Research Support Costs

Your studentship comes with a budget to support project mobility, attendance at national/international conferences and research bench/project costs.

Setting a Budget for Year 2

You are required to work with your supervisor to draw a projected outline budget for Year 2, which will go to the CDT Management Board for approval. This important aspect of your PhD training gives you valuable experience of financial planning and budgeting.

The following illustrates the maximum funding for Year 2. Please read the notes which follow:

Project Mobility £1800 (£500 travel and £1300 accommodation); Conference £700; Research Bench/Project Costs* £4500-£7500

*Project costs will vary depending on the nature of the project and most should fall within the range outlined. Your projected costs should accurately reflect the required funding to complete your research plan. We do not expect that all projects will require funding in the upper end of the range shown. A basic principle of the CDT is that you as a member of the cohort should be looking to maximize what you can get for the budget. Ways that you could do that include; forward planning visits between Universities to maximize time and save of near to journey price increases; augmenting the conference budget by applying for supplementary/leverage funding elsewhere and in Research Support engaging with each other in the cohort and in the various groups you work in to maximize value e.g. if someone is using a microscope can they occasionally look at your samples in their booking? Can you do something for them? Can you provide them with additional samples from your project?

Facilities costs: Given the diversity of facilities available there is a diversity of charging and access rates in use between the two Universities. This ranges from a fixed fee for the JWNC through per session booking rates on microscopes/FIBs etc in both Universities to more ad-hoc contribution towards the consumables (targets/gases/wafers).

Additionally, where projects might incur significant costs the supervisory team is expected to augment the CDT support from resources they have (e.g. external grants, University support etc). One face-to-face meeting of the entire supervisory team is required per annum and an additional £250 will be made available to support the costs of supervisor travel to the far-site institution (contact Brenda Morris for information).

 

Managing Your Research Budget

Once approved, you are responsible for managing and keeping track of all expenditure against your annual budget. You will be asked to include a review of your annual budget as part of the annual progress review next May/June.

All procurement must take place in line with established procedures at the School of Mathematics & Physics at QUB. Please read the following guidance carefully.

 

Project Mobility

This budget allocation is to support mobility between the two partner institutions, the CDT industrial partners and for your travel/subsistence for the remaining Innovation Academy courses in Dublin and Belfast.

You are not permitted to use any underspend for other research costs. However, an underspend may be carried forward to Year 3 with the prior written approval of the CDT Director or Manager.

All bookings for travel and accommodation must be made through the CDT Administrator at QUB. You must allow sufficient time for bookings to be made on your behalf. A minimum of 10 working days’ notice is normally required. Please note that it is not possible to make any bookings using Airbnb.

Please forward an electronic copy of the Purchase Order Requisition approval form signed by your supervisor to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk. You must use the Project Code and the Sub Analysis Code provided to you by the CDT Manager. These are unique identifiers and should not be shared. You may find it useful to refer to the examples of completed requisitions here.

 

Subsistence Allowance

CDT students may claim a subsistence allowance when required to work/study at a location which is more than five miles away from both their home and their normal place of work. 

In order to comply with HMRC rules, a subsistence allowance can only be claimed if expenditure has actually been incurred. It is not permissible, therefore, to claim a subsistence allowance if no expenditure has been incurred, which may be the case if all meals and drinks are provided to you at an event, at no cost.

Subsistence Allowance Daily Rates: If travel is completed within a single day one of the following allowances may be claimed (i) for absences more than 5 hours £5 or (ii) for absences more than 10 hours £10 or (iii) for absences more than 15 hours (extending beyond 8.00 pm, and including dinner) £25

Subsistence Allowance Overnight Rate: If an overnight stay is required the following overnight allowance (to include dinner) may be claimed £25

Only one subsistence allowance (daily/overnight) may be claimed in respect of a specific period. It is not permissible to claim receipted expenses for the same period (other than travel costs such as bus and train).

It should be noted that the overnight allowance is payable in respect of nights spent away from home; for example, if you travel away from home on a Monday and return on a Wednesday, you would consequently be away on both the Monday and Tuesday night, and the allowance claimable would be 2 x £25 = £50.

All subsistence claims must be made to the CDT Administrator within 8 weeks by submitting a completed Subsistence Claim Form. If you have incurred travel expenses i.e. bus or train you should also complete the expenses spreadsheet and submit the electronic copy to the CDT Administrator by email to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk - a hard copy of the spreadsheet along with original receipts must also be submitted.

