Postgraduate studentship rules and regulations

Payments to the institution

Starting

Studentships funded under TGs can be started at any time of the year. Studentships can be started earlier than 1 October 2011 but the first TG quarterly payment will not be made in advance.

Grants are for a specified number of years, without extension, adopting fixed start and end dates. The Research Organisation must complete and return a starting certificate; this notification will be taken as acceptance of the grant on the terms and conditions stated and will activate profiled payments.

Submission of the starting certificate is required not more than 42 days after the start date shown on the starting certificate. Payments will commence after the receipt of the starting certificate and will be paid quarterly in advance thereafter.

Final expenditure statement

At the end of the grant, the Research Organisation must complete and return a final expenditure statement (FES) detailing expenditure incurred over the full period of the grant. The FES must be received within three months of the end date of the grant. Once a FES has been received by the Research Council, and expenditure incurred has been reconciled against payments made, the statement will be considered as final. Facsimile or photocopies of the FES will not be accepted. If Long Term Attachment (LTA) funds were awarded on the training grant then a LTA reconciliation attachment will need to be included with the FES.

Sanctions

If the Final Expenditure Statement is not received within the period allowed, the Research Council may recover 20% of the expenditure incurred on the grant. All payments may be recovered if the statement is not received within 6 months of the end of the grant.

The Research Councils reserve the right to terminate the grant at any time, subject to reasonable notice and to any payment that may be necessary to cover outstanding and unavoidable commitments.

Fees

Payments to the Research Organisation are made from the Training Grant, and the department will determine the level of approved fees, RTSG, contribution to conference, UK and overseas fieldwork expenses.

The fee level that STFC funds is calculated on the basis of the set cross-Council fee which is the same for all universities. The fees include tuition, supervision, registration, bench fees and student union subscriptions but exclude any element of maintenance. Other costs, for example those associated with the administration of the training, advertising costs and the costs of open days, may be incorporated into the fee level that the Research Organisation charges to the Training Grant as long as the same level of fee is used for UK/EU non-Research Council funded students on similar programmes. No further payments will be made by Science and Technology Facilities Council.

While institutions are not regulated in terms of the fees they charge for postgraduate degree programmes, any difference between the Research Council fee-payment level and what an institution charges should not be met by the student. The agreement by an institution to host a Research Council studentship is a matter between the institution and the Research Council, and in no circumstances should the student be asked to meet any fee short-fall from their stipend, or receive less than the Research Council specified minimum stipend.

Research training support grant (RTSG)

STFC awards are made on the understanding that the Research Organisation arranges adequate facilities for the proposed research or training. Awards are not made to relieve the Research Organisation of any part of the expenditure it would otherwise incur. A Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) of £1,000 is paid to Departments as a contribution towards incidental costs incurred in the training of research students, such as the provision of equipment, attendance on essential training courses, "outreach" work, etc. RTSG is paid with student fees (see above).

Conferences and UK fieldwork

STFC makes a flat rate contribution to Departments of £230 pa per student (2011/12) towards the cost of conference attendance (UK or overseas) and UK fieldwork. It is considered to be a conference attendance when the student presents either a paper or poster based on his/her research.

This payment is consolidated with the block fees and RTSG payments made twice-yearly to Research Organisations. STFC will not consider individual student claims to cover such costs.

Use of RTSG, conference and UK fieldwork monies

STFC intends that RTSG and conference and UK fieldwork monies paid to Departments should be used directly to benefit the training of individual students it supports. The monies should, therefore, be readily accessible to the students' supervisors. STFC may request Departments to provide a brief report annually on conferences attended by its students.