Request 99/59

Research Activity Survey 1999

1. Executive summary

   Purpose

2. This document asks higher education institutions (HEIs) to update information on their research activity.

   Key points

3. The data will inform our distribution of research funds for the academic year 2000-01.
4. This document also incorporates the Accountability for Research Funds survey.
5. All HEIs that made submissions to the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise should complete section 1. All HEIs should complete section 2, or submit nil returns in writing. Computer disks will be provided for both sections.

   Action required

6. Responses should be sent to Joanne Iles at the HEFCE, to arrive no later than 14 December 1999. Disks will be dispatched to institutions by 17 November 1999.

   Background

7. The 1999 Research Activity Survey asks institutions to update data from the 1998 survey on research students, research assistants, research fellows and income from charities. These data will inform quality-related (QR) research funding, as described in Circular 4/97. Data on research active staff will be taken from the submissions to the 1996 RAE.
8. The survey also asks institutions to update data from the 1998 survey on fundable research students who are eligible to pay home and EC fees. We need these data in order to distribute funds for the tuition and supervision of research students, which were transferred from the teaching model to the research model for 1998-99 onwards. This information is required following a recommendation from the Harris report on the review of postgraduate education. Our formal response to this report is outlined in Circular 12/97.
9. RAE 2/99 'Guidance on Submissions' provided information on the data requirements for the 2001 RAE. The 1999 Research Activity Survey aims to keep in line with RAE requirements, and in particular the way in which student activity is recorded in the year. As well as headcounts of students, this survey also collects information on the amount of study undertaken by students in the year of programme of study. There are now four tables which collect this information on student activity (Tables R1a, R1b, R2a and R2b).
10. In 1992, the DfEE requested further accountability in institutions' internal allocation of the research funds allocated by the Council. We therefore conduct the annual Accountability for Research Funds survey.
11. To allocate generic research (GR) funds we ask institutions to update information on income from research contracts which satisfy criteria on intellectual property rights and the rights to publish research output.
12. This survey has two sections:
    1. Section 1: Quality-related (QR) research funding.
    2. Section 2: Generic research (GR) funding.

    Section 1: Quality-related research funding

13. This section should be completed by HEIs that made submissions to the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). It asks for the following data by unit of assessment:
    1. For students eligible to pay home and EC and overseas fees (including students domiciled in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man), we ask for the following data, shown separately according to the year of their programme and unit of assessment:
       1. The headcount of students on research-based higher degrees for whom the year of programme of study falling on 1 December 1999 is full-time.
       2. The headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) number of students on research-based higher degrees for whom the year of programme of study falling on 1 December 1999 is part-time.
    2. For students eligible to pay home and EC fees (see Annex A, paragraph 18), we ask for the following data, shown separately according to the year of their programme and unit of assessment:
       1. The headcount of students on research-based higher degrees for whom the year of programme of study falling on 1 December 1999 is full-time.
       2. The headcount and FTE of students on research-based higher degrees for whom the year of programme of study falling on 1 December 1999 is part-time.
    3. The FTE number of research assistants and research fellows at the census date of 31 July 1999.
    4. Income from research grants and contracts from UK-based charities during the financial year 1998-99.
14. Institutions which made multiple submissions to a unit of assessment in the 1996 RAE should amalgamate the data into a single submission for this survey. If a department was not submitted to the 1996 RAE, the data should be returned to the unit of assessment which is closest in academic content. We will be using all the information, irrespective of rating, to cross-check institutions’ data against other data sources such as the Higher Education Students Early Statistics (HESES) survey.
15. Section 1 also contains the Accountability for Research Funds survey, which should be completed by all institutions receiving QR funding for 1999-2000.
16. Please complete this section using the disk-based templates, which will be issued by mid-November to the nominated contact person at each institution. The following annexes should be used as a guide for completing section 1:

    Annex A:	Notes on research students
    Annex B:	Notes on research assistants and fellows
    Annex C:	Notes on income from charities
    Annex D:	Print-outs of forms R1a, R1b, R2a, R2b, R3 and R4
    Annex E:	Notes on accountability for research funds
    Annex F:	Print-out of form R5
    Annex I:	Instructions for completing the disk.