 

International/National Conference Participation

You have a budget allocation of £700 towards conference participation in 2018/19, which must be agreed and approved by your supervisor.

You are strongly encouraged to use this funding to access matched funding from other sources, such as departmental, university and external bursaries (e.g. http://www.iop.org/about/grants/research_student/page_38808.html or http://www.iop.org/about/grants/barber/page_38812.html).

All bookings for conference (travel, accommodation and conference fees) should be made through the CDT Administrator at QUB. Please forward an electronic copy of the Purchase Order Requisition approval form signed by your supervisor to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk. You must use the Project Code and the Sub Analysis Code provided to you by the CDT Manager.  These are unique identifiers and should not be shared.

It is expected that you provide your supervisory team and the CDT cohort with feedback on the conferences that you attend and report on any new developments in the field.

 

Other Research Support/Bench Costs

The nature of your research activity means that you will require access to consumables (materials, wafers, etc) and to a suite of deposition and process equipment, microscopy in both institutions and cleanroom microfabrication. You must work with your supervisors at both institutions to manage these costs. All materials and consumables should be ordered through the CDT Administrator at QUB. Please forward an electronic copy of the Purchase Order Requisition approval form signed by your supervisor to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk. You must use the Project Code and the Sub Analysis Code provided to you by the CDT Manager. These are unique identifiers and should not be shared.

If you require delivery to the University of Glasgow you must ensure that the delivery details are clearly stated.

 

Confirm Receipt of Materials

You must email the CDT Administrator piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk to confirm that you have received the materials/goods ordered. Please note failure to do this may result in future requisitions being declined.

 

Research Support Costs

Your studentship comes with a budget to support project mobility, attendance at national/international conferences and research bench/project costs.

Setting a Budget for Year 3

You are required to work with your supervisor to draw a projected outline budget for Year 3, which will go to the CDT Management Board for approval. This important aspect of your PhD training gives you valuable experience of financial planning and budgeting.

The following illustrates the maximum funding for Year 3. Please read the notes which follow 

Project Mobility £1200 for travel and accommodation/subsistence costs

Conference £700

Research Bench/Project Costs* £4400-£7500

*Project costs will vary depending on the nature of the project and most should fall within the range outlined. Your projected costs should accurately reflect the required funding to complete your research plan. We do not expect that all projects will require funding in the upper end of the range shown. A basic principle of the CDT is that you as a member of the cohort should be looking to maximize what you can get for the budget. Ways that you could do that include; forward planning visits between Universities to maximize time and save of near to journey price increases; augmenting the conference budget by applying for supplementary/leverage funding elsewhere and in Research Support engaging with each other in the cohort and in the various groups you work in to maximize value e.g. if someone is using a microscope can they occasionally look at your samples in their booking? Can you do something for them? Can you provide them with additional samples from your project?

Facilities costs: Given the diversity of facilities available there is a diversity of charging and access rates in use between the two Universities. Rates vary by department and your supervisor/ facilities manager should be able to help you with estimating costs.

Additionally, where projects might incur significant costs the supervisory team is expected to augment the CDT support from resources they have (e.g. external grants, University support etc).  One face-to-face meeting of the entire supervisory team is required per annum and an additional £250 will be made available to support the costs of supervisor travel to the far-site institution (contact Brenda Morris for information).

 

Managing Your Research Budget

Once approved, you are responsible for managing and keeping track of all expenditure against your annual budget. You will be asked to include a review of your budget as part of the annual progress review process.

All procurement must take place in line with established procedures at the School of Maths & Physics at QUB.  Please read the following guidance carefully:

 

Project Mobility

This budget allocation is to support mobility between the two partner institutions, the CDT industrial partners and for your travel to Dublin for any outstanding Innovation Academy courses.  You are not normally permitted to use any underspend for other research costs. Please speak to Brenda Morris if you have any queries.

All bookings for travel and accommodation must be made through the CDT Administrator at QUB. You must allow sufficient time for bookings to be made on your behalf. A minimum of 10 working days’ notice is normally required. Please note that it is not possible to make any bookings using Airbnb.

