Award frequently asked questions

A SoECAT (Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Template) will apply to all research applications that need to access the funding for Support and Excess Treatment Costs.

Further guidance and templates can be found on the NIHR website.

These are resources provided by the NIHR (Department of Health and Social Care) usually via the Local Clinical Research Networks. Examples of support costs are additional investigations, assessment and tests where the results are required by the patient care team.

These are NHS treatment costs funded by the NHS. Treatment costs in a research study can be greater than in routine care, for example, giving a patient a new drug to see how it compares to the standard drug given.

Once a full application is invited a SoECAT will need to be completed with the full application if the research incurs support costs and/or excess treatment costs as shown above. We encourage you to initiate this process with the NIHR as soon as possible to ensure this will be ready by the deadline date.

Only direct costs i.e. actual costs that are explicitly identifiable as arising from the conduct of a project (e.g. staff salaries, equipment, materials, travel) are valid.

Indirect costs will not be considered for funding in any application in accordance with AMRC guidelines on full economic costing.

Any cost increase due to inflation for salaries or consumables should be taken into account when preparing the budget.

All costs to a grant should be auditable. Your finance department from your organisation must be able to justify and account for all expenditure incurred.

Salaries costs can include:

• Salaries (only the staff time working on the Award is chargeable)
• Employer’s contributions e.g. NIC and pension costs (in proportion to the FTE working on the Award)

Salaries should not include:

• Members of staff not directly working on the Award e.g. central administration staff
• Those members of staff who are employed by the host organisation e.g. Principal Investigators
• Apprenticeship fees

Consumables costs can include:

• Laboratory costs, associated with the Award only
• Associated charges for shipping, delivery or freight
• Archive costs
• Printing/photocopying
• Equipment needed for the research only, this will include purchase, delivery, installation and maintenance, during the period of the funding
• Computers, usage must be solely for the Award
• Software
• Data Management
• Questionnaires and materials for the study
• Registration costs
• Volunteer expenses, patient involvement and community engagement
• Project specific travel and expenses

Any consumables items that are included in the project costings and have a value over £10,000 should be justified including backing information showing how the costings have been arrived at.

Consumables should not include:

• Fixed costs of the building e.g. premises, electricity, gas
• Computers or equipment for general use
• Depreciation
• Insurance
• Publication costs (unless stated otherwise in the Information for Applicants)
• Conference travel costs (unless stated otherwise in the Information for Applicants)

The lists above are not exhaustive and each Award is assessed individually. We may not fund items that are shown on the list if we deem them not to be a cost of the Award or inappropriate.

Any travel fares booked should be at the lowest cost possible in standard class. Individuals can upgrade to first class at their own expense but can only claim the standard fare for the journey.

Where possible, early bird registration for conferences is recommended.

We will accept reasonable accommodation and subsistence costs – for more information please review the guidance provided in the application form.