    Section 2 : Generic research funding

17. All HEIs should complete section 2. Please inform us of nil returns in writing. This section asks for information on income in 1998-99 that qualifies for generic research (GR) funding. We will use these data along with data from the 1998 Research Activity Survey (HEFCE 98/51) to calculate GR allocations for 2000-01. Please complete this section using the disk-based template. The following annexes should be used as a guide for completing section 2:

    Annex G:	Notes of guidance for the GR return
    Annex H:	Print-out of form R6
    Annex I:	Instructions for completing the disk.

    Outline timetable and process for the 2000-01 funding round

18. Institutions are required to return their Research Activity Survey by 14 December 1999, both on disk and in hard copy. Once we receive the data, we carry out a number of validation and credibility checks. During December, we will write to institutions, enclosing a printout of their Research Activity data and comparison tables generated from them. Institutions will be asked to:
    • verify that the data are accurate, or make corrections
    • answer any questions we may have on the data.
19. By mid January 2000, all institutions must have signed off their Research Activity data as being a correct submission. (Please note, this is not an opportunity for institutions to update their data.) The timetable for this is tight: if corrections to data are made, we then reissue the data for re-verification by institutions. We will expect responses to questions about data within six working days.
20. We will announce provisional allocations of recurrent grant for 2000-01 in March.

    Responses

21. All responses should be sent to Joanne Iles at the address below, to arrive no later than 14 December 1999. Returns on disk as well as a hard copy are required for both sections 1 and 2.

    Joanne Iles
    Analytical Services Group
    HEFCE
    Northavon House
    Coldharbour Lane
    BRISTOL
    BS16 1QD

    Returns may be made by e-mail to j.iles@hefce.ac.uk, but a hard copy should still be sent to the above address.

22. Further education colleges should not respond to this survey.

Annex A

Notes on research students

1. All students included in this survey should be postgraduate students registered at the reporting institution for a research-based higher degree. The students should be actively supervised by an academic member of staff employed by a higher education institution in England. Students who spend the whole of their programme of study outside the UK should not be included in this survey, except where they satisfy the criteria in paragraph 19d. The criteria for data in forms R1a and R1b are the same as in the 1998 Research Activity Survey for data on form R1, except for the way we ask institutions to record student activity across the year of programme of study (see paragraphs 2 to 5 below). This is also true of the criteria for data in forms R2a and R2b, which will be used to allocate funds for the tuition and supervision of postgraduate research students.
2. The data returned on forms R1a and R2a should be headcounts of students for whom the year of programme of study falling on 1 December 1999 is full-time. Data returned on forms R1b and R2b should be headcounts and FTEs of students for whom the year of programme of study falling on 1 December 1999 is part-time. FTE should normally be expressed to two decimal places.
3. In some cases a student may not study for a full year in their final year of programme of study (for example, year of programme two of a 15-month MPhil programme). Here the student should be recorded as part-time in their final year, with an FTE reflecting the proportion of a full year for which they have studied. This should be recorded even if the student is not actively pursuing studies on 1 December in their final year.
4. The year of programme of study is used in the distribution of funds for research, and care needs to be taken when there is a change in a student's mode of study. Full-time students whose final year is to be recorded as part-time (see paragraph 3 above) should be returned in their final year under the appropriate year of programme in the part-time table. In assigning the year of programme, it is necessary to convert the full-time years already completed by the student into part-time years, following the guidance in paragraph 17.

