The finance section of an application to the Research for Social Care (RfSC) call should provide a breakdown of costs associated with undertaking the research as described in the proposal. For guidance on how to complete the Detailed Budget section of a funding application in the NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) Research Management System (RMS), please see the guidance on how to complete the finance section of funding applications.
Section 1: Programme specific information
The RfSC call has a funding limit of £350,000 and the principle is for funding to be awarded in relation to the likely trajectory of achieving social care benefit. Applications with a clear and close trajectory to achieving tangible benefit for social care users, carers, and/or the public may cost up to the maximum funding limit. Applications for research which will require further work in order to benefit social care users and/or the public, more upstream research, and/or where the social care benefit may not be directly realised through the proposal, are expected to cost less.
Section 2: General information
The information entered in this section should provide an analysis of the total funds requested to undertake the research proposed and should be based on current prices. These costs will be used to assess value for money.
It is in your best interest to undertake a thorough, realistic and accurate costing. Where an outline/stage 1 application has been produced and this is the full stage (2) application, the committee/panel will pay close attention to any material increase in costs. You must provide a clear and full justification for all costs including NHS Support and/or service and care costs. You must also ensure that you include all costs including those required to secure good research management.
- We recognise that the current higher level of inflation is increasing costs in research. NIHR aims to ensure that the cost of research is properly recompensed, therefore we will fund appropriate, evidenced inflationary price increases, including pay deals, within current contracts. Researchers should present evidence justifying any additional inflationary costs at contract close, with any pre-close pressures managed through normal contract management.
- Years should be calculated starting from the anticipated start date of the proposed research. For example, if your research is expected to start on 01 October 2020 then its second year starts 01 October 2021.
- Further itemisation of costs and methods of calculation may be requested to support the application at a later date.
- Payments will be made to the contracted organisation only and the contracted organisation will be responsible for passing on any money due to their partner organisation(s).
- Appropriate sub-contracts must be put in place for any element of the research which is to be paid to another organisation.
- NHS support costs are funded via Clinical Research Networks. Researchers should contact their local R&D department initially and, if they are unable to help directly or if there is no local R&D department, contact the Local Clinical Research Network (LCRN) senior manager for advice. Further details about LCRN contacts are available on the NIHR Clinical Research Network website.
- All applications are expected to have appropriate NHS, HEI, Local Authority, commercial and other partner organisation input into the finance section of the application form.
Please note that whilst the applicable percentages will be used to calculate the maximum grant payable, the programme reserves the right to award a grant for less than this maximum where it is considered appropriate.
Section 3: Information on different types of organisations
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) should determine the Full Economic Cost (FEC) of their research using the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) methodology. For HEIs, up to 80% of FEC will be paid, provided that TRAC methodology has been used.
NHS bodies and other providers of NHS services in England
For applications where the contractor is an NHS body or provider of NHS services in England, up to 100% of direct costs will be paid.
Commercial/other partner organisations
If you are a commercial organisation/consultancy, please fill in direct costs and commercial indirect costs. Indirect costs should be charged in proportion to the amount of research staff effort requested on the funding application form. Up to 100% of costs will be paid.
If you are another partner organisation (e.g. local authority, charity or NGO), please fill in direct costs and other partner organisations indirect costs. Indirect costs should be charged in proportion to the amount of research staff effort requested on the funding application form. Up to 100% of costs will be paid.
Section 4: Direct costs
These are costs that are specific to the research, which will be charged as the amount actually spent and can be supported by an audit record. They should comprise:
Details of posts and salaries (posts and salaries summary)
This section presents an overview of salary and associated on-costs for the applicant(s) contributing to the research, including normal salary increments broken down individually.
- Please include all members of staff working on the research by clicking ‘Add Staff Details’ or editing a current one.
- If there are any applicant(s) whose costs are not being claimed you should still include their details within this section, but don’t include any actual costs.
- Where applicants are already in receipt of NIHR funding for any part of their salaries (e.g. NIHR Fellowships), these should not be additionally charged to the project.
- Where applicants are already receiving salaries funded by NIHR, these should be declared in the application.
- The Apprenticeship Levy can be included in the salary costs from 1 April 2017 where relevant.
Salary costs (apply to years)
This section specifies the annual costs of each applicant contributing to the research. You should now allocate the individual staff member costs to each year of the research, allowing for increments. Use current rates of pay, and build in any known annual increments (again at current rates). You will not be able to claim for pay awards retrospectively, once your research is underway.
- Please note the ‘Total’ and ‘Overall’ column figures need to be calculated using the current annual costs, %FTE and number of months. If the research lasts for several years and an individual’s involvement varies over the course, it may be necessary to explain fully in the justification of costs section the % FTE and months per year for an individual staff member.
- It is important to double check that the % FTE, total months and yearly costs information are consistent with the information presented in ‘Details of Posts and Salaries’ (‘Details of Posts and Salaries’ should show the full current staff costs independent of % FTE etc., whereas the yearly costs in ‘Annual Costs of Posts’ depend on % FTE etc.).
