Accepting a Research Grant

1. Authority to Accept a Grant Offer

Although an offer will normally refer to a chief investigator and a specific project, research funds are legally awarded to James Cook University. Most funding agencies require that a University official with the appropriate delegation signs a grant award.

Researchers are not permitted to sign grant acceptances on behalf of the University.

Only the Senior Deputy-Vice-Chancellor and the Director, Research Services have the authority to accept research grants or fellowships and to accept conditions of award on behalf of the University. Research Services will facilitate this approval process.

2. Review of Proposed Funding Agreement/Conditions of Award

Research Services’ Research Legal Officer reviews any proposed agreement for the award of a grant to ensure that the conditions are acceptable. If necessary, Research Services will negotiate any conditions on behalf of the grant recipient. Agreement review is undertaken in conjunction with the researcher who is kept informed of developments.

3. Documentation/Correspondence regarding the Research Grant

A University Records file is created for each grant. The purpose of this file is to maintain a formal record for the grant, including any queries or correspondence. It is therefore requested that grant recipients direct any correspondence to the granting body through Research Services so that this file can be kept current. In many cases, the granting body will accept only correspondence that has been processed through Research Services this is a formal requirement, for example, of the ARC and NHMRC.