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UKRI Covid-19 Grant Extension Allocation

Information and FAQs for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) grant holders and support staff about how UCL allocates and oversees grant extension funding from UKRI.

Purpose of the UKRI COVID-19 Grant Extension Allocation (CoA)

The CoA is to:

  • Mitigate the impact of the pandemic on UKRI-funded projects and ensure grant outcomes continue to be met;
  • Protect the talent pipeline of research and technical staff;
  • Ensure the current balance of grant funding by protected characteristics and mitigate disadvantages to protected groups incurred through the pandemic.

The allocation is limited to awards funded (or co-funded) by AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC, Innovate UK, and STFC.

UCL has been allocated a CoA of £10.8m, which is equivalent to 6% of our current UKRI portfolio. The CoA covers the period 1 July 2020 to 30 September 2021.

Governance of the CoA

We have submitted a governance plan for UKRI’s approval which is a condition of release of the CoA funds.

Distribution of the allocation will be overseen by the CoA Governance Group chaired by Professor David Price, Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), which will report to the Research Operations Group (ROG).

The CoA Governance Group will make a nominal distribution of 90% of the CoA to Schools according to the balance of the UKRI portfolio. The Group will retain 10% in order to maintain the disciplinary balance and to respond to any requests that require special consideration under the terms of its remit. Eligible UKRI awards will be identified and prioritised in the following categories: 

  1. Awards that have already been identified as adversely affected by the pandemic disruption. These projects were detected when staff were considered for furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme but subsequently removed from the scheme (with no claim made to HMRC).
  2. Awards that have not already been identified in (1) and end before 31 March 2021, that have been adversely disrupted by COVID-19. (An exception is that MRC-funded projects ending between 31 March and 31 May 2021 will also be allocated funding in this Category.)
  3. Other awards (outside of 1 and 2) that are deemed vulnerable under the decision-making criteria set by the CoA Governance Group.

Our approach is focused on maintaining the key talent pipeline of research and technical staff. The priority order will help grant-holders maintain their talent and capacity, so placing them in position to deliver planned outcomes and underpin the post-pandemic recovery for research. Grant-holders who do not fall under the first two priority groups be will considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the remaining CoA funds available.

Next steps

Researchers holding awards in Categories 1 and 2 above were contacted by mid-September 2020. Schools will inform grant-holders of their arrangements for consideration of awards that may fall under Category 3.

FAQs: Version 4: 28 October 2020

 

Are there any specific areas which are excluded from receiving CoA funds

UCL is not permitted to allocate the CoA to support activities where other UKRI mechanisms exist (such as studentships) and activities that benefit from restricted or non-competitive renewals (such as block grants with automatic renewals, strategic funding for institutes, facilities, capital funding calls, and services). Certain Innovate UK schemes are also excluded (those in conjunction with the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, Aerospace Technology Institute, Advanced Propulsion Centre, and Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles).

How will equal opportunities be monitored?

Staff whose time is charged to the CoA will be asked to complete an online equal opportunities monitoring form. The form will be managed by the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Team and staff will be able to submit it anonymously. The CoA Governance Group will see only aggregated data from the form to help monitor the distribution of the CoA.

We have received a CoA offer, but our UK collaborators have not. Are we permitted to transfer a proportion of our allocation to our partners?

Funds from UCL’s CoA should not be transferred to partner organisations. UK universities have agreed to operate within their own CoA and it cannot be used for other projects.  Academic colleagues are urged to liaise with their partners to consider whether the CoA or the no-cost extension route is in the best interests of the research and project team.  Research Services may be able to assist in reaching consensus, please contact researchservices.covid@ucl.ac.uk

Category 1 and 2 Offer and Appeal Process

When will grant-holders hear of their initial Category 1 and 2 offers? What is the deadline for response? Updated 28 October 2020

Faculties were informed of their initial Category 1 and 2 allocations on the 18 September 2020. They are in the process of inviting grant-holders to consider their offer and either accept or decline it using an online form.  When accepting the offer, grant-holders will be required to include a short statement (maximum 300 words) to outline how the funding will be used.  The statement will help in our reporting back to UKRI. The deadline for completing the online acceptance form has been extended to 6 November 2020.

