Costings
General Guidance
AHRC - Specific Guidance
NERC - Specific Guidance
General Guidance
All costs that contribute to the full economic cost (fEC) of the proposal should be included for allowable cost categories (these are scheme-specific).
The cost headings are:
Directly Incurred: these are costs that are explicitly identifiable as arising from the conduct of a project, are charged as the cash value actually spent and are supported by an audit record. They include:
Staff: payroll costs requested for the fellow and, if applicable, for any staff (full or part-time) who will work on the project, whose time can be supported by a full audit trail during the life of the project.
Travel and Subsistence: funds for travel and subsistence for the fellow (and, if applicable, other staff who work on the project), where these are required by the nature of the work.
Equipment: the cost of individual items of equipment dedicated to the project costing more than £10,000 (including VAT). Against each equipment item the applicant can specify the total cost of the equipment and the amount being requested from the Council. All equipment costs will now be shown under the Directly Incurred heading.
Social Surveys: this is available for ESRC proposals only. Only subcontracted social survey costs should be entered under this heading and will be shown under the Exceptions Heading in the Resource summary and funded at the 100% rate (for the amount sought from the council). Surveys that are not subcontracted should be entered under the Other Directly Incurred Costs section of the proposal and will be funded at the 80% rate and shown under the Directly Incurred Heading in the Resource summary. The exception option should not be selected.
Other Costs: costs of other items dedicated to the project, including consumables, books, survey fees, purchase/hire of vehicles, publication costs or recruitment and advertising costs for staff directly employed on the project. Items of equipment costing less than £10,000 should also be included under this heading.
Directly Allocated: these are the costs of resources used by a project that are shared by other activities. They are charged to projects on the basis of estimates rather than actual costs and do not represent actual costs on a project-by-project basis. They include:
Applicants: the cost of applicants other than fellows whose time charged to the project will be based on estimates rather than actual costs.
Estates: these costs may include building and premises costs, basic services and utilities and any clerical staff, equipment maintenance or operational costs not already included under other cost headings.
Other Directly Allocated Costs: these may include, for example, the costs of shared technical staff or institutional research facilities, such as equipment or IT systems.
Indirect Costs: these include non-specific costs charged across all projects based on estimates that are not otherwise included as Directly Allocated costs. They include the costs of the Research Organisation’s administration, such as personnel, finance, library and some departmental services.
Exceptions: these are Directly Incurred costs that Research Councils will fund in full (i.e. at 100%), subject to actual expenditure incurred, or items that are outside fEC.
All costings should be at current prices, inclusive of VAT and other taxes where applicable, with no allowance for inflation. Any allowance for inflation that has been included in the full economic costing of the proposal by the Research Organisation must be excluded. The Research Councils may include an allowance for inflation if a grant is awarded.
All resources must be justified. The justification of resources should be completed as a separate item. All costs associated with the project must be justified, with the following exceptions:
Estates costs;
Indirect costs;
Costs of any Directly Allocated applicants’ salaries (not time, which must be justified); and
Some other Directly Allocated costs where no alternative resource is available, e.g. general technical services, shared laboratory equipment.
Queries Regarding FEC Proposals
The Je-S Helpdesk should be used as the first contact point for the Councils. Queries regarding the details of costing a project will have to be referred back to the RO contact since these will be specific to each RO. Otherwise, the Je-S Helpdesk will use its contacts within the Councils to obtain a response.
- THE FOLLOWING IS COUNCIL SPECIFIC GUIDANCE -
AHRC - specific guidance:
Fellowship/Leadership Fellows grants cannot include costs under the Equipment heading i.e. any individual items that cost more than £10,000
NERC - specific guidance:
NERC expects fellows to be based at a Research Organisation that can provide appropriate equipment and facilities so will not provide funding for large equipment on a fellowship. Small items (up to £10,000) can be requested under the other Directly Incurred costs heading. The Head of Department statement should include justification for a higher than average fellowship starting salary.
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