Accepting and Managing NHMRC and MRFF grants

Accepting Your Grant

Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (RIC) will liaise with the awardee to facilitate the grant acceptance process. NHMRC or MRFF paperwork, including the NHMRC or MRFF Letter of Award and the Grant Schedule,  can be accessed via Sapphire.

For RIC to accept the NHMRC or MRFF grant offer on behalf of the awardee, an "Execution Request Form" (ERF) will be sent to each awardee and their Head of Department/Head of School (HoD/HoS). In most cases, the ERF will be sent “for information only” and does not require approval from the awardee and their HoD/HoS. Some grants will require approval from the awardee and HoD/HoS by following the instructions in the ERF email.

Please note, accepting the ERF signifies that:

• The awardee agrees to comply with the NHMRC funding agreement, and any additional conditions specified in the award, including financial and reporting requirements.
• The HoD/HoS accepts the award into the department and agrees to provide the necessary infrastructure and meet any funding shortfall between the NHMRC salary package and University salaries from non-NHMRC sources.

When the ERF is approved by both CIA and HoD/HoS, RIC will accept the grant in Sapphire and notify the awardee that grant acceptance has been completed. To finalise the Themis record and receive funds from NHMRC, the awardee will need to complete the Additional Themis Information form sent by the grants team and complete the “At Award” data on Sapphire.

Ethics Approval

The NHMRC and MRFF no longer require a copy of the relevant ethics approvals. However, all administering institutions must still meet clearance requirements and obtain and maintain the necessary approvals for the duration of the Project under the respective Funding Agreement. It is therefore the responsibility of all grant awardees to retain a copy of the relevant approvals pertaining to the NHMRC grant award and we suggest ethics applications are submitted to the relevant Ethics Committee.

Standard Multi-Institutional Agreements (MIAs)

All chief investigators named on the grant must agree on the distribution of funds between institutions. The Chief Investigator A (CIA) will be asked to confirm and enter the relevant details on the 'Multi-Institutional agreement' (MIA) and return the document to Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (RIC) who will arrange execution with all collaborating institutions. RIC will also provide the collaborating institutions with supporting documentation (Schedule 1).

Both the NHMRC and MRFF funding agreements require that an MIA must be in place with all collaborating institutions even when no funds are to be transferred between the institutions. Standard agreement templates are currently in use within the Group of Eight (Go8) Universities, and overseas institutions must be included in this agreement when funds are to be transferred to those institutions.

Where no funds are to be distributed to overseas collaborating institutions a simple letter agreement will be used instead. We have found that this approach significantly improves cooperation by the collaborator as well as the overall turnaround time, whilst meeting our obligations under the sponsor funding agreement.

Multi-Institutional Agreements (MIAs) for Clinical Trials

Please note if the awarded project is a Clinical Trial and UoM is the sponsor of the trial you will be required to submit your Sponsorship Request Form (SRF), Protocol and related documents through Infonetica ERM as soon as practical. For more information, please refer to Clinical Trials Governance webpage. Please contact the Clinical Trials Governance team to find out more clinicaltrials-governance@unimelb.edu.au.

NHMRC Funding Agreement

The NHMRC Funding Agreement (effective March 2020) describes the NHMRC's requirements in relation to the management of research funding by administering institutions and includes reference to several documents including the NHMRC policy on actions to be taken in response to research misconduct involving NHMRC funding and the 'institutional annual compliance report'.

Although offers refer to a chief investigator A (CIA), fellow, scholar and a project, grants are legally awarded to administering institutions. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) will accept the award formally on behalf of the University of Melbourne and the project will be entered into the Themis agreements module.

MRFF Funding Agreement

The MRFF Funding Agreement (effective November 2021) is very similar to the NHMRC funding agreement in describing the Department of Health’s requirements for the management of research funding by MRFF eligible organisations and makes reference to the same policy documents as the NHMRC funding agreement.