Why is there a special provision for MRC-funded projects under Category 2

UKRI calculated UCL’s CoA based on the amounts we were due to receive from the Research Councils and Innovate UK between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. Based on this calculation, UKRI indicated how the allocation should be distributed in order to maintain the disciplinary balance. We have used the April 2020 payroll to determine the level of support to provide projects under Categories 1 and 2 which has generally maintained the disciplinary balance, except for those funded by the MRC. In order to correct this anomaly, MRC-funded projects ending between 31 March and 31 May 2021 will also be allocated funding.

When will grant-holders with MRC projects ending between 1 April 2021 to 31 May 2021 be notified of their Category 2 offer? What is the deadline for responses

Further to the announcement to extend Category 2, Research Services are working to calculate the individual project CoA offers.  Grant-holders will be informed of their offers by Friday 9 October 2020.  The deadline for completing the online acceptance form is 7 November 2020.

How have the Category 1 and 2 CoA allocations been calculated
  • For projects ending after 31 March 2021, with staff originally identified for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme but not claimed from HMRC.  The allocation is equivalent to 4 months’ salary costs of those staff only.  If accepted the original award will be credited for salary costs incurred during the lockdown period (to the maximum value of the award).
  • For projects ending before 31 March 2021, the allocation is equivalent to 4 months direct staff costs.  This has been calculated using the April 2020 direct staff expenditure for the project, with a small allowance for incremental increase. If accepted the project CoA will be set up to run consecutive to the original project end date, for a default period of 4 months. For example, projects ending 30 September 2020 will be set up for period 1 October 2020 to 31 January 2021. 
  • For MRC projects ending between 1 April 2021 and 31 May 2021, the allocation is equivalent to 4 months direct staff costs.  This has been calculated using the April 2020 direct staff expenditure for the project, with a small allowance for incremental increase. If accepted the project CoA will be set up to run consecutive to the original project end date, for a default period of 4 months. For example, projects ending 31 May 2020 will be set up for period 1 June 2021 to 30 September 2021. 
How can grant-holders assess whether a CoA is beneficial? Can they check against a Worktribe forecast that the amount awarded is sufficient for the projected 4-month period? What should they do if there are shortfalls, even with the 2% inflationary addition?

The Worktribe stand-alone budget feature is there to assist with this kind of query.  Grant-holders will be required to manage within the CoA offer. This may mean that it is not possible to extend staff for the full 4-month period.

What is the appeal procedure (Categories 1 and 2)? Updated 28 October 2020

If a grant-holder believes their project allocation has been incorrectly calculated, the Department will be required to evidence this to their Faculty contact (Director of Operations of their delegate) by 16 October 2020, using the CoA Appeal Template Form.  Consolidated Appeal Forms should be submitted to Research Services researchservices.covid@ucl.ac.uk via Faculties no later than 2 November 2020, for consideration by the CoA Governance Group.  Departments may appeal the CoA Group 1 and 2 allocations on one of the following grounds:

  • Unfurloughed staff have not been listed (projects ending after 31 March 2021 only)
  • The basis of the offer calculation (staff costs in April 2020) is not representative and the offer value is under or overstated
  • The Project End Date in MyFinance is disputed and the project has not been offered a CoA.
What is the Faculty role in the appeals process

The Faculties have been asked to collate appeals via the appeals Excel template across the Divisions/Institutes, and review these for completeness before passing the consolidated information to Research Services.

If a grant-holder agrees with the overall allocation but thinks the project code split is incorrect, what do they say on the online form? Accept but query the offer or reject it?

The offer should be accepted, but a supplementary note should be added in the offer acceptance text box within the online form so that Research Services are made aware.

When will grant-holders with MRC projects ending between 1 April 2021 to 31 May 2021 be notified of their Category 2 offer? What is the deadline for responses?

Further to the announcement to extend Category 2, Research Services are working to calculate the individual project CoA offers.  Grant-holders will be informed of their offers by Friday 9 October 2020.  The deadline for completing the online acceptance form is 7 November 2020.
 

A grant-holder has a UKRI grant with a project end date of before the 31 March 2021 but has not received an offer. Is this an oversight and can they appeal?