   Example

5. A student started a full-time 15-month MPhil in September 1998. This student would have been returned to the 1998 Research Activity Survey as one headcount full-time student on 1 December 1998. The student should be returned to the 1999 survey (even though they will not be studying on 1 December 1999) as one headcount part-time student with 0.25 FTE under year of programme 3, their first year of full-time study having been converted into two years of part-time study.

   Definition of registration

6. Registration is defined for this survey as a binding undertaking by a student to pay a fee for tuition, or supervision of research, for a programme of study. If in exceptional circumstances the fee has been waived, the student will be regarded as registered. A student is assumed to register with the reporting institution annually on the anniversary of the initial registration. The simple acceptance of a place does not qualify a student to be counted in this survey.
7. Where a student has been registered at one institution and taught under a franchising arrangement at another institution, only the registering institution should return the student to this survey. A student can only be registered at one institution for any individual qualification. A student on a programme of study run jointly by more than one institution, and not the subject of a franchising arrangement, should be returned only by the institution which receives the fee.

   Definition of year of programme of study

8. A student's first year of programme of study starts when they first begin studying towards the qualification. Subsequent years of programme of study start on or near the anniversary of this date.

   Definition of full-time equivalence

9. For the purpose of this survey, a student's FTE refers to the amount of study undertaken in the year of programme of study compared to a full-time student with the same qualification aim studying for a full year. A student is said to be full-time if they are normally required to attend the institution, or elsewhere, for periods amounting to at least 24 weeks within the year of programme of study; and during that time are normally expected to undertake periods of study which amount to an average of at least 21 hours per week.

   Research-based higher degrees

10. In accord with normal practice in the English higher education sector, a higher degree by research should be one awarded primarily on the basis of a substantial thesis (or equivalent) submitted by the student and resulting from the student’s original research. Regulations on the appointment of examiners for the degree should stipulate that the student’s work is examined by at least two examiners, individually appointed for the student, one of whom is an external examiner. An exception may be allowed for departments which were highly rated in the RAE, where it may be that the two best-qualified examiners are both internal.
11. Students who have completed their research work and are writing up their thesis (or equivalent) should be excluded. Students registered for research qualifications awarded primarily on the basis of published works should also be excluded, unless they are undertaking a significant amount of research at the institution.
12. Some specialist doctoral degrees, such as the Doctor of Education (EdD) and the Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsychol), typically include significant taught components and supervised practice, as well as requiring the student to produce a dissertation or thesis. These degrees do not generally require the student to produce the same amount of original research as a PhD. Students registered for a specialist doctoral degree should only be included in this survey if the degree satisfies the criteria in paragraph 10.
13. Students employed by outside research organisations, and based outside the department for most of their study, can be included if they satisfy the criteria in paragraphs 1 to 12.
14. Students who are supervised across more than one unit of assessment should be returned split according to the agreed division of supervision. Figures can be returned to two decimal places.
15. Academic staff who are also registered for a research-based higher degree at the same institution can be returned to this survey as research students, provided that the sum of the individual’s staff FTE and student FTE does not exceed 1 on the staff census date of 31 July 1999.
16. In distributing funds for research in 2000-01, we intend to use a weighted student number count as shown in Table 1. The year of programme is defined in the 1998-99 HESA Student Record Coding Manual (Field 72) and indicates the year of the programme that the student is currently studying.

    Table 1

    Year of programme	01	02	03	04	05	06	07+
    Weight applied to headcount of full-time students	0	1.75	1.75	0	0	0	0
    Weight applied to FTE of part-time students	0	0	1.75	1.75	1.75	1.75	0

