FEC rates to use for the following year. Where St George’s Trust applies for FEC funding, default TRAC rates are used. JRES will always calculate the FEC of research as part of the costing process.