fEC Guidance must be followed in relation to charges for Research Facilities included in research applications to UK Research Councils (RCUK), Innovate UK and Other Government Departments that pay on the basis of fEC. On 1st February each year, the list of Research Facilities eligible to be charged to RCUK is updated. The list below (Section A) shows the facilities that can be charged as a Directly Incurred cost on grants from 1st Feb 2022. Section B shows the facilities that cannot be charged as a Directly Incurred cost this year but can be reclaimed from Faculty if mentioned in the proposal (see Research Facilities on RCUK Grants_Process Note_ Jul18).
Guide:
- SIPBS: Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences
- MAE: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
- NAOME: Naval Architecture & Ocean Marine Engineering
- AFRC: Advanced Forming Research Centre
- AMRL: Advanced Materials Research Laboratory
- P & A: Pure & Applied
Section A
CPM refers to Costing and Pricing Module.
Eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2022
Section A: Eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2022.
| Faculty | Department | Facility/Equipment | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | SIPBS | Biological Procedures Unit (Various) | See CPM |
| Science | SIPBS | Leica Microscope | See CPM |
| Science | Physics | Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators (SCAPA) 40 TW | See CPM |
| Science | Physics | SCAPA 300 TW | See CPM |
| Engineering | MAE | Advanced Materials Research Laboratory (AMRL) (Various) | See CPM |
| Engineering | NAOME | Kelvin Hydrodynamics Lab | See CPM |
Section B
Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2019 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application. (See Research Facilities on RCUK Grants_Process Note_ Jul18).
Section B Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2019 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application.
| Faculty | Department | Facility/Equipment | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | SIPBS | In Vivo Imaging System (IVIS) |
See Facility Manager |
Section B: Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2016 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application.
Section B: Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2016 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application.
| Faculty | Department | Facility/Equipment | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering | AFRC | AFRC 200T SPF Press |
See Facility Manager |
| Engineering | AFRC | AFRC Bulge Tester |
See Facility Manager |
| Engineering | AFRC | AFRC Multiforge |
See Facility Manager |
Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2015 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application. (See Research Facilities on RCUK Grants_Process Note_ Jul18.
Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2015 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application.
| Faculty | Department | Facility/Equipment | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | P & A Chemistry | Mass Spectrometry Facility | See Facility Manager |
| Science | P & A Chemistry | X-Ray Crystallography | See Facility Manager |
| Science | P & A Chemistry | NMR Facility | See Facility Manager |
| Science | P & A Chemistry | Glovebox Facility | See Facility Manager |
| Science | Physics | Electron Microscope Facility | See Facility Manager |
| Engineering | MAE | AMRL (Various) | See Facility Manager |
| Engineering | AFRC | Screw Press | See Facility Manager |
| Engineering | AFRC | Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) | See Facility Manager |
| Engineering | AFRC |
Hydraulic Press |
See Facility Manager |
Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2014 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application. (See Research Facilities on RCUK Grants_Process Note_ Jul18 ).
Not eligible to be charged on RCUK Grants from 1st February 2014 but may be claimed via Faculty if access requirements stated in proposal/application.
| Faculty | Department | Facility/Equipment | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | SIPBS | Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility | See Facility Manager |
| Science | SIPBS | SIPBS Mass Spectrometer | See Facility Manager |
| Science | SIPBS | Uplight Epifluorescence | See Facility Manager |
| Science | SIPBS | Inverted Epliflourescence | See Facility Manager |
| Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | Gait Lab | See Facility Manager |
| Engineering/Science | CPE / Physics | Archie West | See Facility Manager |
Additional information for Facility Manager and applicants for research funding:
- Guidance for staff costing facilities in externally funded research applications
- Research Facilities on RCUK Grants_Process Note_ Jul18
- Guidance for Facility Managers
- Research Facilities on RCUK Grants_update to Facility Managers Feb 15
- FAQs
TRAC guidance for research facilities
For fEC purposes the University is required to remove the cost of research facilities from the Estates charge and charge these costs directly to Research projects. Revised rates are calculated each February.
All facilities where a charging process is already in place must be reviewed to ensure that:
- the basis of charging is in line with the fEC guidance and
- the costs recovered through the charging process are excluded from all other charges (including the Estates rate, the Indirect rate and the calculation of General Technical Support).
Facilities can be defined as:
- Major Research Facilities (MRFs) - replacement value or annual costs of £300,000 or more.
- Small Research Facilities (SRFs) - replacement value or annual costs less than £300,000.
For MRFs the calculation should include an element for depreciation, technicians costs and any material estates related costs as well as consumable costs.
For SRFs the calculation can be based solely on the consumable costs.
Following the revised TRAC guidance (issued Aug 2007), the Full Economic Costing Working Group (fECWG) decided to:
- classify facilities as Small Research Facilities (SRF) where possible
- classify facilitiy as Major Research Facilities (MRF) where necessary (over £300,000)
- treat both SRF and MRF as a Directly Incurred cost
fEC Guidance must be followed in relation to charges for Facilities included in research applications to UK Research Councils and Other Government Departments (and potentially EU). The process will be examined as part of the new Quality Assurance and Validation process being implemented by Research Councils UK. If the Guidance is not followed, the University will be subject to financial sanctions on all applications to Research Councils and Government Departments, until this matter is addressed.