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Payment of awards/Grant maintenance

The submission of the Starting Confirmation will initiate the payment of the funds awarded. NERC research grants are paid, in arrears, using a system of equal payments profiled over the duration of the grant. The award letter will contain a payment schedule detailing the quarterly profile payments. Payments will be made from the actual start date notified on the Starting Confirmation and will be paid to the Research Organisation automatically each quarter.

During the duration of the award, any proposed changes to the conditions of the award should be notified to NERC as soon as possible. For example, NERC must be notified immediately if an investigator resigns, retires, is made redundant or transfers to another Research Organisation. If there are unforeseen circumstances that have severely affected the progress of the grant, NERC will permit no cost extensions to awards. These are exceptional but are designed to cover instances of maternity leave, sick leave or other external factors leading to the rescheduling of fieldwork or ship time.

Within three months of the end of the grant, the Research Organisation must submit a Final Report and a Final Expenditure Statement to NERC. The final payment of the grant will be withheld pending receipt of both documents. Upon receipt of both documents, the overall expenditure of the grant will be reconciled against the total amount awarded. NERC research grants are cash limited and no payments will be paid in excess of the amount awarded, regardless of actual expenditure.