HEFCE : Publications : 1996 : 17/96 - Research Activity Survey 1996

HEFCE

HEFCE Circular 17/96

Research Activity Survey 1996

To Heads of HEFCE-funded Higher Education Institutions
Heads of DENI-funded Universities

Of interest to those responsible for Research Funding; Finance; Data Collection

Reference 17/96

Publication Date October 1996
Response by 13 December 1996

Enquiries to Section 1 (QR): Vasanthi Mahesan
(telephone 0117 931 7369, e-mail v.mahesan@hefce.ac.uk)

Section 2 (GR): Keith Harris
(telephone 0117 9317395, e-mail k.harris@hefce.ac.uk)

Executive Summary

1. This circular asks higher education institutions (HEIs) to update information on their research activity. The data will inform the Council's distribution of research funds for the academic year 1997-98.

2. There are two sections:

a. Section 1 should be completed by HEIs that made submissions to the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). It asks for the following data to inform calculations of quality-related (QR) research funding:

The headcount of postgraduate research students, shown separately according to the year of their programme, mode of study and unit of assessment.
Income from research grants and contracts from UK-based charities during the financial year 1995-96, by unit of assessment.

b. Section 2 should be completed by all HEIs. Nil returns should be sent in writing. It asks for information on income in 1995-96 which qualifies for generic research (GR) funding. The Council will use this data, and returns from the 1995 Research Activity Survey (Circular 24/95), to calculate GR allocations for 1997-98.

3. Further education colleges are not required to respond to this survey.

Background

4. In Consultation Paper 2/96 'Funding Method for Research', published in July 1996, the Council set out its proposal for a new method for allocating research funds. HEIs have been asked to respond by 4 November 1996. The Council expects that the data requirements for 1997-98 funding will be broadly similar to those in previous years. The 1996 Research Activity Survey therefore asks institutions to update certain information requested in the 1995 Survey. Most of the information required for the new funding method will be obtained from submissions to the 1996 RAE.

Section 1 (QR)

5. The following annexes will assist institutions to complete this section:

Annex A: Notes on Research Students

Annex B: Notes on Income from Charities

Annex C: Instructions for Completing the Disk

Annex D: Forms R1 and R2

6. Data should be completed for all units of assessment submitted to the 1996 RAE. Where institutions made multiple submissions to a unit of assessment these entries should be amalgamated into a single submission.

Section 2 (GR)

7. The following annexes give more details on completing this section:

Annex E: Notes of Guidance for the GR Return

Annex F: Form R3

Responses

8. All responses should be sent to:

Joanne Iles
HEFCE
Northavon House
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol BS16 1QD

to arrive not later than 13 December 1996. Returns on disk are required for Section 1 only.

Annex A

Notes on Research Students

1. All students included in this survey should be postgraduate students registered at the reporting institution on the census date, 1 December 1996, 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 England should not be included in this survey. The data returned should be a count of registrations rather than full-time equivalent (FTE) numbers of students.

Definition of Registration

2. 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 course of study (unless the fee has been waived owing to exceptional circumstances). 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.

3. 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 course. A student on a course 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.

Research-based Higher Degrees

4. 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 individually examined by at least two examiners, one of whom is an external examiner. An exception is allowed for the most highly rated departments where it may be that the two best-qualified examiners are both internal.

5. Students who have completed their research work and are writing up their thesis (or equivalent) should be excluded. Individuals who are to be awarded a higher degree by research on the basis of submitted papers should not be included.

6. 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 5.

7. Students who are supervised across more than one unit of assessment should be split either according to the agreed division of responsibility or in proportion to their activity in these units. Figures can be returned to one decimal place.

8. 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 census date. (In this survey, each part-time research student counts as 0.5 FTE.)

9. For the distribution of funds for research in 1996-97, the Council intends to use a weighted student number count as shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Year of Programme	01	02	03	04	05	06	07+
Weight Applied to Headcount of F-T Students	0	1.75	1.75	0	0	0	0
Weight Applied to Headcount of P-T Students	0	0	0.875	0.875	0.875	0.875	0

The year of the programme is defined in the 1996-97 HESA Student Record Coding Manual (Field 72) and indicates the year of the programme that the student is currently studying.

