Part of the HEFCE allocation is in respect of quality research carried out and assessed every few years. Schools and Departments receive their share of charity QR (quality-related research) in the form of a budget allocation on Source of Funds ECBA.
The budget is calculated and allocated in September /October based on the QR charity support fund grant to be received from HEFCE over the course of the current financial year.
In the pursuit of research activity, use is made of many University resources. These indirect costs are known as ‘overheads’. Sponsors are therefore asked for a contribution to the full costs that support research activity. Thus ‘overheads’ include the costs of:
Overheads cover costs that have been incurred both centrally as well as in the department, and therefore this income is normally shared between the Department and the Chest.
The departmental share of overheads is credited by the Finance Division on the appropriate Source of Funds (specific to sponsor type). In order for this to be more manageable for Departments and Schools, funds may be pooled on Source of Funds EZZZ using transfer transaction code EZXX.
Sometimes there may be monies left unspent on a research grant at the end of a contract. The majority of these will be fixed priced contracts where we receive the money in advance. Income is journalled from the M Source of Funds to a set of Source of Funds codes in the range ED** and Transaction codes LZEG “research grant revenue released in year”. Departments can pool these funds to one Source of Funds (EDCZ) using transfer transaction code EZXX.
A general donation is one where the donor has not attached any specific conditions to it, eg contributions to a general appeal. A specific donation (see H Source of Funds) is where the donor has placed restrictions on the use of the gift. For help in classifying donations please see "H" sources of funds [1].