Creating A Themis Agreement Record & Financial Account (General Ledger)

A Themis agreement record will be created for each successful project.

When acceptance paperwork has been completed and returned, Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (RIC) will contact Finance and Employee Services to activate the account (general ledger project) so financial transactions can commence.  Assistance with Post-Award Finance Support can be found here.

Previous versions of the NHMRC funding agreements are available to view.

Employing Staff

Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (RIC) is not involved in recruitment or appointment of staff paid from grants and fellowships, this is the responsibility of the department and faculty along with their HR staff.

It is important to identify the source of funding when liaising with HR. Staff should refer to the specific funding agreement to ensure the University's obligations to the NHMRC are met about staff appointments, particularly in relation to fellowships.

If stipend funding has been requested, a studentship can be set up through Melbourne Scholarships. Refer to the Melbourne Scholarships page for details.

Managing Expenditure & Changes To Projects

The Chief Investigator A (CIA) and their department are responsible for daily management of funding.  All funds must be spent in accordance with the funding agreement, special conditions in the letter of award, the original grant application and the multi-institutional agreement.

University of Melbourne Chief Investigators and the financial consultant can view grant details by logging into Themis research self-service (agreements workbench).  A copy of the funding agreement, letter of award, funding schedule, Multi-Institutional Agreement and any NHMRC approved variations will be attached to the record.

NHMRC Publication Open Access Policy

Under NHMRC’s revised Open Access Policy, all peer-reviewed publications arising from NHMRC-funded research must be made available immediately upon publication, removing the 12-month embargo period. They must also be published with the use of an open licence, which means publications can be used and shared widely.

These requirements apply to all new grants awarded under NHMRC Grant Opportunity Guidelines issued from 20 September 2022, and will be phased in for all other NHMRC grants, with full implementation by 1 January 2024. This requirement is met in part by these publications being available via your ‘Find an Expert’ profile or journal articles being published in open access journals.

Grant Variations

All grants funded by the NHMRC or MRFF are offered in accordance with the Funding Agreement between the NHMRC and the Administering Institution or Eligible Organisation. The funding includes a requirement for regular administrative activities and reporting.

Funding is awarded after a peer review assessment process. There are often extenuating circumstances that affect the original proposal for funding and in these cases a request for grant variation is required.  These include changes to personnel, leave requests, suspensions, changes to planned budget expenditure and transferring the award to a different administering institution.

For NHMRC grants, supporting documentation required for each variation type is outlined in the NHMRC grantee variations policy which can be found on the NHMRC Vary Your Grant website. Please contact RIC for confirmation of any additional internal documentation required e.g. HOD letter of support.

MRFF Grants that are administered by the NHMRC are managed under the MRFF Grant Variation Policy and in accordance with Appendix A: Submitting Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Grant Variations for MRFF grants administered by NHMRC.

All variation requests must be submitted by the CIA through Sapphire and certified by RIC. Guidance on how to complete and submit a grant variation via Sapphire can be found here under the section ‘Select and Postaward’ > ‘How to submit and monitor grant variations in Sapphire’

Variation Types

The following variation types exist:

• Deferral of commencement date: Use this variation if your grant has not yet started and you wish to defer the commencement date. Please note for MRFF grants administered by NHMRC a defer commencement date variation may not be possible. Please see the relevant variations policy linked above for more information on what to include in this request.
• Deferral of an in-progress grant and extended leave requests: Use this variation if your grant is midway through and you need to suspend it. No project activities can occur whilst this variation type is in place. Please see the relevant variations policy linked above for more information on what to include in this request.
• Extend End Date: Use this variation if your grant is near its end date and you wish to extend the end date of the grant with a no cost extension. Please see the relevant variations policy linked above for more information on what to include in this request.
• Relinquish Grant: A request to relinquish a grant (or a novation to withdraw from a grant agreement, where appropriate) can be used when the agreed grant activities are not able to be completed. Please see the relevant variations policy linked above for more information on what to include in this request.
• Change to Research Plan: Use this variation if the project as encountered impacts that requires changes in the aims or objectives as specified in the application for the Research Activity and as approved in the peer review process for funding. Please see the relevant variations policy linked above for more information on what to include in this request.
• Change to Chief Investigators: Use this variation to remove, change, or add Chief Investigators (CIs). The removal, change, or addition of CIs is considered  exceptional circumstances. Please see the relevant variations policy linked above for more information on what to include in this request.
• Change to Associate Investigators: Use this variation to remove, change, or add Associate Investigators (AIs). Please see the relevant variations policy linked above for more information on what to include in this request.
• Change to expenditure (MRFF only): Change to expenditure variations should be requested using the ‘Change to Research Plan’ variation type in Sapphire. Use this variation type to request a change to expenditure when that change falls outside the NHMRC’s Direct Research Costs Guidelines, such as requests for a change to overseas expenditure. Such requests are still subject to the relevant grant opportunity guidelines, grant agreement, and grant schedule. Requests for changes to expenditure such as overseas expenditure should use the Change to expenditure request form available on NHMRC’s website and be uploaded to the ‘Change to Research Plan’ variation type. Please see page 5 of the MRFF Appendix A for more information on what to include in this request.
• Change to grant activity (MRFF only): Change to grant activity variations should be requested using the ‘Change to Research Plan’ variation type in Sapphire. The ‘Change in Research Plan’ variation type should also be used for: proposing the addition or removal of a Partner Organisation; proposing changes to mandatory Other Contributions required to be provided and spent as outlined in the application; or proposing changes in expenditure. Please see pages 3-4 of the MRFF Appendix A for more information on what to include in this request.

Variations Due To The Impact Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

If a grant holder’s circumstances have changed – for example, there has been a delay in Research Activity because of involvement in the clinical or public health response – RAOs can submit variation requests on behalf of the researchers. More details are available on the NHMRC COVID-19 impacts website.

Requests for additional time due to COVID-19 must include:

• a detailed explanation of the impact of COVID-19 on the research activity;
• any mitigations that has been put in place during the intervening period;
• what will be done in the extension period to ensure the grant can be completed by the revised End Date.

If you intend to submit a variation request, please note the following:

• Extending a current grant may result in subsequent eligibility issues when applying for new grants, and this may impact all CIs named in the research team.
• You may request a maximum of 12 calendar months extension in total for each of the variation types listed above. Extensions beyond this will only be granted under exceptional circumstances (the impact of Covid19 could be an exceptional circumstance).
• Typically, the NHMRC does not provide additional funding if an extension is granted.
• Extensions will NOT affect Research Support Packages for any current Investigator Grant holders who have had their RSP reduced due to concurrently holding a Project Grant/Program Grant.

When submitting a variation, you must:

• Seek written approval (email) for the extension from your Head of Department AND your collaborators. The NHMRC obliges the RAO to retain copies of HoD approvals, so please attach a copy of the HoD approval to the Variation request.
• NHMRC Scholarship holders must seek written approval (email) from their supervisor. The NHMRC obliges the RAO to retain copies of supervisor approvals, so please attach a copy of the approval to the Variation request. Scholarship holders are responsible for notifying their Head of Department of the request.

NHMRC Scholarship Variations

If there are any variations required for your NHMRC scholarship grant, please directly contact ric-medresearch@unimelb.edu.au and we will advise the variation eligibility and process. This involves submitting a variation request to NHMRC Sapphire Research Management System.

The type of variations you can apply for:

• Defer Commencement Date
• Extended Leave
• Change in FTE
• Extend End Date
• Change in Supervisor
• Transfer Administering Institution

In addition, you must seek approval from your faculty. For more information, please refer to the Making Changes page.

When you have applied for changes to your candidature, your scholarship payments will be paused until approval is received from the NHMRC to continue the payments.

