Dictionary domainTrack E
Funding lifecycle and financial vocabulary
Calls, NCE, indirect costs, biosketch, current & pending.
For implementers
Operational deployment checklist for Funding lifecycle and financial vocabulary: prerequisites, five deploy steps, integration notes for Pure, Symplectic Elements, Worktribe, DSpace, and more, plus the pitfalls that recur in the field.
Terms in this domain
58 terms
Financial report (grant)
A structured statement of grant expenditure submitted to the sponsor at defined reporting periods, presenting actual costs against the approved budget by category and supporting reimbursement or continuation decisions.
Final report
The concluding report submitted to the sponsor at or shortly after the end of the period of performance, summarising the entire project's achievements, deliverables, publications, financial summary, and outcomes.
Interim report
A progress and/or financial report submitted to the sponsor during a multi-period grant, covering activities up to a defined intermediate point and supporting continuation decisions.
Reporting period (grant)
A defined time window within a multi-period grant for which the recipient must submit progress and/or financial reports to the sponsor, often aligned with budget years or work-package completion dates.
Lump-sum grant (Horizon Europe)
A Horizon Europe funding model in which a fixed lump-sum amount is paid for completion of each work package, replacing detailed cost-actuals reporting with focus on technical deliverables and successful work-package completion.
Milestone payment
A funding disbursement triggered by the achievement of a defined project milestone, used in fixed-price or hybrid funding mechanisms to align sponsor payment with verifiable progress.
Fixed-price grant
A grant or contract in which the sponsor pays a pre-agreed fixed amount on satisfactory completion of the work or defined milestones, without reimbursement of actual costs, transferring cost-overrun risk to the recipient.
Cost reimbursement
A funding mechanism in which the sponsor reimburses the recipient for actual allowable costs incurred during the performance of the award, typically up to a stated funding ceiling, with periodic invoicing and supporting documentation required.
Pass-through entity
A non-federal entity that receives a federal award from a federal awarding agency and then provides a subaward to a subrecipient to carry out part of the federal programme.
Prime award
The grant or contract directly between the funder and the lead recipient organisation, which holds primary responsibility for the project's scope, deliverables, and compliance, and may issue subawards to other entities.
Subrecipient monitoring
The activities undertaken by the prime award recipient (pass-through entity) to ensure that subrecipients comply with the terms of their subawards, including financial, programmatic, and audit oversight.
Subaward
A formal award by the prime recipient of a grant to another organisation to perform a defined portion of the substantive scope of work, governed by terms flowing down from the prime award.
Sponsored research agreement
A contractual agreement between a research-performing organisation and a sponsor (industry, foundation, or government), defining the scope of work, deliverables, IP terms, publication rights, payment terms, and reporting obligations for a research project.
Crowdfunded research
Research projects funded by aggregated small contributions from many individuals, typically solicited through online platforms (Experiment, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, institutional giving sites) rather than from traditional grant-making bodies.
Endowment income
The investment returns generated by an institution's or foundation's permanent endowment fund, used (typically at a defined spending rate, e.g., 4 to 5 percent of a multi-year smoothed average) to support operations, scholarships, or named research programmes.
Foundation grant
A grant awarded by a private, charitable, or family foundation rather than a government agency or industry sponsor, typically funded from endowment income and governed by the foundation's mission and giving guidelines.
Indirect cost recovery
The income an institution receives from sponsors as reimbursement for indirect (overhead) costs incurred in support of sponsored projects, calculated by applying the negotiated or sponsor-imposed indirect cost rate to the relevant direct-cost base.
Single Audit (US)
A US federal annual organisation-wide audit required of non-federal entities expending more than a defined threshold of federal funds, conducted under 2 CFR 200 Subpart F (formerly OMB Circular A-133).
Audit (grant)
A formal examination of an institution's or project's financial records, internal controls, and compliance with sponsor terms, conducted by external or internal auditors to provide independent assurance of proper stewardship of grant funds.
Closeout phase
The grant lifecycle phase following the end of the period of performance, during which final technical, financial, equipment, and property reports are submitted, residual obligations are liquidated, and the award is formally closed.
Post-award phase
The grant lifecycle phase covering all activities between the start of the period of performance and the end of the closeout reporting period, including expenditure, reporting, monitoring, modifications, and subaward management.
Pre-award phase
The grant lifecycle phase covering activities from identification of a funding opportunity through proposal preparation, submission, and award negotiation, prior to the start of the period of performance.
Encumbrance
A reservation or commitment of grant funds against a future expenditure (such as a purchase order, a multi-year salary commitment, or a subaward), recorded in the institution's financial system to prevent over-commitment.
Burn rate (grant)
The rate at which a grant's funds are being expended over time, typically expressed as currency-per-month or as a percentage of the budget consumed per period, used to forecast end-of-period spend and identify under- or over-spend trajectories.
Underspend
The condition in which a grant budget period ends with unspent funds, indicating actual expenditure was lower than planned and requiring action (carry-forward, reduction of next-year award, or return to sponsor).
Carry-forward
The authorised transfer of unobligated grant funds from one budget period to the next within a multi-year grant, allowing the recipient to use those funds in a subsequent period rather than losing them.
No-cost extension (NCE)
An approved extension of the period of performance of a grant beyond the original end date, without additional sponsor funds, to enable completion of the funded scope.
Continuation award
The release of subsequent-year segments of a multi-year grant, contingent on satisfactory progress and the availability of funds, but not requiring a new competitive application.
