Award Manager

Get up to speed with the new pre-award system for research applications
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Introduction

The University uses a browser-based system for the research grant pre-award process. This process encompasses the project costing, peer review and approval. The system is fully electronic and online.
The tool, called Award Manager sits within Unit4, the same system that hosts the University's finance system, Agresso. It provides instant access to real-time data about research activities, allows for split costing between schools and departments and streamlines the approval process.

Access

To access Award Manager, access via this page: Corporate Self Service then, click the 'Unit 4' tile on the middle row, this will then allow you to log in. You can then select ‘Award Management’ from the options on the left hand side.
If you do not have ‘Award Management’ among the options on the left hand side of Unit 4 please contact the Funding Advisory Service at fundingadvisoryservice@plymouth.ac.uk who will provide you with access to the system.
In order to have your preliminary costing set up on Award Manager, please complete a Project Costing Request form and return it to the Funding Advisory Service.

Calculating the cost

A minimum of ten working days prior to the Funder’s deadline you should contact the Funding Advisors for assistance with calculating the cost of the work in your proposal and submit a Costing Request Form (internal staff and students only) to fundingadvisoryservice@plymouth.ac.uk. Any requests received with less notice will require an accompanying email from the relevant Head of School confirming that there are unavoidable “extenuating circumstances”. Any request for a costing that do not meet this deadline and do not have Head of School confirmation, will not be costed.
The team will work with you to ensure that everything has been costed appropriately and in accordance with University of Plymouth Full Economic Costing (fEC) rates and the University's finance regulations and procedures. University staff can visit the Finance SharePoint site for further information.
The Funding Advisors will prepare a costing for you on Award Manager that summarises all of the costs and specifies the proportion that will be funded externally and any shortfall that must be funded internally. For instance, the research councils only pay 80% of the fEC in most cases.
Institutional approval from Head of School and Dean is required for all external research funding applications; this is completed through Award Manager. Projects with a value of greater than £2 million (fEC) require additional sign-off by the Office of the Vice Chancellor (OVC). The Funding Advisors and Research Funding Managers will arrange this for you. Please allow at least a week following all other approvals for the OVC sign-off to be completed.

Which Award Manager role do you need guidance for?


We have separate guidance documents for each of the following roles you may be fulfilling:
  • Principal Investigator – I need a new costing for my research proposal.
  • Peer Reviewer – I have been asked to complete the institutional peer review step for an application.
  • Approver – I need to review costings for an application and consider it for approval.
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Support and training

Colleagues in R&I are available to help you feel confident using Award Manager. Please contact researchadvice@plymouth.ac.uk if you have read the guidance documents and still have questions.
For further training delivered by R&I, please see our courses page .