Transferring Administering and/or Actual Institutions

Transfers can be made from either an Administering Institution or Actual Institution, as defined below:

• An Administering Institution is responsible for all aspects of administration of the grant, including financial aspect.
• An Actual Institution is where the research is being conducted or is the primary workplace of an Investigator.

The Administering and Actual Institutions may be the one and the same or they may be separate Institutions.

The procedures below set out the responsibilities of each of the following entities to transfer a grant to another Administering Institution:

• Chief Investigator A (CI)
• Relinquishing institution
• New institution
• NHMRC

All requests for the transfer of awards are to be submitted via Sapphire. It is the responsibility of the CIA to drive the transfer process and to ensure that the completed transfer request is submitted to NHMRC in a timely manner.

Completing the Request to Transfer a Grant.

• Completing the Request (Chief Investigator A): When a decision to transfer to another Institution is made by an Investigator, the CIA on the grant must complete and certify a variation request through the Grantee Variation section of Sapphire. After the request has been certified by the CIA, the request will become available to the Research Administrative Officer (RAO) of the relinquishing Institution for RAO certification before it is submitted to the NHMC
• Completing the Request (relinquishing Institution): After the CIA has certified and submitted the transfer request to the RAO, the RAO is to ensure that all relevant information is provided to facilitate the transfer, and the RAO then certifies and submits the request to NHMRC through Sapphire.

Note that the relinquishing Institution must provide a transfer acquittal statement within four weeks of the requested date of transfer.  The relinquishing institution must also provide the accepting institution with a copy of the application, letter of award, schedule and ethics clearances.

Once the transfer has been approved, the NHMRC will issue relevant paperwork to the new administering institution and the CIA will be advised.

Additional Scheme Specific Requirements For Grant Transfers (Fellowships, Scholarships, Program Grant)

Standard letters to be uploaded to Sapphire for Scholarships include:

• A letter of support from relinquishing institution
• A letter of support from the accepting institution
• A letter from the scholar requesting the transfer and outlining the reason for the transfer
• A letter of support from the current supervisor
• A letter of support from the proposed supervisor
• CV of the proposed supervisor
• A letter of support from the new HOD

Standard letters to be uploaded to Sapphire for Fellowships & Investigator Grants include:

• A letter of support from relinquishing institution
• A letter of support from the accepting institution
• A letter from the Fellow requesting the transfer and outlining the reason for the transfer

In addition, Early Career Fellowship holders must also include the following:

• A letter of support from the current supervisor
• A letter of support from the proposed supervisor
• CV of the proposed supervisor
• A letter of support from the existing HOD
• A letter of support from the new HOD

The Transfer of Program Grants will trigger an additional Program Grant Administrative Review. The NHMRC will instigate an Administrative Review where a CI either intends:

• leaving the Program
• changing their institution
• changing their employment from that detailed in the original application or approved previously through Administrative Review

If a CI leaves and the NHMRC determines that the Program is still viable, the team will be given the opportunity to put forward a replacement CI from the effective date of departure. However, where there is a gap between the departure date and the replacement date, the budget will be adjusted to provide pro-rata funding. NHMRC is to be notified of such instances, in advance, through the Program's RAO. The Administrative Review of Program Grants (August 2013) document contains a brief outline of the process and the Administrative Review Submission to be completed and submitted to the NHMRC through Sapphire.

Internal  Transfers

The transfer of a grant between departments requires the completion of a Themis TR1D form which should be submitted to RIC.

Project codes are affected and sign off is required by Heads of Department (both relinquishing and accepting).

Sharing Funding Between UoM Departments

The Themis TR1F form should be used when changes need to be made to department sharing arrangements within the University of Melbourne.

NHMRC Progress reporting

Progress Reports are only required for projects funded by the Clinical Trial & Cohort Study scheme further details on the timing and requirements of these are available in your grant schedule and scheme guidelines. Researchers are expected to update their CV in Sapphire on an annual basis (end of June each year) including linking outputs and outcomes to the relevant NHMRC grant ID number. NHMRC still requires the submission of a Final report and failure to do so will impact on eligibility for future applications. User guides for submitting Final Reports through Sapphire are available via the NHMRC website and NHMRC Sapphire FAQs page.