Renewable award
A funding award that, on completion, may be extended or re-funded for additional periods through a renewal process, which is typically partly competitive (against other proposals) and partly based on performance of the prior award.
Discretionary funding
Funds that an institution, dean, or unit head may allocate at their own judgement, without a formal competitive call, typically used for strategic investments, recruitment startups, bridge support, or unforeseen needs.
Non-competitive grant
A funding award made without a comparative peer-reviewed competition, either through direct invitation, formula allocation, or as a routine continuation of an existing multi-year award.
Competitive grant
A funding award made following a peer-reviewed, merit-based competition against other proposals, in which only a subset of applicants are funded.
Catalyst grant
A targeted, often small-to-medium-value funding mechanism designed to catalyse strategic activity in a specific area, such as building a new research network, piloting a methodology, or de-risking a translational step.
Pump-priming funding
Small grants intended to initiate new collaborative or interdisciplinary research activity that is not yet ready for full external funding competition, typically with an explicit expectation of follow-on external grant capture.
Seed funding
Small-value, short-duration funding awarded to develop a novel research idea to the point where it can compete for larger external grants, typically provided by institutions, learned societies, or pilot-grant programmes.
Bridge funding
Short-term funding provided to maintain a research programme between an expiring grant and an anticipated new award, typically from institutional sources rather than external sponsors.
Match funding
A funding model in which one party's contribution is conditional on a matching contribution from another party, typically expressed as a ratio (e.g., 1:1, 2:1) of sponsor funds to recipient or third-party funds.
Cost share (voluntary)
A contribution to a sponsored project beyond what the sponsor requires, committed by the recipient institution typically to strengthen a proposal's competitiveness or demonstrate institutional support.
Cost share (mandatory)
A contribution to a sponsored project that is required by the sponsor as a condition of the award and must be documented, tracked, and reported, typically as a percentage of total project cost or as a specific dollar value.
Direct charging
The practice of charging a specific cost directly to a sponsored project's budget as a direct cost rather than recovering it through the indirect cost rate, when the cost meets allowability, allocability, and reasonableness criteria.
APC reimbursement (funder)
The mechanism by which a research funder repays an article processing charge (APC) paid by an author or institution, either directly or via an institutional block grant, in support of open access publication of grant-supported research.
Open access publication cost (grant-eligible)
The portion of a grant budget allocated to fund open access publication of project outputs, including article processing charges (APCs), book-processing charges (BPCs), and related fees, where the sponsor permits such costs as direct or supplemental expenditure.
Travel cost (grant)
The portion of a grant budget allocated to project-related travel, including transportation, accommodation, meals, and subsistence for project personnel attending fieldwork, conferences, collaboration meetings, and dissemination events.
Equipment cost (grant)
The portion of a grant budget allocated to the purchase, fabrication, or lease of equipment with a useful life beyond a single budget period and a per-unit cost exceeding the institutional capitalisation threshold.
Personnel cost (grant)
The portion of a grant budget that pays the salaries, wages, and associated benefits of staff working on the project, typically the largest single category in most research grants.
Single-year project
A funded research project whose period of performance is one year or less, with a single budget period and a single reporting cycle (interim if applicable, plus final).
Multi-year project
A funded research project whose period of performance extends across more than one year, typically structured with annual budget periods, interim reporting, and continuation reviews.
Grant Agreement (Horizon Europe)
The legally binding contract signed between the European Commission (or designated funding body) and the beneficiaries, defining the action's scope, budget, deliverables, payment, IP, reporting, and dissemination obligations for a Horizon Europe project.
Consortium agreement
A legal agreement signed among all beneficiaries in a multi-partner grant, regulating their internal relationships (governance, IP, confidentiality, financial flows, conflict resolution) in complement to the Grant Agreement with the funder.
Partner (grant consortium)
A non-coordinator beneficiary in a multi-partner grant consortium, responsible for an agreed share of the work and budget and party to the consortium agreement.
Coordinator (grant consortium)
The beneficiary in a multi-partner grant (especially Horizon Europe) that takes legal and administrative lead, acting as the single point of contact with the funder and coordinating consortium activities, reporting, and payments.
Beneficiary (Horizon Europe)
A legal entity that signs the Horizon Europe Grant Agreement and is directly accountable to the European Commission for delivery of an agreed share of the project's work and budget.
MTDC (Modified Total Direct Cost)
The base to which a US federal indirect cost rate is applied, equal to total direct costs minus excluded items (typically equipment over a threshold, capital expenditures, patient care, tuition remission, rental costs, scholarships, and the portion of each subaward exceeding $25,000).
De minimis rate (NIH)
A federally permitted 10 percent indirect cost rate that organisations without a negotiated F&A rate may elect to use on US federal awards, applied to modified total direct costs (MTDC).
F&A rate (Facilities & Administrative)
The negotiated percentage rate applied to a defined direct-cost base to recover an institution's facilities and administrative (indirect) costs on US federal grants and contracts.
Indirect costs (overheads)
Project costs that cannot be specifically attributed to a single research activity but are necessary to support the conduct of research, including facilities, administration, libraries, IT, and depreciation, recovered from sponsors through an indirect cost rate.
Direct costs
Project costs that can be specifically and unambiguously attributed to a single sponsored research activity, including project-specific personnel salaries, materials and consumables, equipment, travel, and subaward costs.
Research funder
An organisation providing financial support for research activity.
