Grant Agreements

Once a proposal passes the review process, applicants are informed about the funding decision. If the grant is approved for funding, the applicant will be asked to enter into a detailed contract called a “grant agreement”that outlnes the terms of the project. Different funders have different agreement templates and signing procedures.

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Reporting, deliverables and knowledge transfer

Reporting: Due dates for progress reports, financial statements and final reports are included in the agreement and it is advisable for project leads to ensure these timelines are met.

Knowledge transfer: Funders may provide conditions on how the project should be communicated to the public. For example, public funders usually require project information to be disseminated freely to the public, private funders may restrict the dissemination of research results publicly.

Ownership of data and results: The grand agreement provides directives on who owns the raw data generated and the analysed results. Most times, the raw data is owned by the institution that conducted the research, for example if a research project is conducted by a professor as a University, the raw data will be owned by the University. Results obtained from the analysis of the data are owned by the professor that conducted the research and can be used to publish the outcomes of the research project. There are unique circumstances where the funder may want to own the data.

Record keeping: Like data ownership, funders will expect records to be maintained confidentially and only make them available to those in the project. Other records that need to be kept during and after the end of the project include financial statements, invoices, receipts, meeting minutes, and other relevant records. The grant agreements usually indicate how long these records whould be retained for.

Disbursement of funds: Funds are usually paid out in several instalments usually attached to milestones such as progress reports or the completion of certain objectives. A final payment is paid out on completion of a final report.

Grant amendments: The reasons for making grant amendments vary widely. A majority of amendments are to add more time to the project to allow the project team to complete the project objectives. Amendments to add time to the project without providing additional funding are called No-Cost Extensions (NCEs). Some funders may provide additional funding to a project, usually this has to go through some kind of review process by the funder. Not all project changes require amendments, the changes have to be the kind that significantly influence the terms in the agreement. A change in Principal investigator, or a change in project team, reallocation of funds, and other minor changes may not require formal amendments. However, in all cases, the Principal Investigator should inform the funders of any changes to the project and the funders will determine if a formal amendment to the main agreement is required.