Unless the project falls under the exclusions (see General FAQs section), the grant-holder should appeal.  If project staff costs were not charged directly to the project in April 2020 (or adjacent months), then the project would not have been identified as falling within the allocation criteria.

Can a grant-holder appeal where staff who were initially furloughed have not been listed?

Yes. However, only individual staff (whose furlough was reversed) are listed if their project ends after 31 March 2021. Any staff whose furlough was reversed and funded by projects ending before 31 March 2021, would have automatically been captured in Category 2 of the excel workbook (presuming their salary costs were charged to the project).  If the grant-holder believes staff whose furlough was reversed and have been missed, then it is important to appeal.  

A project has small parts of the project in other departments - should the grant-holder appeal for the project as a whole or should there be individual appeals?

CoA offers have been made at project rather than award level.  It is important for co-investigators to share their approach with the grant-holder but appeals should be at the project level.

What do we do where a project end date falls before the offer acceptance or appeals dates?

We recognise that in some cases CoA offers will be retrospective in nature.  If the offer is being accepted without appeal, please complete the online offer acceptance as soon as possible.  Faculties will provide Research Services with weekly updates so that we can start setting up projects ahead of the deadlines.  CoA project set-up will be prioritised by end-date.

If the intention is to appeal the offer, then the earliest the CoA offer will be set-up will be post-appeal.  Please contact researchservices.covid@ucl.ac.uk for further advice (please note due to the volume of queries there may be a short delay in response).

A grant-holder doesn’t want to accept the CoA nor make an appeal. What should they do?

If the grant-holder wishes to decline the CoA (and have no wish to appeal) then they should do this via the online offer acceptance form.  It is important for UCL to understand the reasons for offers being declined, and to monitor these.

Category 3 Application Process 

What are the decision-making criteria under Category 3

Projects can be nominated for consideration under Category 3 using the following criteria: 

  • The project ends after 31 March 2021

  • The project is not suitable for a no-cost extension

  • The project is vulnerable due to being unable to meet its grant outcomes as stated in its funding application and/or staff on the project have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and its impacts.

  • The closing date for departments/divisions to nominate projects is 31 October 2020 and for faculties, 13 November 2020.

Online nomination form for Category 3

How do I apply for CoA funding under Category 3?

Grant-holders should nominate projects for consideration under Category 3 using an online form. The form includes guidance on the type of projects eligible for consideration. Especially when describing impacts on staff, sensitive information should not be submitted in the form. Requests under Category 3 should be under £40,000.

Who will prioritise applications under Category 3?

Heads of Department have been requested to provide their recommended nominations by 31 October 2020. The Faculty Dean will then consider the nominations and make their shortlist of up to five projects on the online spreadsheet by 13 November 2020. When making recommendations, faculties should consider the nature of the impact, the proposed mitigation and any additional support already received in light of the pandemic.  The CoA Governance Group will make the final decisions to ensure UCL meets its obligations to UKRI.

 

No-Cost Extensions and CoA

What is UKRI’s position on no-cost extensions for non-ODA projects?

Projects with original end dates before 30 September 2021 are not able to benefit from a no-cost extension and a CoA unless UKRI approved the NCE ahead of 31 July 2020 or a no-cost extension is required to accommodate parental leave or sickness. Projects that end after 30 September 2021 may benefit from a no-cost extension and a CoA (through a cost reversal). This is subject to UKRI’s approval of the no-cost extension through the standard process.

 

 

What is UKRI’s position on no-cost extensions for ODA projects?

ODA projects ending before 30 September 2021 that request a no-cost extension before 31 October 2020, will be able to benefit from it and charge costs against the CoA.

When might a no-cost extension be preferable to a CoA award?

Awards with significant under-spends (e.g., those with vacant posts) may be best served by securing or retaining a no-cost extension, if the projected underspend is greater than the value of the CoA.

If a grant-holder relinquishes a no-cost extension, will they still be able to access budget underspends during the period of the CoA

No. Once the original project has ended, any underspends will need to be reported and returned to UKRI. Unless one of the above exceptions apply, grant-holders are required to decide between the no-cost extension and the CoA.

A grant-holder wishes to relinquish or withdraw a no-cost extension and accept our CoA offer.  What should they do?

