UKRI is changing the guidance about which roles in research projects can attract overheads, as well as whether they can be included as directly allocated or directly incurred. This will be taking effect from 15 November 2023. Please note this is currently for applications submitted through The Funding Service (TFS) only (not JeS). See the accompanying notes for the full guidance.

It is important that for all applications that the call guidance is consulted before starting to plan a project (including well before any costing is started), as not only will it provide the relevant detailed information for project leads, but it may also include exceptions to the standard rules being shared here.

Prior to the changes made by UKRI, the only roles that could attract overheads were academic/research roles: Project Lead (formerly Principal Investigator) and Project Co-Lead (formerly Co-Investigator) as well as researcher roles (PDRAs and RAs). These roles remain the same in terms of overheads and nothing will change in relation to these posts.

The new roles that can now also attract overheads are:

• Grant Manager
• Specialist
• Technician (except Pool Technician)
• Professional Enabling Staff

More detail on who might come under each of these categories.

When charging costs for “specialist” or “technician” roles it is important to remember that individuals can be added under a named role that attracts estates and indirect costs and can also separately undertake tasks which are covered by the estates and indirect costs charged to the grant.

The only circumstances where this change won’t apply are as follows:

• where there is a funding cap imposed by the funder and the newer overheads cannot be incorporated (the existing rules around overheads on PI/CI and PDRA roles will still remain, and no exceptions can be allowed for this)
• where Bath is not leading a project and the lead organisation requests a cap on costs (and similar to the above caveat – this can only refer to the newer overheads)
• where a pool technician is being costed (i.e., pool tech time will not incur an overhead)

Careful consideration must be given to the part each individual will play in a project, as this will determine how they are included in the budget.

There have been some examples provided on the next page to help determine how this might impact your project. However, if you are unsure, please first consult the call guidance for the specific call you are applying to (NB: these can change from call to call, so please don’t rely on previous versions of call guidance) and if you are still not clear, please contact your Pre-Award team member for more support. It may be that a referral to UKRI is needed for more complex cases.

Examples

Examples of roles where tasks would be covered by the existing estates and indirect costs for the project (i.e., they should not be included as a role on their own, but the proposed activity for the individual is expected to be covered by existing overheads):

Technician
Where technician time is spent undertaking infrastructure work, such as equipment calibration and health and safety.

Professional enabling staff
An individual who is undertaking non-specialist enabling tasks that are not specific to the project, for example, providing general secretarial support for the department.

Examples of roles where tasks would attract their own estates and indirects, based on input on the project:

Technician 1

• An individual who is providing specialist skills, knowledge and intellectual input needed to complete specific tasks for the project.
  
• Their input is above what would normally be expected for general technical support.
• Their cost to the project is based on actual amounts of time, rather than estimations.

Action: This individual should be added to the application under ‘specialist’ role as a directly incurred cost and can attract indirect and estate costs.

Technician 2

• An individual who is providing general technical support, specific to the project.
  
• Their cost is based on estimated rather than actual amounts of time spent on the project.

Action: This individual should be added to the application under the ‘technician’ role as a directly allocated cost and can attract estates and indirect costs.

Librarian
If a project has a significant requirement for a specialist librarian (above what might normally be required and covered by ‘professional enabling staff’ costs)

Action: This individual should be added to the application under the ‘specialist’ role as a directly incurred cost and can attract estates and indirect costs

Professional enabling staff 1

• An individual who spends a significant proportion of their time undertaking finance and accounting tasks that are specific to the project.
  
• Their cost to the project is based on actual rather than estimated amounts of time.

Action: This individual should be added to the application under the ‘professional enabling staff’ role as a directly incurred cost and can attract estates and indirect costs.

Professional enabling staff 2

• An individual who spends a significant proportion of their time undertaking marketing tasks that are specific to the project.
• Their cost is based on estimated rather than actual amounts of time spent on the project.

Action: This individual should be added to the application under the ‘professional enabling staff’ role as a directly allocated cost and can attract estates and indirect costs.