Financial management of research grants

Before you submit your grant you must liaise with the relevant NHS and university finance offices to obtain accurate costs, in order to develop a study costing.

Managing and overseeing grant finances post award is the responsibility of the grant holder, with help of the relevant finance departments involved. The CI is usually the budget holder, unless this activity has been delegated to someone else.

Funders have different methods of payment; the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) payments mirror the payment profile in the contract; other funders expect you to invoice. The details are explained in the contract or award letter.

You are required to produce a financial report for the funder when requested, and this can be complex if multiple organisations are involved.

For NIHR grants held at UHBristol, contact Liz.Wilkinson@uhbristol.nhs.uk

For other grants held at UH Bristol, you should involve your Divisional Finance Manager or Management Accountant. It is a good idea to get to know them and explain what the study is about, and how the payments and/or invoicing are going to work.

Research & Innovation can help decipher the research contracts/award letters from funders - contact funding@uhbristol.nhs.uk 

UHBristol also runs finance training courses including use of ProFin; information on how to access these, and other relevant information regarding UHBristol finance, can be found on the FinWeb section of the intranet.