Academic Reporting to Funders
Overview
Most funders require periodic (e.g. annual) and final academic reports to be submitted to them describing activity on the funded project. Some funders will require these to be 'signed off' by the University before submission and this can be arranged via Research Services. Some funders (including the Research Councils) will impose financial penalties if final reports are not submitted by the deadline given, and this cost will be borne by the Department. It is the grant holder's responsibility to ensure that such reports are submitted on time.
A number of sponsors, especially the Research Councils, are introducing conditions that require grant holders to report on the outputs, outcomes and impacts of their funded research, both during the lifetime of the awards and afterwards. New systems have been introduced for this purpose, and this has affected how much information grant holders need to enter in their final reports.
For more information about the requirements of the Research Councils in relation to final reports and outcomes reporting, please see our Academic Reporting and Expenditure Statements page. Information about other sponsors can be found on our Major sponsors pages.
Tools for monitoring the submission of Academic Reports in Departments
Departments should look to put in place a process to monitor the submission of Academic Reports for all research funders and to ensure that requirements are met on a timely basis. Such a process would require a diary or spreadsheet to be maintained that sets out the due date for all Academic Reports, and which can be used by the department as a tool to remind them of the impending deadlines and to record when submission has been completed.
The Department should look to engage with the PI as this date is approached to ensure that there are no issues likely to impact its timely submission. Where a delay is identified, the department should consider whether an extension is required and should engage with Research Services to agree with the funder.
Departments may wish to consider using the 'Portfolio' report available from Oracle as the basis of developing their 'tool'. This report will provide a full listing of all awards for the Department together with the announced end date on each award. This can then be enhanced manually in Excel to reflect when Academic Reports are due.