MRFF Progress Reports

All active MRFF grants now have Progress Reports due on 30^th September.  Grants with 12 monthly reporting will report on the previous financial year (1^st July to 30^th June).  Grants with six monthly reporting requirements will also have a progress report due on 31^st March covering the period 1^st July to 31^st December, as well as the report due 30^th September which will cover the period 1^st January to 30^th June.  All reports must be completed on the MRFF Progress Report  template and emailed to enquiries-mrff@unimelb.edu.au for submission to the MRFF Postaward team. These reports should not be submitted in Sapphire.

Other MRFF Reporting

Ad hoc reporting may also be required for some MRFF grants, including for example Draft Commercialisation plans, reporting on additional funding, and confirming milestone deliverables outside the normal reporting period.  If these reports are required they will be detailed in the grant schedule for your award. These reports are also sent via email to enquiries-mrff@unimelb.edu.au who will submit them to the MRFF Postaward team.

NHMRC Final Reports

A Final Report must be submitted within six months of the completion of the approved funding period for all awards. The Final Report form, submitted via Sapphire, has been reduced and focuses on Achievements and Expected Future Outcomes. Information provided in Final Report may be posted on the NHMRC website, and may also be used for media purposes, promoting research achievements or performance reporting. Failure to provide the Final Report is a default under the Funding Agreement and may be a relevant consideration in relation to further applications for NHMRC funding. Guidance for completing the NHMRC Final Report in Sapphire can be found on the NHMRC Sapphire FAQs page.

Chief Investigators should have provided information on the achievements of a grant through their annual update of their Sapphire CV, and are encouraged to keep their Sapphire CV up-to-date even after the Final Report is submitted. This enables NHMRC to evaluate long-term scientific, health and economic impacts of NHMRC funded research. Grant applicants can also use this information to demonstrate research outcomes from their previously held NHMRC grants.

MRFF Final Reports

MRFF Final Reports must be completed on the MRFF Final Report Template and emailed to enquiries-mrff@unimelb.edu.au for submission to the MRFF Postaward team. These reports should not be completed in Sapphire.

NHMRC Scholarship Reporting

NHMRC Scholarships do not require reports to be submitted by the student and there is no longer a requirement for a Final Report to be submitted by Supervisor.

For 'Renewing and extending the scholarship’ please refer to the Melbourne Scholarships page. Scholarships are administered by Melbourne Scholarships and any extension requests must be submitted via Sapphire. Scholarship holders must liaise directly with Melbourne Scholarships.

Submission of Non-Lead NHMRC Applications

Applicants involved in projects not administered by the University of Melbourne, are referred to as non-lead grants. Non-lead NHMRC applications do not need to be entered in Themis Submissions at the time of application, however RIC will need to be aware of the proposal if central contributions are required. A Themis Submission should be created if the grant is successful.

The lead/administering institution on the application is responsible for review and submission of the application to the NHMRC.

Notifying RIC and Setting up a Multi-Institution Agreement

The Lead Institution is responsible for accepting the grant on behalf of named project personnel and all personnel are responsible carrying out the project in accordance with the NHMRC Funding Agreement. The Lead Institution should enter into a Multi-Institution Agreement (MIA) with all collaborating institutions. The MIA should be put in place even if no funds are being shared. Standard MIA templates have been set up within the Group of Eight (Go8) Universities, and it is the University’s preference to use these even when collaborating with universities outside the Go8.

The University of Melbourne CI should liaise with the lead CI/Administering Institution and agree on the dispersal of funds.

RIC will require the following documentation sent by email to ric-medresearch@unimelb.edu.au :

• a copy of the grant application
• a copy of the letter of award and schedule
• a copy of the draft MIA provided by the Administering Institution

RIC will review the MIA, obtain the University's authorised signatory and return a copy of the MIA to the Administering Institution.