If the no-cost extension has not started, the process is simple: UKRI will need to be notified and the CoA offer accepted.  If the no-cost extension has started (e.g., the original end date has passed and costs are being incurred under the no-cost extension), please contact the Research Finance Administrator for advice.

A grant-holder wishes to proceed with a no-cost extension which was submitted to UKRI and decline the CoA offer. But they have yet to receive a response from UKRI.  What should they do

We are aware of a backlog of no-cost extension notifications from UKRI.  Our advice would be to delay declining the CoA offer until confirmation has been received from UKRI. Please contact the Research Finance Administrator in Research Services as they may be able to help follow-up with UKRI. If a no-cost extension decision has not been reached before the CoA offer deadline, it is important to flag this to researchservice.covid@ucl.ac.uk.

A grant-holder wishes to adopt a different approach to a no-cost extension or the CoA than our UK partners.  What should they do

We will need to consider this on a case-by-case basis.  Please contact Research Services as soon as this becomes apparent on researchservices.covid@ucl.ac.uk

Managing the CoA

Do grant-holders need to create a Worktribe project ahead of their CoA being set-up

No. Departments are not required to take any action (except accept the offer online).  Research Services will manually set up the projects within MyFinance.

Will the grant-holder’s original project be supplemented with the CoA funding

No. UKRI requires organisations to manage the CoA funding separately. 

Projects ending before the 31 March 2021. Research Services will set up the project CoA for a default period of 4 months and advise grant-holders of the MyFinance project code. This can be extended (upon request) but not beyond 31 September 2021. 

MRC projects ending between 1 April 2021 to 31 May 2021. Research Services will set up the project CoA for a default period of 4 months and advise grant-holders of the MyFinance project code. This can be extended (upon request) but not beyond 31 September 2021. 

Projects in receipt of a furlough reversal CoA award (Category 1). Research Services will remove staff expenditure (equivalent to the offer) from the project, thereby releasing project budget. 

Grant-holders of projects ending between 1 April to 30 September 2021, who are not in receipt of a UKRI-approved no-cost extension, should contact researchservices.covid@ucl.ac.uk to discuss options. Grant-holders of projects ending after 30 September 2021 may wish to consider applying for a no-cost extension.

Category 3 projects (excluding furlough reversal) ending after the 31 May 2021. Research Services will remove expenditure (equivalent to the offer) from the project, thereby releasing project budget. 

Grant-holders of projects ending between 1 April to 30 September 2021, who are not in receipt of a UKRI-approved no-cost extension, should contact researchservices.covid@ucl.ac.uk to discuss options. Grant-holders of projects ending after 30 September 2021 may wish to consider applying for a no-cost extension.

 

Can my CoA start early (ahead of the original project end date)?

UKRI anticipate that in most cases the CoA will act as a continuation of the original project.  If it can be demonstrated that an earlier CoA start is required to support staff adversely impacted by Covid-19 (i.e., to avoid an employment gap), then this requirement should be flagged in the online offer acceptance form (within the acceptance text box). 

What costs are eligible under the CoA?

It is anticipated that the majority of CoA funding will be used to support project-funded staff.  Requests to reallocate a proportion of the CoA project budget to non-staff headings may be permitted if adequately justified. There are exceptions for new equipment and travel which are not eligible.

If non-staff costs are specifically applied for and awarded under Category 3 (e.g., Biological Services), Research Services will mirror this in the award set-up or cost-reversal.

Can we use the project CoA to support any staff or does it have to be those working on the original project or grant?

In the majority of cases we would expect the funding to be used to extend those staff working originally on the project.  There may however be certain circumstances where this is not possible (e.g., the original member of staff has resigned), however advice should be sought from HR and Research Services ahead of repurposing budgets.

Where can we charge staff whose contracts are due to finish within the next two months who we know we will be able to extend, when we get the funds? 

Where possible, the staff should be extended on the new CoA project.  If the offer is being accepted without appeal, please complete the online offer acceptance (requesting priority set up in the acceptance text box) as soon as possible so that we can prioritise the project set-up.  We recognise that where this is not possible, staff costs may fall into Departmental Suspense, and should be journalled as soon as possible upon notification of the CoA project code.