Enquiries regarding the following should be sent to PAA@mrc.ukri.org. See requesting a change to your project in UKRI’s managing your award guidance for more information.
4.2.1 Supplementary salary costs
4.2.1.1 Maternity/Paternity/Adoption/Parental leave pay
Fellows (and staff funded 100% of their contracted time by the grant) are entitled to the same maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave pay as any other employee at the research organisation at which they are employed and MRC will meet any additional costs incurred as a result. See RCG8.3 of the terms and conditions for research grants.
4.2.1.2 Promotions and pay rises
The salary requested for each member of staff at the time of application should reflect the full anticipated cost during the lifetime of the award, including any anticipated promotions and salary increments. It is the fellow’s and research organisation’s joint responsibility to ensure that the costs requested are as accurate as possible. Once the grant is awarded, additional requests for supplementary salary costs will not be considered.
4.2.2 Extensions
4.2.2.1 Maternity, paternity, adoption and parental extensions
Fellows requiring leave for any of the above reasons should inform MRC as soon as they know the date on which the leave will commence. If there are no other staff funded under the grant, the fellow should raise a grant maintenance request via Je-S for the grant to be suspended. When the fellow returns from their leave, they should inform MRC by submitting a further grant maintenance request to initiate the reactivation and extension of the award. Payments will then recommence and the grant will be extended by the period for which leave was taken.
While a grant is suspended no payments will be made to the research organisation and no expenditure should be incurred in respect to the grant during this period; therefore suspension is only possible if alternative arrangements are made for other staff funded by the grant for the duration of the suspension.
4.2.2.2 Sick leave
For periods of absence by the fellow (or staff funded 100% of their contracted time by the grant) for three months or longer, an extension can be requested via a grant maintenance request on Je-S.
4.2.2.3 Non-recruitment of staff
An extension may be requested to compensate for delays in the recruitment of staff employed on the grant. A grant maintenance request should be raised in Je-S, and details should be included to demonstrate the impact of the delays on the project and that the Fellow has attempted to mitigate their impact as far as possible.
4.2.2.4 Exceptional circumstances
Extensions can be requested for exceptional unforeseen delays. A grant maintenance request should be raised via Je-S, detailing the impact of the delays on the project and the steps taken to mitigate the delays. Before submitting an exceptional extension fellows should contact MRC at PAA@mrc.ukri.org to discuss their circumstances.
4.2.3 Transfers
If a fellow wishes to transfer to another research organisation they should notify MRC at fellows@mrc.ukri.org to discuss the facilities and support the new research organisation will offer with the relevant programme manager. For early-career fellowships, assurance will be required that adequate supervision is in place.
If the organisation the fellow is transferring to is eligible to hold MRC grants and is able to provide a suitable environment a grant maintenance request should be submitted via Je-S. The first research organisation will reconcile the grant up to the point of transfer and the remaining funds will be transferred as a new award to the second research organisation, which will then need to accept the award in the normal way. Once the grant has been transferred the fellow should check Je-S to confirm that the end date has been extended to reflect any delays caused by this process.