Instructions for Managing Grants

Congratulations! The research proposal you submitted has been approved by the Foundation and will receive funding. The team at the Authority for R&D is at your disposal for any direction and help in operating the budget and using the funds of the grant.

For your convenience, on this page we have collected information concerning use of the grants and using the Research Budgets:

• Contracts and undertakings relating to matters of Research and Development
• Remuneration for conducting research
• Handling Refunded Money
• Operating a petty cash fund in Research Budgets
• University cell phone from Research Budgets

It is important to bear in mind that operating a research grant and using a research budget also involve a great deal of responsibility towards the funder and the University. Departure from the rules of the Funding Agency or incorrect use of the funds that were designated by the foundation for carrying out the research project are liable to tarnish your reputation with the foundation with respect to future submissions, and possibly even with respect to submissions to other Research Foundations, in addition to the possible harm to the reputation of the University and its relationship with the Foundation. Adherence to the rules of the Foundation will be accompanied by adherence to the laws and regulations laid down by the State, by treaties and international principles and of course, to the University regulations.

Financial and Scientific Reporting to the Funder

In relation to most of the research grants given by external research funding agencies, the University is required to provide a financial report at various intervals of time throughout the period of the grant. The report details the manner in which the grant has been realized through the research body by specifying the outlays. These reports are produced by the budget managers in the Authority for Research and Development, in close cooperation with the researcher and his team.

In addition, the funding foundations usually ask also for a scientific report, sometimes several times throughout the research period and in some cases, only at the end. The report will contain a description of the research work and the scientific results produced in the framework of the grant. The responsibility for writing the report is that of the researcher, through the agency of the Authority for Research and Development and comporting with the requirements of the funder.

In some foundations, there are designated forms and instructions for producing these reports.

General Budget Instructions

Funding of the research activity at the University is done through a designated series of budgets – research budgets. The opening of research budgets and their operation is conditional upon compliance with the rules set by the Authority for Research and Development for this purpose.

Opening, Updating and Closing Research Budgets

• A research budgets will be opened with a minimum amount of $500 for the theoretical sciences and $1000 (or the equivalent value) for the experimental sciences.
• Income from different sources will be unified into the one budget only if they are identical in their funding conditions and if there is a contract only for one of them.
• Income from service projects will be budgeted only on the basis of contacts by means of Yissum Co.
• A researcher’s request for a change in the budget will be granted only if it was submitted in writing to a budget manager and on condition that the funder does not object to this change.
• At the time of closure of the research budget, the researcher in whose name the budget appears will bear any budgetary loss, which will be funded from his other budgets, irrespective of the reason for the deficit – except for a breach of contract on the part of the funder.

Permitted and Forbidden Expenditures from Research Budgets

Expenditure may be made from a research budget on the following conditions:

• Every expenditure must serve the particular research and must be vital to it
• The funder does not object to this expenditure
• The expenditure is executed according to the relevant University rules
• The expenditure is accompanied by documents which allow for an accounting check
• The expenditure is executed in the course of the period of the research (or slightly beforehand – if the funder expressly permits this)
• It is absolutely forbidden to charge for expenditures that are entirely a direct personal benefit to the researcher and/or his family, including wages (except for research/job increment for the researcher).

The outlays of a senior academic faculty member for activity that can be covered by the Science Relations Fundation may not be paid from research budgets, unless the outlay was specified expressly in the agreement signed with the funder. In addition, in a research budget that is used by the researcher to fulfil a management role, expenditure necessary for the purpose of fulfilling this role is permissible, with the approval of the Vice President for Authority and Research. Granting of the approval is conditional upon the declaration of the dean or the Rector (in accordance with the role fulfilled by the researcher) as to the necessity for the expenditure for the purpose of fulfilling the role.

Internal charges on Research Budgets

The researcher must price the University expenditures on his research (overheads, ICT (information and communications technology), handling costs for acquisitions, handling cost for financial transfers, handling costs for hazardous waste removal, campaign costs etc.) in his research proposal, in any case in which the funder does not openly object to this charge. In any event, the internal expenditures will be charge to the research budget and must be covered by the researcher, unless the funder expressly prohibits this.

Expenditure from research budgets for services from units within the University is permitted on condition that it is supported by documents that detail the precise nature, the amount that was supplied, the timing of the order and the reason for it having been done within the University and not from an external supplier.

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