Annex B

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 1995-96 (1 August 1995 to 31 July 1996). 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 1995-96 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.

Annex C

Instructions for Completing the Disk

1. All institutions should have received a 3.5 inch computer disk containing two Excel 4.0 files. The disk has been checked for all known viruses and has been individually prepared for each institution. It is advisable to make a back-up copy of the disk before attempting to access any of the files. If the disk is corrupt or unreadable then please contact Vasanthi Mahesan (telephone 0117 931 7369).

2. The filenames contain a four or five digit postfix identifying each institution. Please do not attempt to rename or reformat these files as the Council's 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.

4. The disk supplied should have the following files:

R1_xxxxx.XLS:	Table of Research Students by Year of Programme
R2_xxxxx.XLS:	Table of Income from Charities on Account of Research Grants and Contracts (FY 1995-96)

5. When the spreadsheets have been completed, each file should be saved on the disk, overwriting the original blank table.

6. If you do not use Excel version 4 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. Institutions should make a back-up copy of the completed tables before returning the completed disk to HEFCE. One set of printed tables should be sent with the electronic copy of the data.

7. Institutions wishing to submit data over JANET should contact Vasanthi Mahesan (telephone 0117 931 7369) to ensure compatibility between electronic mail systems.

Annex D

HEFCE Research Activity Survey 1996

Form R1: Table of Research Students

Institution :

Code :

Headcount of Postgraduate Research Students

Full-Time

Part-Time

Unit of Assessment

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4+

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Year 7+

1. Clinical Laboratory Sciences

2. Community Based Clinical Subjects

3. Hospital Based Clinical Subjects

4. Clinical Dentistry

5. Pre-Clinical Studies

6. Anatomy

7. Physiology

8. Pharmacology

9. Pharmacy

10. Nursing

11. Other Studies and Professions Allied to Medicine

12. Biochemistry

13 Psychology

14 Biological Sciences

15. Agriculture

16. Food Science and Technology

17. Veterinary Science

18. Chemistry

19. Physics

20. Earth Sciences

21. Environmental Sciences

22. Pure Mathematics

23. Applied Mathematics

24. Statistics and Operational Research

25. Computer Science

26. General Engineering

27. Chemical Engineering

28. Civil Engineering

29. Electrical and Electronic Engineering

30. Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering

31. Mineral and Mining Engineering

32. Metallurgy and Materials

33. Built Environment

34. Town and County Planning

35. Geography

36. Law

37. Anthropology

38. Economics and Econometrics

39. Politics and International Studies

40. Social Policy and Administration

41. Social Work

42. Sociology

43. Business and Management Studies

44. Accountancy

45. American Studies, (Canada the Caribbean, Latin America and the USA)

46. Middle Eastern and African Studies

47. Asian Studies

48. European Studies

49. Celtic Studies

50. English Language and Literature

51. French

52. German, Dutch and Scandinavian Languages

53. Italian

54. Russian, Slavonic and East European Languages

55. Iberian and Latin American Languages

56. Lingusitics

57. Classics, Ancient History, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies

58. Archaeology

59. History

60. History of Art, Architecture and Design

61. Library and Information Management

62. Philosophy

63. Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies

64. Art and Design

65. Communication, Cultural and Media Studies

66. Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

67. Music

68. Education

69. Sports Related Subjects

Total

HEFCE Research Activity Survey 1996

Form R2: Table of External Research Income from Charities in 1995-96

Institution :

Code :