Themis Agreement Record and Financial Account

If the University of Melbourne is to receive funds from the non-lead grant, RIC will create a Themis Agreement record and request Finance and Planning to open a financial account (GL project).  In cases where the University of Melbourne receives no funds, a Themis record will still be created for reporting purposes.

University of Melbourne researchers can view details of the grant by logging into Themis Research Self Service (Agreements Workbench).  A copy of the Funding Agreement, Letter of Award and MIA will be attached to the record.  All funds must be spent in accordance with the MIA, the Funding Agreement, any Special Conditions and the original Grant Application.

Invoicing deliverables will be entered against non-lead grant records in accordance with the funding distribution in the MIA.

Variations to Non-Lead Projects

If project circumstances change, approval may need to be sought from the NHMRC or MRFF.  Variations must be requested via the CIA through the Administering Institution's research office.

Reporting and Carrying Forward Funds

Completion of technical and financial deliverables to the NHMRC or MRFF is the responsibility of the CIA/Administering Institution. Any Carry Forward of unspent NHMRC project funds and Extension is the responsibility of the administering institution, a copy of any approvals should be forwarded to collaborating institutions.

A conflict of interest occurs when a staff member’s private interests compete with their obligations to The University of Melbourne, and therefore could improperly influence how they perform their official University duties.

As per the University’s Research Integrity and Misconduct Policy (MPF1318), a research worker has a conflict of interest in any circumstances where that person has a real, perceived or potential opportunity to prefer their own interests, or those of any other person or organisation, to the interests of the University. Examples of conflicts of interest in research include but are not limited to situations:

1. where the research is sponsored by a related body;
2. where the researcher or a related body may benefit, directly or indirectly, from any inappropriate dissemination of research results (including any delay in or restriction upon publication of such results);
3. where the researcher or a related body may benefit, directly or indirectly, from the use of University resources;
4. where private benefits or significant personal or professional advantage are dependent on research outcomes.

The research worker must make a full disclosure of a conflict of interest or of circumstances that might give rise to a perceived or potential conflict of interest as soon as reasonably practicable as follows to the relevant officer:

1. where the research worker is a head of department, to the dean of the relevant faculty;
2. where the research worker is a dean of a faculty, to the deputy vice-chancellor (research);
3. in all other cases, to the research worker’s head of department.

It is recommended that a Conflict of Interest identification and management plan is put in place as soon as the potential conflict is identified. If awarded, a Conflict of Interest identification and management plan MUST be in place and RGCF will ask to see the plan. The details regarding the type of Conflict and it’s management plans must be defined and robust to manage the conflict. The management strategy would depend on the nature of the conflict, but should include one or more of the 6 R’s that are defined in the the following document.

The Conflict of Interest management plan will be reviewed by the RGCF signatory before any sub-agreements are executed, and inadequate Conflict of Interest management plans have resulted in significant delays in collaboration agreements. More details on disclosing and managing conflicts of interest can be found here.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released a new open access policy on 20 September 2022. This policy requires full and immediate open access for NHMRC-funded research outputs.

The 2022 policy applies immediately to new grants and scholarships awarded under NHMRC Grant Opportunity Guidelines that were issued on or after 20 September 2022.

The new policy will apply to all other grants from 1 January 2024. Until then, these NHMRC grant holders remain under the previous NHMRC open access policy (2018, updated in 2020), which required research outputs to be open access within 12 months of publication.

For  more information on how to comply with this policy please refer to: https://library.unimelb.edu.au/open-scholarship/funder-open-access-policies

Research Costing &  Pricing Support:  This page shows you how to develop a robust and accurately costed research project budget.

Post-Award Finance Support: for financial management questions

Health & Medical Grants Team:  for grant acceptance, conditions and variations

Human resources :for recruitment and employment practices

Themis (research self-service):  to view project details