3.1.10.1 Full economic costing for fellowships
All research grant proposals and postdoctoral fellowship applications are costed on the basis of full economic costs (FEC), with the exception of pre-doctoral clinical research training fellowships (see Section 3.1.11.2). If a grant is awarded MRC will provide funding at a rate of 80% of the FEC and the research organisation(s) must agree to fund the balance of the FEC for the project from other resources. Fellows planning to spend time at a second centre overseas may request support for 100% of the costs associated with any overseas research and staff salaries. Please refer to section 3.3 of the guidance for applicants and email RFPD@mrc.ukri.org for advice on requesting exceptional costs.
Universities and other higher education institutes (HEIs) will use the transparent approach to costing (TRAC) methodology to calculate FEC. Other research organisations can apply for full economic costs provided that the methodology they adopt has been validated by the research councils as appropriate and robust.
3.1.10.2 Pre-doctoral clinical research training fellowships
Pre-doctoral clinical research training fellowships comprise support for the fellow’s salary plus funding of up to £20,000 per year. This may be used to support the costs of the project, including consumables, travel costs, and PhD fees. Since April 2013, publication costs may not be requested.
Pre-doctoral fellowships are not subject to full economic costing (FEC). Estates and indirect costs are therefore not payable, and awards are made at 100% of the requested funding.
Certain costs may be requested in addition to the £20,000 per year:
- the costs incurred by undertaking training at an overseas centre/second UK centre/industry placement (see section 2.3).
- the purchase and maintenance costs of animals. Any other related costs, such as project license costs, consumables, or other experimental costs must be requested within the £20,000 per year limit.
- costs for healthy volunteer studies not supported by local clinical research networks.
Only these costs can be applied for above the £20,000 per year limit. Proposals requesting costs outside these limits will not be considered.
There is no limit to the funding that can be requested to meet these costs, but requests should be reasonable and explained in the justification of resources attachment. The former type should be clearly noted as ‘2nd centre costs’ in the resources section of the application form.
3.1.10.3 Travel and subsistence
Funds for travel and subsistence for the fellow and any staff working on the project, including any overseas costs, should be entered in this section. The cost and destination of each travel item should be entered in the form and should be justified in the justification of resources. All costs associated with a placement at an overseas centre, second UK research organisation or industry partner should be labelled ‘2nd centre cost’ within the description in the destination and purpose field.
All travel must occur between the start and end date of the award and should be costed by the most suitable and economical means at current prices with no allowance for inflation. Subsistence rates, both UK and overseas, should be those applicable within the host research organisation.
If the project includes a period overseas of six months or more, costs for fares, baggage, medical insurance and rent of reasonable accommodation should be included and an overseas living allowance may be requested. In general a request of up to 11% of the fellow’s salary is considered a reasonable contribution towards the cost of living overseas. Travel costs for a spouse or children may be requested if the fellow intends to spend over six months abroad and their family will accompany them for the whole period.
3.1.10.4 Equipment
Any item over £10,000 (including VAT) should be requested as an equipment cost. Please refer to the guidance for applicants for full details about what should be included in this section.
3.1.10.5 Other directly incurred and directly allocated costs
Any item less that £10,000 (including VAT) is classed as a consumable. Consumables explicitly identifiable as arising from the conduct of a project should be entered as directly incurred other costs. Any costs arising from resources used by the project that are shared by other activities should be entered as directly allocated other costs.
Applicants may no longer request funds for publication costs. These are now funded by UKRI by means of a block grant to eligible research organisations. Please refer to section 3.7 of the guidance for applicants for further information.
NHS costs should be entered as directly incurred other costs. See section 3.5 of the guidance for applicants for further details.
If the fellow plans to undertake a placement at an overseas centre, second UK research organisation or industrial partner, any associated costs should be labelled as ‘2nd centre costs’ in the description field. If the fellow plans to spend six months or more at an overseas research organisation, the associated research costs may be requested and in most cases will be paid at 100%. Please refer to section 3.2.5 of the guidance for applicants and email RFPD@mrc.ukri.org for advice on requesting exceptional costs.
3.1.10.6 Research facilities and existing equipment
This section should identify any funds charged to the project to access shared research facilities and equipment. Items entered under this heading will require their use, but not the associated cost, to be justified in the justification of resources (see section 3.2.4).
3.1.10.7 Animal costs
The costs associated with the purchase, breeding and maintenance of each species of animal used should be entered in this section. The animal research and animal species sections of the form must be completed if the proposal uses animals (see section 3.1.16).
3.1.10.8 Research council facilities
This section should be completed if the project requires access to facilities supported by the research councils. A drop-down list of facilities is included in the Je-S form. The applicant should confirm prior to submitting the proposal that the establishment is able to provide the required facilities.