Unit of Assessment		Income from UK based Charities, FY 1995-96

1. Clinical Laboratory Sciences
2. Community Based Clinical Subjects
3. Hospital Based Clinical Subjects
4. Clinical Dentistry
5. Pre-Clinical Studies
6. Anatomy
7. Physiology
8. Pharmacology
9. Pharmacy
10. Nursing
11. Other Studies and Professions Allied to Medicine
12. Biochemistry
13. Psychology
14. Biological Sciences
15. Agriculture
16. Food Science and Technology
17. Veterinary Science
18. Chemistry
19. Physics
20. Earth Sciences
21. Environmental Sciences
22. Pure Mathematics
23. Applied Mathematics
24. Statistics and Operational Research
25. Computer Science
26. General Engineering
27. Chemical Engineering
28. Civil Engineering
29. Electrical and Electronic Engineering
30. Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering
31. Mineral and Mining Engineering
32. Metallurgy and Materials
33. Built Environment
34. Town and County Planning
35. Geography
36. Law
37. Anthropology
38. Economics and Econometrics
39. Politics and International Studies
40. Social Policy and Administration
41 Social Work
42. Sociology
43. Business and Management Studies
44. Accountancy
45. American Studies (Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and the USA)
46. Middle Eastern and African Studies
47. Asian Studies
48. European Studies
49. Celtic Studies
50. English Language and Literature
51. French
52. German, Dutch and Scandinavian Languages
53. Italian
54. Russian, Slavonic and East European Languages
55. Iberian and Latin American Languages
56. Lingusitics
57 Classics, Ancient History, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
58. Archaeology
59. History
60. History of Art, Architecture and Design
61. Library and Information Management
62. Philosophy
63. Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies
64. Art and Design
65. Communication, Cultural and Media Studies
66. Drama, Dance and Performing Arts
67. Music
68. Education
69. Sports Related Subjects

Total

Annex E

Notes of Guidance for GR Return

1. Institutions are asked to return GR qualifying income for 1995-96 which satisfies the criteria listed in paragraph 2 for the six eligible sources of income in paragraph 16. These criteria remain unchanged from those in Section 2 of the Research Activity Survey 1995. 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'. The 1994-95 GR qualifying data returned in respect of Circular 24/95 will be used with the 1995-96 GR qualifying data to determine the 1997-98 GR allocations. The data should be recorded on form R3 at Annex F.

2. To count as GR qualifying income:

a. Research income must satisfy the Frascati definition of research as set out in paragraph 3.

b. Eligible contracts must meet both the following criteria:

i. 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.
ii. 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.

c. Only research income from the eligible sources listed in paragraph 16 may be returned.
The following sources are ineligible:

OST Research Councils
UK based charities
HEFCE funding

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 HEIs' ability to exploit the research results, either alone or with another sponsor.

Definition of Initial Contract

6. The initial research contract is defined as 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 1995-96 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Finance Statistics Return (FSR) includes Table 4 (Research Grants and Contracts - Breakdown of Income by Cost Centre) for eight sources of income. This is to be completed for all external income that is 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 to be excluded.

8. These accounting conventions must also be applied when returning GR qualifying income. The Council 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 in which the institution owns IP but 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, so 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 conditions i and ii in paragraph 2b are met.

13. Since 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.

14. The GR criteria require that HEIs do not cede to the sponsor an exclusive position in relation to the IP, and 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 eligible sources of income are as follows:

a. 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 and UK public corporations. 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 included under this head.
b. 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.
c. 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.
d. EU Other: All research grants and contract income from all non-government bodies operating in the EU, outside the UK.
e. Other Overseas: All research grants and contract income from overseas bodies operating outside the EU.
f. 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:

a. OST Research Councils: All research grants and contract income from Research Councils funded by the Office of Science and Technology and research income from the British Academy.
b. 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 not covered by the OST Research Councils or by UK central government bodies; local authorities; health and hospital authorities; or those recognised as charities by the Inland Revenue in Scotland.
c. HEFCE funding.

Audit

18. Once GR data returns have been received, the Council may ask HEIs for information about contracts to which they relate.

19. The Council will audit returns from a sample of institutions each year. These institutions will be required to provide documentation in advance of a formal audit visit. The Council will say which contracts it wishes to view as part of the audit, and require institutions to make all relevant documentation available to the auditors. If requested by HEIs, the Council will sign confidentiality agreements before documentation is produced for audit.

Annex F

Form R3: External Income in Respect of Generic Research

Institution:

	Actual Generic Research Income (£)
Source of Income	1995-96
UK Central Government/ Local Authorities/ Health & Hospital Authorities
UK Industry & Commerce/ Public Corporations
EU Government Bodies
EU Other
Other Overseas
Other Sources

Total

	Ratio of GR qualifying income:total research income (excluding income from the 'OST Research Councils', 'UK-based charities' and 'HEFCE Funding') (please express as a % to 1 decimal place)

1995-96

Contact Name For Enquiries

Telephone Number

Authorising Signature

Position

Date