17. There may be cases where research students change their mode of study from full-time to part-time. For simplicity, in such cases, each year of full-time study should be treated as two years of part-time study in this survey. For example, a student who has completed three years of full-time study, and is then taken on as a part-time student until the programme of study is completed, should be shown as a seventh year part-time student during his first year of part-time study, and as an eighth year student for the second year of part-time study, and so on.
18. To distribute the funds for the tuition and supervision of research students, we will be using home and EC fundable students. Students are classified as home and EC if they can be regarded as eligible students as defined by schedule 1 of the Education (Student Support) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999 No. 496). Home and EC students should be included on forms R2a and R2b if they are on programmes of recognised HE that are open to any suitably qualified candidate. These students should also satisfy the criteria in paragraphs 1 to 17.
19. The following students should be excluded from forms R2a and R2b:
    1. Students whose places are funded from another EC public source, for example, the Department of Health, the NHS, or the Home Office (that is, where funding is provided in addition to the recommended fee levels, pro-rata for part-time students).
    2. Students registered on programmes of study that are not funded through HEFCE funds, but whose funding has been separately agreed and notified by us. This includes programmes of study where we distribute funds on behalf of other government departments.
    3. Students on programmes of study franchised to institutions wholly outside the UK, unless we have specifically sanctioned the programme as eligible.
    4. Students spending most of their programme of study outside the UK, except where:
       1. There is a clear academic reason for studying abroad rather than in the UK. Even where such a reason exists, we must specifically sanction the programme as eligible.
       2. The student is temporarily and unavoidably abroad and remains liable to UK tax on their earnings, or is a dependant of such a person. This includes members of HM Forces and their dependants.
    5. EC students registered for a qualification awarded jointly by a UK and an EC institution may be returned to this survey, but only while they are studying in the UK and as long as their study in the UK is not being directly or indirectly funded from an EC public source. (See paragraph 19a.)
    6. Students franchised to an institution that is not an HEI supported from public funds. Where institutions have franchise agreements with any other organisation and wish these students to be eligible for funding they should contact us for approval.

Annex B

Notes on research assistants and fellows

Research assistants

1. Research assistants are individuals who are on the payroll of the institution and who hold a contract of employment with the institution. They are academic staff whose primary employment function is defined as ‘Research only’. They should be employees of the reporting institution, and would usually be funded from research grants or contracts from Research Councils, charities or industry, but may also be funded from the institution’s general funds. The research assistants reported to this survey should be in post on the census date of 31 July 1999. The criteria for research assistants are the same as in the 1998 Research Activity Survey. Paragraph 2 provides further clarification of the existing rules.
2. Senior research assistants who are named as principal investigator on a research grant or contract, or who function in that capacity, should be excluded from this return. This is because they come within the definition of principal researcher, and so would be counted as research active staff at an RAE census date.
3. Research fellows should not be counted as research assistants. Further details on the definition of research fellows are given below.
4. Teaching company associates should normally be excluded from this survey, except where they function as a research assistant and are based within a department of the reporting institution.
5. We want to maintain the distinction made in the 1996 RAE between post-doctoral research assistants and postgraduate research assistants. Clinical research assistants who are not on the pay scales specified below, for example those funded by the Medical Research Council, should be returned on form R3 according to whether they function as post-doctoral or postgraduate research assistants.
6. Research assistants graded 1A and above on the former University Authorities Panel (UAP) pay scales, or graded B and above in the former Polytechnics and Colleges Employers Forum (PCEF) pay scales, should be returned to this survey as post-doctoral research assistants.
7. Research assistants graded 1B on the former UAP pay scales, or graded A in the former PCEF pay scales, should be returned to this survey as postgraduate research assistants.
8. Institutions which have adopted locally determined pay scales should apply a mapping of these pay scales onto the UAP or PCEF pay scales, as appropriate, to distinguish post-doctoral research assistants from postgraduate research assistants. The former normally have a research-based higher degree. Postgraduate research assistants normally do not have a research-based degree and are more junior.