- Please ensure that you check the ‘Type of Cost’ box which describes the employing organisation for a member of staff as this impacts on the level of funding provided. Staff employed by a Higher Education Institution (HEI) are funded at 80% of cost and staff employed by NHS, local authorities, commercial or other partner organisation at up to 100% of cost.
Please note that this section also includes ‘Shared Staff Costs’ which is located under directly allocated costs in some other funders’ applications. These are costs of an institution’s research resources which can be charged to the research on the basis of estimated use, rather than the actual costs. These may include: IT technicians and costs of pooled staff efforts. HEI indirect costs cannot be claimed on these shared costs.
Travel, subsistence and conference dissemination costs.
This section includes journey costs, subsistence and conference fees. Where applicable, you will need to include the travel and subsistence costs of your project advisory group, steering committee and/or data monitoring & ethics committee. Travel and subsistence costs relating to dissemination should also be included here, as should costs relating to overseas travel.
Journey costs
Enter the total cost of transport for all journeys for destination/purpose. If travel is by car, apply your institution’s mileage rates (however this should not exceed HMRC approved mileage allowance payments, which is 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter).
Travel by the most economic means possible is encouraged. NIHR programmes do not usually fund first class travel.
Subsistence
Subsistence covers accommodation (if necessary) and meals associated with the travel, excluding any alcoholic beverages.
Conferences
Where national or international conference costs are included, a statement naming the conference or purpose of travel and the benefit to the research must also be made; failure to adequately justify your attendance at a conference will mean the programme will not fund this cost.
For research of up to five years, the programme will usually fund up to a maximum of two international conference attendances. For research beyond five years, the programme will usually fund up to a maximum of two international conference attendances per five year or part of five year research period.
Equipment
Essential items of equipment plus maintenance and related costs not included as part of estates should be input in this section. These can be lease or purchase costs.
- The purchase cost of pieces of equipment, valued up to £5,000 excluding VAT, will be considered.
- Pieces of equipment costing more than £5,000 to purchase will usually need to be leased. Where applicants are leasing equipment with a purchase price of more than £5,000, a comparison of leasing versus purchasing costs must be provided in the ‘Justification of Costs’ section.
- Items of equipment valued at £250 or more must be itemised separately; however grouping same type equipment is permitted.
- Costs of computers are limited to a maximum of £1000 per item. This includes the costs of any associated software and VAT. A statement of justification must be included, in the relevant ‘Justification of Costs’ section, for any purchase above this limit.
- Equipment must exclude VAT, but if your organisation is unable to reclaim/recover the VAT on a piece of equipment, you should check the box ‘VAT cannot be reclaimed’.
- You will need to seek expert advice from the organisation purchasing the equipment regarding its VAT status. If you check the ‘VAT cannot be reclaimed’ column, VAT at 20% will automatically be calculated into the overall cost of that item.
Consumables
This section includes non-reusable items specific to the research. Please itemise and describe the requirements fully (e.g. postage, stationery, photocopying). These items should be research specific, not just general office costs which should be covered by indirect costs.
Patient and public involvement
Please itemise and describe fully the costs associated with patient, care service user, carer, and public involvement. These are likely to include out of pocket expenses, payment for time and any relevant training and support costs.
Other direct costs
These are costs, not identified elsewhere, that are specifically attributed to the research. For example, open access costs, other dissemination costs, costs associated with the use of research facilities, external consultancy costs, computer licensing, recruitment and advertising costs.
Please note that for organisations claiming indirect/overhead costs, costs such as recruitment of staff, and general training (e.g. in common IT packages) are costs that should be covered by the indirect costs element of the award being sought and should not appear in this section.
If external consultancy costs are included in this section they must be fully justified in the ‘Justification of Costs’ section. Please specify the hourly rate and the number of hours and note that consultants must not be people who are already employed by the applicant’s institution. If they are, any costs should be entered as direct costs in the ‘Details of Posts and Salaries’ and ‘Annual Costs of Posts’ sections.
Open access costs
As set out in the NIHR Open Access publications policy (the ‘Open Access policy’), when an Open Access payment is applicable, NIHR will pay reasonable fees required by a publisher to effect publication in line with the criteria of the NIHR Open Access policy. Further information is available in the NIHR Open Access publications funding guidance.
From 1 June 2022 all eligible research award contracts issued across NIHR Programmes, NIHR Personal Awards and NIHR Global Health Research Portfolio will have an Open Access funding envelope allocated to them, on top of the approved cost of the award, which is ring-fenced for Open Access costs to support contractors with the implementation of the NIHR Open Access policy (see Annex for a list of eligible NIHR schemes). As Open Access funding envelopes will be automatically allocated to successful research awards, from 1 April 2022 researchers will no longer be required to predict Open Access costs at application stage and from this date researchers cannot include Open Access costs as part of their application form.
In order to support the NIHR Open Access policy, NIHR will make funds available to support the fees payable to a publisher to effect publication in line with the criteria of the Open Access policy. NIHR expects award holders to be aware of the costs of publishing in different journals, and to consider value for money when deciding how to allocate the NIHR Open Access funding.