Please forward an electronic copy of the Purchase Order Requisition approval form signed by your supervisor to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk. You must use the Project Code and the Sub Analysis Code provided to you by the CDT Manager. These are unique identifiers and should not be shared. You may find it useful to refer to the examples of completed requisitions here.

 

Subsistence Allowance

CDT students may claim a subsistence allowance when required to work/study at a location which is more than five miles away from both their home and their normal place of work. 

In order to comply with HMRC rules, a subsistence allowance can only be claimed if expenditure has actually been incurred. It is not permissible, therefore, to claim a subsistence allowance if no expenditure has been incurred, which may be the case if all meals and drinks are provided to you at an event, at no cost.

Under HMRC guidelines, sufficient information must be provided to justify the number of hours being claimed and proof provided to demonstrate that expenditure on a meal has been incurred. Therefore, it is a requirement that receipts should be attached to support the allowance being claimed as proof that a meal has been purchased after starting a business journey to a temporary workplace. HMRC consider a meal to include both food and drink and, for claims for the £25 allowance, must be something more substantial than, for example, a drink and a chocolate bar. One meal receipt per day is needed to validate a subsistence claim.

In the event that a receipt cannot be obtained, or has been lost, then this should be noted on the claim together with full details of the expense. This may be subject to checking by the Payments Office and claims may be rejected where there is a reasonable expectation that a receipt would have been issued.

Subsistence Allowance Daily Rates: If travel is completed within a single day one of the following allowances may be claimed (i) for absences more than 5 hours £5 or (ii) for absences more than 10 hours £10 or (iii) for absences more than 15 hours (extending beyond 8.00 pm, and including dinner) £25

Subsistence Allowance Overnight Rate: If an overnight stay is required the following overnight allowance (to include dinner) may be claimed £25

Only one subsistence allowance (daily/overnight) may be claimed in respect of a specific period.  It is not permissible to claim receipted expenses for the same period (other than travel costs such as bus and train).

Expenses based on a subsistence allowance may not be claimed where a meal is provided, reimbursed on an actual basis, or included in the cost of an overnight stay.

It should be noted that the overnight allowance is payable in respect of nights spent away from home; for example, if you travel away from home on a Monday and return on a Wednesday, you would consequently be away on both the Monday and Tuesday night, and the allowance claimable would be 2 x £25 = £50.

All subsistence claims must be made to the CDT Administrator within 8 weeks by submitting a completed Subsistence Claim Form.  If you have incurred travel expenses i.e. bus or train you should also complete the expenses spreadsheet and submit the electronic copy to the CDT Administrator by email to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk - a hard copy of the spreadsheet along with original receipts must also be submitted.

 

International/National Conference Participation

You have budget allocation of £700 towards conference participation, which must be agreed and approved by your supervisor. You are strongly encouraged to use this funding to access matched funding from other sources, such as departmental, university and external bursaries (e.g. http://www.iop.org/about/grants/research_student/page_38808.html or http://www.iop.org/about/grants/barber/page_38812.html)

*some students may have been permitted to use their 2018/19 allocation in 2018/19. Similarily, some students may have carried over unspent conference funds from previous years. 

All bookings for conference (travel, accommodation and conference fees) should be made through the CDT Administrator at QUB.  Please forward an electronic copy of the Purchase Order Requisition approval form signed by your supervisor to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk. You must use the Project Code and the Sub Analysis Code provided to you by the CDT Manager. These are unique identifiers and should not be shared.

It is expected that you provide your supervisory team and the CDT cohort with feedback on the conferences that you attend and report on any new developments in the field.

 

Other Research Support/Bench Costs

The nature of your research activity means that you will require access and consumables (materials, wafers etc.) and to a suite of deposition and process equipment, microscopy in both institutions and cleanroom microfabrication. You must work with your supervisors at both institutions to manage these costs. All materials and consumables should be ordered through the CDT Administrator at QUB. Please forward an electronic copy of the Purchase Order Requisition approval form signed by your supervisor to piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk. You must use the Project Code and the Sub Analysis Code provided to you by the CDT Manager. These are unique identifiers and should not be shared.

If you require delivery to the University of Glasgow you must ensure that the delivery details are clearly stated.

 

Confirm Receipt of Materials

You must email the CDT Administrator piads.cdt@qub.ac.uk to confirm that you have received the materials/goods ordered. Please note failure to do this may result in future requisitions being declined.