   Research fellows

9. For the purposes of this survey, research fellows are members of academic staff who hold specific awards on the basis of their own research record or research proposals. The research fellows reported to this survey should be in post on the census date of 31 July 1999.
10. The fellowship should be awarded to a named individual rather than to the research project on which the individual is employed. Fellowships are often for a fixed term, typically three or five years, and should be subject to periodic peer review, generally involving an input from outside the institution. Funding for these awards comes from a range of sources outside the institution, but can be channelled through it so that the individual remains an employee of the institution. Examples of such fellowships are Research Council Fellows (Senior, Advanced and Post-doctoral) and Royal Society Fellows and Professors.
11. For the purposes of this survey, institutions should return only those research fellows who are on the institution’s payroll and funded mainly from specific income, and who have not been returned to the 1996 RAE as a research active member of staff funded wholly or partly from general funds. Research fellows who receive funding directly from their sponsoring bodies, as is the case for NATO and UN fellowships, should not be returned in this survey. Visiting fellows should also be excluded.

Annex C

Notes on income from charities

1. Institutions are asked to provide information about research income from charitable foundations and trusts based in the United Kingdom in the financial year 1998-99 (1 August 1998 to 31 July 1999). The income should be in respect of research carried out at the institution and for which directly related expenditure has been incurred.
2. The figures should tally with those in the institution’s annual financial statements and the 1998-99 HESA Finance Statistics Return. Table 4 of the HESA return requests institutions to provide the external research income by cost centre. However, for the purposes of calculating the QR grant this information is required by unit of assessment. For further guidance please consult the HESA Finance Record Coding Manual.
3. Where a grant or contract is held across more than one unit of assessment, its value should be divided in proportion to the number of grant or contract holders. If research projects are funded from a number of sources their income should be allocated between respective headings.

Annex D

Forms for completion

Annex E

Notes on accountability for research funds

1. We currently distribute QR funding as part of our block grant to institutions. Institutions redistribute this sum to their academic departments according to their own priorities and methods, top-slicing funds for central administration costs if necessary. In 1992, the DfEE requested further accountability in institutions’ internal allocation of the research funds distributed by the Council.
2. After consultation with the sector in 1993, we decided that the most direct and cost-effective way to obtain this accountability was to collect information on how institutions allocated their QR funds. We ask institutions to return this information on form R5.
3. For this survey we require the distribution of 1999-2000 QR funds by cost centre. Central costs, such as for libraries, computing services and administration, may be shown in the non-departmental cost centres or split out proportionally to the funds in each academic cost centre. When we use the collated data, we will allocate central costs to academic cost centres. A print-out of the table provided on disk is at Annex F. Figures should be entered in pounds sterling and should sum to within £10,000 of an institution's total QR funds for 1999-2000, as announced in HEFCE 99/49.

Annex F

Forms for completion

Annex G

Guidance notes for GR return

1. Institutions are asked to return GR qualifying income for 1998-99 which satisfies the criteria listed in paragraph 2 below for the six eligible sources of income (see paragraph 16). These criteria remain unchanged from those in section 2 of the Research Activity Survey 1998. In addition, institutions should state the GR qualifying income as a proportion of total external research income, excluding the ‘OST Research Councils’, ‘UK-based charities’ and ‘HEFCE research funding’. We will use the 1997-98 GR qualifying data returned in response to HEFCE 98/51 and the 1998-99 GR qualifying data to determine our allocations of GR funding in 2000-01. The data should be recorded on form R6 on the disk provided.
2. To count as GR qualifying income:
   1. Research income must satisfy the Frascati definition of research given in paragraph 3 below.
   2. Eligible contracts must meet both the following criteria:
      1. The initial contract covering the research must not assign, nor agree to assign, to the sponsor any intellectual property (IP) arising from the research; nor grant, nor agree to grant, to the sponsor an exclusive or sole licence, or an option to an exclusive or sole licence, to this IP.
      2. There should be no bar to publication of research results. The stipulation that publication must be approved by the sponsor, where permission to publish will not be unreasonably withheld, subject to a maximum stay of publication of 12 months, will not debar contracts.

      See paragraphs 9-15 for further clarification.