The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that the NIHR Open Access funding envelope is allocated efficiently taking into account value for money, the total costs and equity of access, supporting the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion. Provided that the Contractor can demonstrate that the allocation of the NIHR Open Access funding has taken these factors (and any other relevant factors) into account, the Contractor can exercise its own discretion when deciding how to apportion the allocated NIHR Open Access funding envelope.
Other dissemination costs
Any large costs should be further detailed with a breakdown of constituent parts or a timescale profile of the costs. Meetings to share best practice, training events and events to disseminate research findings must be run at the lowest possible cost with minimal catering. ‘Conferences’ which are described as such are not eligible for funding.
Section 5: Indirect costs/overheads
Indirect costs will be charged in proportion to the amount of research staff effort requested on the award.
They comprise:
- General office and basic consumables
- Premises costs
- Library services/learning resources
- Typing/secretarial
- Finance, personnel, public relations and departmental services
- Usage costs of major research facilities
- Central and distributed computing
- Charge out rates for shared equipment
- Cost of capital employed
NHS bodies or other providers of NHS services indirect costs
NHS indirect costs cannot be claimed through NIHR/DHSC programme funding. NHS bodies or other providers of NHS services have been allocated NIHR Research Capability Funding (RCF) to contribute to the cost of hosting NIHR/DH-supported research. More information can be found on our Research capability funding webpage.
HEI indirect costs
Total HEI indirect costs must be fully justified. HEIs are permitted to claim estate and other indirect costs. These costs are calculated on the basis of TRAC methodology. Proposals from other types of institutions/organisations should leave this section blank.
- HEI indirect costs are based on the number of full-time equivalent research staff working on the research and the indirect/estates charges set by an institution.
- Where staff from more than one HEI are working on the research there may be different indirect/estates charges for each one. Please list each institution on a separate line.
- Please note HEI indirect costs cannot be claimed on shared staff costs.
The applicant(s) should consult their HEI finance departments for the appropriate figures to include in the estate charges and other indirect cost sections
Commercial/other partner organisation indirect costs
Commercial/other partner organisations, including local authorities, charities and NGOs, can claim indirect costs which are the costs of resources used by the research that are shared by other activities. Please seek advice from your finance department about the appropriate cost for this section.
Total Commercial/other partner organisation indirect costs must be fully justified.
Section 6: Research support costs and treatment, intervention and service costs
The finance section includes a section that asks researchers to provide an estimate of the research support costs and treatment, intervention or service costs associated with the research (if applicable). An explanation of why these costs are being incurred and the basis on which the estimations have been made should be fully detailed under the relevant ‘Justification of Costs’ section.
Research support costs
These are the additional costs associated with the research that would end once the research study in question had stopped, even if the associated treatment, intervention, or service continued to be provided. Researchers should contact their local R&D department initially and, if they are unable to help directly or if there is no local R&D department, contact the Local Comprehensive Research Network (LCRN) senior manager for advice on research support costs. Social care studies are eligible to receive CRN support and further details about LCRN contacts are available on the NIHR Clinical Research Network website. Read more on our support for a broader range of research studies.
Treatment, intervention or service costs
These are the costs that would continue to be incurred if the treatment, intervention, or service in question continued to be provided after the research study stops.
The committee/panel will take treatment, intervention or service costs into account when considering the value for money of the research. It is important that you consider these costs and discuss them with the NHS Trust, local authorities, third sector organisations or care/service providers involved in order to avoid any delay in commencing the research.
Typically treatment, intervention and service costs should be met by the commissioner, such as the local authority. Where it is not possible for the commissioner to pay the costs, social care research studies funded by NIHR may be eligible for intervention cost support from the DHSC. In order to apply for this, researchers will need to complete an additional proforma as part of their Stage 2 application. Further guidance on Public Health and Social Care Excess Treatment Costs (ETCs) can be found here.
For further information, please see the attributing the costs of health and social care research and development (AcoRD) guidance.
Online SoECAT
Please be aware that if your planned project includes the recruitment of participants, your application should be accompanied with the Funder Export from the online SoECAT, obtainable via the NIHR Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS).
In order to create a SoECAT, you will need to create an account in CPMS. After creating the account, you will need to login to CPMS to activate this account. If any assistance is required in creating the account, please refer to our user guide. Once your account has been created and is active, you can proceed.
Guidance for the completion of the SoECAT by the applicant is present in the online tool to assist at each page and stage of the application process and further details can be found on the Online SoECAT Guidance page.
There is also an Online SoECAT Guidance Module which includes video tutorials and linked resources (an NIHR Learn account is required to access and enrol onto the module) and a helpful Study Representative - Online SoECAT Top Tips infographic.
Please note that completion of the SoECAT may not be necessary when applying for funding to support: overarching programmes with no specific research study protocol, infrastructure, fellowships, anything where the grant is to be used for direct employment of a member of staff or purchase of an asset, and data or diagnostic reviews where recruitment data is not collected. Such applications should be submitted with an explanation added to the Justification of Costs section.
We will continue to engage with the sector on improving the SoECAT.