   3. Only research income from the eligible sources listed in paragraph 16 may be returned. The following sources are ineligible:
      • OST Research Councils
      • the British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB)
      • UK-based charities
      • HEFCE.

   See paragraphs 16-17 for further clarification.

   Frascati definition of research

3. The Frascati definition of research reads:

   ‘Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.’

   ‘R&D is a term covering three activities: basic research, applied research, and experimental development. Basic research is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundation of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view. Applied research is also original investigation undertaken to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective. Experimental development is systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, that is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed.’

   (Second chapter of the OECD 1993 Frascati Manual, ISBN 9264142029.)

   Definition of intellectual property

4. IP is anything generated directly or indirectly as a result of the application of human thought and effort. In the context of research projects it will include all recorded information, knowledge and expertise derived from the work. An underlying principle of GR funding is that HEIs should be able to exploit IP in future research projects with different sponsors.

   Definition of intellectual property rights

5. Intellectual property rights (IPR) apply to certain forms of IP which receive specific legal protection. In this context the most relevant are patents, copyright, design rights and the protection given to semi-conductor chip designs. In many cases the relevant legal provisions will give HEIs the rights to IP arising from a research project. Any transfer of IPR to the sponsor will inhibit the institution’s ability to exploit the research results, either alone or with another sponsor.

   Definition of initial contract

6. The initial research contract is the first document, signed by both (or all) collaborating parties, that commits the parties to conduct the research project. Where no formal contract exists, the terms and conditions of the research project set out in a series of letters can be viewed as the initial contract. The initial contract is normally agreed either before, or in the very early stages of, the research project.

   Accounting conventions

7. The 1998-99 HESA Finance Statistics Return (FSR) includes Table 4 (Research Grants and Contracts - Breakdown of Income by Cost Centre) for eight sources of income. This covers all external income for research within the Frascati definition, except HEFCE research funding. Income from consultancies, which was previously returned as research income by former PCFC-funded institutions, is excluded.
8. Institutions should apply the same accounting conventions when returning GR qualifying income. We will check GR returns against the FSR data. The HESA Finance Record Coding Manual should be consulted for further guidance.

   Eligibility of contracts for GR

9. Contracts in which IP is jointly owned are not eligible.
10. Contracts are not eligible if IP was assigned to the sponsor in the initial contract and it subsequently reverted to the institution. Initial contracts which give IP to the institution, but which are silent on future assignment or licensing, are eligible.
11. It is normally good practice for IP and publications conditions to be set out at an early stage in a collaboration. However, if the initial agreement is silent on these points then the relevant rights will rest with the institution. Such contracts are eligible for GR, as long as they meet other relevant conditions. Contracts that give the sponsor(s) the right to block publication for an unspecified period are not eligible.
12. Where the research collaboration is with a club or group of sponsors, then contracts are eligible if they meet both conditions in paragraph 2b.
13. Under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, ownership of copyright is not automatically vested in the Crown when government departments sponsor research, but only where this is specified in the contract. This is also the case with other forms of IPR such as patents. Any exclusive assignment of IPR to the Crown will render the contract ineligible for GR.
14. HEIs should retain their rights to deal with third parties. Contracts where IP is assigned in principle, or where the HEI has granted a sole licence to the sponsor, are not eligible.
15. Some HEIs have agreements with the British Technology Group Limited (BTG) under which BTG will act as their agent to exploit intellectual property owned by the institution. Such an agreement does not affect the eligibility for GR of research contracts placed by the HEI. Initial contracts in which institutions retain IP are therefore eligible whether or not they contain clauses giving BTG the right to take assignment, or an exclusive licence, to IP.

    Sources of income

16. The six eligible sources of income are defined as follows:
    1. UK central government bodies, local authorities, health and hospital authorities.

       All research grants and contract income from UK central government bodies, UK local authorities and UK health and hospital authorities, except Research Councils. This covers government departments, Northern Ireland departments and other organisations financed from central government funds. Non-departmental public bodies, including the British Council and the Royal Society, should also be returned under this head.

    2. UK industry, commerce and public corporations.

       All research grants and contract income from industrial and commercial companies and public corporations (defined as publicly owned trading bodies, usually statutory corporations, with a substantial degree of financial independence) operating in the UK.

    3. EU government bodies.

       All research grants and contract income from all government bodies operating in the EU, which includes the European Commission but excludes bodies in the UK. Grants from European Community non-research mobility schemes, such as the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) and European Social Fund Grants, should not be included.

    4. EU other.

       All research grants and contract income from all non-government bodies operating in the EU, outside the UK.

    5. Other overseas.

       All research grants and contract income from overseas bodies operating outside the EU.

    6. Other sources.

    All research grants and contract income not covered by the above, including income from other UK HEIs, but excluding income from the OST Research Councils and UK-based charities - see paragraph 17.

17. The following sources are not eligible:
    1. OST Research Councils.

       All research grants and contract income from Research Councils funded by the Office of Science and Technology.

    2. The British Academy and the AHRB.

       All research grants and contract income from the British Academy and the AHRB.

    3. UK-based charities.

       All research grants and contract income from all charitable foundations and trusts based in the UK which are registered with the Charities Commission; exempt charities which have not been classified under OST Research Councils or UK central government bodies; or those recognised as charities by the Inland Revenue in Scotland.

    4. HEFCE.

       All recurrent and non-recurrent research grants from the HEFCE.

    Audit

18. Once we have received GR data returns, we may ask HEIs for information about contracts to which they relate.
19. We will audit returns from a sample of institutions each year. We will tell these institutions which contracts we wish to review and ask them to provide documentation before a formal audit visit. If requested, we will sign confidentiality agreements before documentation is produced for audit.

Annex H

Forms for completion

Annex I

Instructions for completing the disk

1. All institutions will receive a 3.5 inch computer disk containing an Excel workbook saved in Excel 5.0. The disk has been checked for all known viruses and has been individually prepared for each institution. You are advised to make a back-up copy of the disk before attempting to access the file. If the disk is corrupt or unreadable please contact Laura Eastman (tel 0117 931 7419).
2. The name of the file will be RAS_____.xls, where the suffix identifies the institution. Please do not attempt to rename or reformat the file as our computer systems for loading institutions’ returns depend on the file-naming convention and file formats.
3. All labels and table formats have been protected using Excel’s cell protection facilities. Do not attempt to change the contents of protected cells or the structure of tables by adding or deleting any rows or columns. Only cells where data are required should be altered.
4. The workbook on the disk supplied will contain the following eight worksheets:

   R1a_____	All full-time research students by year of programme
   R1b_____	All part-time research students by year of programme
   R2a_____	Fundable home and EC fee-paying full-time students by year of programme
   R2b_____	Fundable home and EC fee-paying part-time students by year of programme
   R3_____	Research assistants and research fellows
   R4_____	Income from charities on account of research grants and contracts (financial year 1998-99)
   R5_____	Accountability for 1999-2000 QR research funds
   R6_____	External income for generic research (financial year 1998-99).

5. Below is an example of how the worksheets are laid out in the workbook. Each table is contained in a separate worksheet, which is accessed by clicking on the tab at the bottom of the screen. The name of the worksheet is displayed on the tab.

   

6. When the worksheets have been completed, the file should be saved on the disk, overwriting the original blank tables. All worksheets in the workbook on the original disk should be returned even if they contain no data.
7. If you do not use Excel version 5.0 please make sure that the computer package into which the file has been opened does not save the file using a different file extension by default. You should make a back-up copy of the completed tables before returning the completed disk to the HEFCE. One set of printed tables should be sent with the electronic copy of the data.
8. Institutions wishing to make an e-mail submission should send a test e-mail with a Research Activity Survey workbook attached, by 30 November 1999, to j.iles@hefce.ac.uk.